There's a moment at the end of a great event when you realize you've been holding your breath for months.

That's exactly how Kelsey and Em, co-founders of Wave for Women, felt when they stood in a riverside venue in Paris, Ontario last Friday — surrounded by 80 female entrepreneurs who were laughing, connecting, and yes, crying — for all the right reasons.

"I felt like I was floating out of the venue," said Kelsey. And if you've ever poured everything into building something meaningful, you know exactly what that feeling is.

In a recent episode of the Wave podcast, the two co-founders sat down for a raw, honest debrief of their biggest live event yet — and what they shared is a masterclass in community building, energetic leadership, and the art of letting go of perfect.

The Week Before: Protecting Your Energy Without Losing Your Mind

Nobody warns you about the seven days before a big event. The late nights, the skipped workouts, the inbox that never clears.

Kelsey's biggest piece of advice? Have the conversation early. Before event week hit, she sat down with her husband and said: "This might not be my week to be super mom." She asked for help with school drop-offs, dog walks, and the dozen other invisible tasks that quietly drain your capacity. She made a plan before she was depleted.

The second thing she did was just as important: she coached herself into accepting that things would go sideways.

"Showing up present for the day is more important than having everything go perfect," she said. That mantra — borrowed from mindset work she and Em do regularly — is what allowed her to laugh off construction shutting down the entire town on event day, shrug at the agenda glitch that reshuffled a speaker slot, and stay grounded when things didn't go exactly to plan.

There's a reason people say your wedding day philosophy should be: enjoy the day, because nobody notices the things that go wrong. The same applies to any event you pour your heart into.

The Level-Ups: From Hiding to Taking the Stage

Wave has grown from 10 women to 30, 50, 70, and now 80 — and with each iteration, the events have evolved. But the biggest shifts at this one weren't logistical. They were energetic.

For the first time, Kelsey and Em took the stage themselves. Their community had asked for it: "We want to hear from you." So they opened pre-submitted questions on marketing and mindset, stepped under the lights, and shared from their own zones of genius — imposter syndrome, scheduling, holding it all together.

"If we're teaching women to take up more space, we need to be taking up more space ourselves," Em said.

They also leaned harder into delegation — arriving to a venue already being set up by a larger team, which let them zoom out and hold the vision instead of getting buried in logistics. And they invested more in their brand presence: activations, balloons, vendor tables, Wave branding throughout the space. Attendees noticed. Several commented that they hadn't seen anything like this at previous events.

The lesson? Stop being humble about what you've built.

What Makes Wave Different (And Why It Matters)

Ask most event-goers about their least favorite professional event experience and the answer is usually some version of: "I was in a room of a hundred people and left feeling completely alone."

Wave was built as the antidote to that.

From the very beginning, the format was never about two experts on a platform dispensing wisdom. It was about sitting shoulder to shoulder, sharing highs and lows, and actually doing business together — without the forced networking energy that makes everyone feel like they're pitching instead of connecting.

As Wave has grown, the challenge has been: how do you scale intimacy? Their answer has been breakout sessions — small, carefully curated groups where attendees can go deep, get seen, and have their work genuinely engaged with.

The results? One business partnership formed on the spot — two women who decided to launch a product together that same day. Introverts exhaling and opening up. People walking away saying, "I've never been to anything like this."

Heart-centered beats ego-forward, every time.

Growing Dreams Alongside Little Humans

Perhaps the most unexpected moment from the event was the one that happened right at the end.

As the event wrapped, Kelsey and Em's kids ran in through the doors — and stopped. Eyes wide. They took in the balloons, the water view from the balcony, the evidence of what their moms had built. What they didn't know was that those same kids — Koa and Summer — had hand-stuffed every single swag bag. The kombucha. The candle. All of it.

It was a quiet reminder that business and family don't have to be kept in separate compartments.

"I'm going to grow my dreams with you beside me," Em shared, echoing something she'd read that week. It's a philosophy that feels radical in a culture that constantly tells mothers to compartmentalize — but at Wave, it's just how things are done.

What's Next for Wave

Two signature events a year. More pop-up micro events in towns across Ontario. Possibly an RV. Definitely a coffee barista station.

But underneath the logistics is a deeper intention: to find every community of women across Canada that hasn't been seen yet — and to put a microphone to their work.

"If we get to impact a million female entrepreneurs, that is the biggest honor of all time," Em said.

Wave is growing. And it's doing it without losing the thing that made it worth attending in the first place.

What Kelsey and Em built in Paris, Ontario last Friday wasn't just an event.

It was proof that meaningful community is still possible — even at scale.

The behind-the-scenes reality? Sickness, construction, agenda glitches, and seven days of running on fumes. The outcome? Eighty women floating out of a room, feeling seen, energized, and ready.

If you're a female entrepreneur — whether you host events, dream of hosting events, or simply want to be in a room that actually gets you — follow Wave for Women on Instagram and stay tuned. The next activation is coming.

And it's going to be good.