Alicia Lund Living Casino Mine Ranch

From Scratch

March 4, 2020

Magic truly happens when you gather a room full of dynamic women. And that’s just what happened at our inaugural From Scratch Summit earlier this month.

A casual conversation with three of my girlfriends (Christina Valencia, Stephanie Russo, Mackenzie Cecchi) around my dining table one morning last fall… turned into a conference with 30 women–a full day filled with inspirational talks, interactive breakout sessions, a wine tour, and seated vegetarian lunch made by my talented friend and chef, Erin Alderson. How we pulled it off I’m still wondering?! HA. But we did and it was such a success of a day that I’m on a high reliving it through these photos again as I type out this post. We were all craving connection with like minded business women and kept hearing the same sentiment from our local community. Over a year ago I posted something about a hosting a possible meet-up in Sacramento because I kept meeting so many amazing women and I wanted to connect everyone. The response was so large I felt overwhelmed and thus, also with a new baby at the time, never made it happen. (Sorry!!!) Flash forward, four of my girlfriends and I who have all started businesses “From Scratch,” came up with the idea to gather a room full of women who had also started businesses of their own. We wanted to connect everyone but also be able to learn from each other.

We were lucky to have Casino Mine Ranch host us for the day on their gorgeous property out in Amador County. Christina, Stephanie, Mackenzie, Erin and I all spent the night beforehand out on the property to set up for the day. I haven’t had a girl’s slumber party in awhile, and it was actually the best. A pizza party (thanks to Erin who whipped up homemade pizza for us–to ease our nerves while setting up and practicing for our talks the next morning), bunk beds and late night girl chat.

Turns out pulling off an all-day conference is a whole lot of work, and we couldn’t have also done it without our mission aligned partner, Bumble Bizz. Bumble Bizz is a great way to network, connect, learn and share with other professionals. Which is exactly what we are aiming to do with From Scratch–connecting a diverse group of professional, entrepreneurial women in hopes that we can share and learn from one another.

It was such an empowering and inspiring day–I can’t thank everyone enough who was involved and who joined us for the day. Here’s a visual diary of how the day unfolded. And to learn more about From Scratch and our next events you can follow our Instagram.

From Scratch was such an amazing day–and chance to gather so many inspiring and dynamic women in one room. I had tears in my eyes at various times realizing we had pulled it off, and brought this special group together! We were absolutely exhausted and simultaneously hyped-up at the end of the day from everyone’s collective energy and can’t wait to plan the next one. (Although we’re not exactly sure what that will look like just yet! Stay tuned!)

10:00am Arrivals and check-in… Stephanie drove everyone up the hill upon arrival (never a dull moment)

We asked everyone to write a question for the day that we used later during the breakout sessions. Anything from “what podcast are you currently listening to” to “how do you find a mentor?”

Pour Choice coffee to warm-up while everyone was arriving

Bumble Bizz also provided us with thoughtful questions that were asked during the afternoon breakout sessions.

10:30am Opening Remarks followed by a meditative moment led by Corri Chadwick

11:00am Keynote Discussion with mother-daughter duo, Grupe’s Marisa Kolokotronis and Sacramento Kings’ COO Matina Kolokotronis

On building culture at the Kings:

” [At the Kings] we have a diversity council, 40% of my senior executive team are females… I’m building an organization the way the world works because that’s what is going to drive success”
“As a leader you learn to be softer as the years go on, it’s something you learn with practice. Leadership is an art.”

On raising children and building a career at the same time:

“There are times in your life where you will soar in different aspects of your life, and there are times in your life where you will fail. Just put one foot in front of the other and keep walking”
“You can’t have it all. Practice kindness towards yourself and practice self care”
“Build a village, surround yourself with friends and family and hire help if you can”
“Being a mom is the one thing that I’m most proud of, the one thing I’m most grateful for, and it’s the greatest joy of my life”