Last week, Pieces of Me headed right down the road to Hope College where we held an event in collaboration with one of the sororities on campus, Delta Phi. What does a Pieces of Me event look like you might ask?

Well, I'm here to tell you all about our special night. The process began with a lot of brainstorming. Collaborating with the POM team, I began to curate a theme for the event. We decided the event would be held right after winter break, which also happened to be right after New Year’s. Then it suddenly dawned on us, New Year, New You... it’s perfect.

With the new year coming in fast, what better way to stay on track or stay motivated than to have an encouraging cuff on your wrist to remind you of a new goal or trait you want to strive towards? The perfect way to win personal style and goal points!

While Elsa, Kylee and I were talking, we decided that we wanted to make the event/fundraiser more of a celebration. Pieces of Me is all about celebrating who you are as an individual every day, so we wanted to give the ladies at Hope College a chance to see what our brand is all about. It also gave them the chance to crawl out of their study nests and have some fashionable fun.

Now that we had everything planned out, and visions in our heads, it was time to take action. I went out and got some awesome decorations to fit the ‘New Year, New You’ theme, (which coincidentally fit VERY well with the brand) and began imagining how fun the event will be!

Elsa and Kylee created some adorable advertising material. They made awesome posters and cards to be dispersed all throughout campus. The event was quickly approaching, and I could hardly wait!

Soon enough, January 12th had arrived, and ‘New Year, New You’ was in full swing. I headed to the event venue and started setting up and decorating the venue with the help of a few of my sorority sisters. 6:30 PM rolled around and it was finally showtime!

For the event, we had set up a couple of different stations for people to visit and socialize. One station was the personality trait test which could be taken through our website. At another station, we had little cards that were similar to the personality trait test. However, for this one, you would take a card and circle a trait or two that YOU thought would be best for one of your friends. It was a great way for people to mingle and talk about what traits girls saw in each other.

In addition to the personality trait tests and the beautiful display of  all the merchandise, we had a photo-shoot section. It was simple - but so new years-esque. A simple black backdrop and gold balloons that spelled out ‘2017’ hung against the black backdrop wall. It was hard to walk past it without wanting to pull our your phone and snap a few (or more!) pics.

Girls were popping in and out of the venue, trying on bracelets, taking the personality trait quiz, filling out sheets for their friends, and socializing. It was so awesome to see the event come together and see Pieces of Me in action!

After the event had come to an end, I felt like I could finally breath. Although it was so fun to see everyone enjoying themselves and see girls fascinated with Pieces of Me, I found myself a little tense throughout the event because I wanted everything to be ‘cookie cutter perfect’. As we all know, that is almost never the case. Although the event was successful, there were still things in my eyes that could have gone smoother. However, I did not let this defeat me, or Pieces of Me. I took it as a way to learn and prepare even more for the next event!

Looking back, the event was a blast, and could not have gone on without the entire Pieces of Me team, and the Delta Phi sorority at Hope College. It was a night to remember, and most definitely got me excited for the new year. Happy 2017!

- Abby Lasch, Intern