I Thought We Were Celebrating Six Years. Then the Room Reminded Me What We Really Built.

There are moments when you look around a room and realize you are standing inside something you once only imagined.

The BIG Mix was one of those moments for me.

Celebrating six years of Lozafina surrounded by so many people who have encouraged, challenged, hired, referred, mentored, partnered with, and simply believed in us, was overwhelming in the best possible way.

And what a room it was.

It was filled with an eclectic mix of people, from entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, creatives, professionals, students, longtime friends, new connections, and people at completely different stages of figuring out what comes next. That is exactly what I hoped The BIG Mix would be: not a room where everyone looked the same, worked in the same industry, or arrived with the same story, but a room where people could collide, connect, and leave knowing someone they did not know before.

The food alone felt like a celebration. Casa Real served green chile chicken tamales and red chile pork tamales alongside rice, beans, and cucumber lemonade. Berries n Bloom brought mini tres leches cakes and created a personal Lozafina pink champagne cake with strawberry filling that almost felt too beautiful to cut. Almost.

DJ Sparx — aka Marcus Bell of Omaha Bridges Out of Poverty — set the soundtrack for the evening, mixing R&B and dance records that kept the room moving while still letting people talk, laugh, and linger. It was relaxed, soulful, and exactly what the night needed.

And Monica Sempek captured it all. Her photographs tell the story better than words sometimes can: people embracing, laughing, meeting, listening, and simply being present with one another. She delivered a powerful collection of moments from a night I know I will want to remember for a very long time.

But what moved me most had very little to do with the decorations, food, or music.

It was the people who took the microphone.

Watching members of the Lozafina team stand in front of that room and share what they have learned about themselves since working here hit me harder than I expected. Building a business is one thing. Realizing that somewhere along the way you also helped build confidence, careers, friendships, and opportunities for other people is something entirely different.

I was incredibly proud of them.

Eric Gautschi of the Hustle Conference also reminded the entrepreneurs in the room why community matters so much when you are building something. There were business owners at every stage, some established, some growing and some barely beginning to put language around an idea, and Eric spoke directly to that journey and the reason Hustle exists: to create a place where entrepreneurs do not have to figure everything out alone.

Then something beautiful happened.

People in the audience started sharing too.

One person talked about how their nonprofit has brought life-changing work skills to more than 2,000 people in their program. Another shared a newly formed business centered around grief and celebration. Someone else talked about personal brand identity workshops they were preparing to launch.

For a few minutes, the room stopped being an anniversary party and became a place where people could simply say: This is what I am building. This is what I care about. This is what I am trying to put into the world.

That might have been my favorite part.

Because six years ago, I needed people willing to do exactly that for me.

There were longtime friends in that room who lifted a hand when Lozafina was still an idea finding its footing. They made introductions. They hired me. They recommended me. They encouraged me. They opened doors.

To watch some of those same people now extending that generosity to the next business owner, entrepreneur, or dreamer felt like watching the circle come all the way around.

And then there was my family.

Having my daughters there. My parents. My sister. My best friend.

There are sacrifices behind entrepreneurship that never make it into the highlight reel. Late nights. Early mornings. Worry. Risk. Missed time. Exhaustion. Starting over. Trying again.

My family has lived those six years with me.

Having them standing in that room while we celebrated everything Lozafina has become meant more than I can adequately put into words.

The BIG Mix was supposed to celebrate six years of a business. Instead, it reminded me that Lozafina has never just been about a business.

It is about people. The people who believed early. The people who joined along the way. The people who trusted us with their stories. The people who work beside me. The people who walked into that room with an idea. And the people who walked out having met someone who might help them take the next step.

To everyone who came to The BIG Mix: thank you.

Thank you for filling the room.

Thank you for sharing your stories.

Thank you for supporting our vendors, our team, and one another.

Thank you for celebrating six years with me.

I walked into that evening thinking we were marking an anniversary.

I walked out reminded of something much bigger:

Six years later, we are still building.

And thankfully, we are not building alone.