Day one in Greenville

Falls Park

This past week, I had the opportunity to go to Greenville, South Carolina for a networking and branding event. This trip taught me so much more than I anticipated. I was stretched and challenged in numerous ways over the four day trip. It was a huge step for me, I was invited last minute and every part of my brain was screaming that I had to too much to do to and shouldn't go. I decided to be spontaneous and went anyway. Do I regret that decision? Not a bit (although the amount of work I have to do now is stressing me out).

We spent all of Wednesday traveling and only had a short introduction to downtown Greenville. I was instantly in love. Our real adventures began on Thursday. We went to a cute little place called Tandem Coffee and Crepes and met Cody and Sara Bridenbaugh. The two graduated from IWU and moved to Greenville to work at NewSpring Church, now they have their own marketing agency, Harvest Marketing.

Southside Christian School's New Logo

They took us to Southside Christian Schools (SCS) which is currently implementing the rebrand Sara and Cody did for them. The school initially asked them to do a singular wall, but the two convinced the school to do a complete rebrand. Although we hadn't seen the space before the rebrand, the pictures showed how much progress SCS has made in a short amount of time.

After visiting the school, we headed back downtown to get to know the city and explore the brands that are there. We spent a little over two hours wandering through shops and talking to people in Greenville. Everyone there welcomed us with open arms and gave us recommendations on where else we should explore. The city exuded hospitality in a way I had never experienced. There were very few large corporations located downtown. All of the shops were local and the quality was exceptional. When I heard this was a park in the center of the city, I expected it to be a complete contrast to the city. Instead, the park fit seamlessly into the tree lined streets and the vintage buildings. Even new buildings fit right into the existing surroundings. The city all flowed together and made me fall in love even more.

We ended our day at Coastal Crust Pizza in West Greenville which may have been the best pizza I have had. Cody and Sara took us to their apartment for dessert after and Cody gave us the grand tour. The building is an old mill where Shoeless Joe Jackson had worked and got his start in baseball. Sadly, my baseball knowledge doesn't quite reach that far, nevertheless, the history of the mill made it an amazing place to visit.

By the end of day one, I was already convinced I was going to live in Greenville and the rest of our trip only made me want to move there even more.