When you’re a frugal living blogger like me, everyone tends to ask you if certain things are “worth the money”. This exact thing happened to me on my way home from Day 1 of Rise x Ft. Myers with Rachel Hollis.
I was chatting with a friend on the phone and telling her about my morning at Rise. I mentioned that I happened to get my tickets as a gift. Her response was along the lines of, “oh good, it seems like a great thing to go to if you get it free, not sure I’d pay to go though.”
To my surprise I actually agreed with her on the phone. After all, I had known for months that Rachel Hollis was coming to our town, and still didn’t buy my own ticket. I’m a big fan of Rachel, but didn’t have an extra $300-1800 in my budget right after Christmas to attend a 3 day conference.
After 3 days with Rach, my opinion has changed. I firmly believe that if you have the ability to attend a Rise conference, you should go. It’s well worth the price of admission!
first things first- What is rise?
Before I launch into a detailed blog post about why I think Rise is worth the money, I should probably explain it just in case you are unfamiliar with Rachel Hollis and Rise.
Rise is a 3-day personal growth conference led by Rachel Hollis where women of all walks of life can come together to be inspired and supported through a series of speakers and workshops on personal growth.
Rachel Hollis is the bestselling author of Girl, Wash Your Face and Girl, Stop Apologizing. She’s an event planner turned blogger turned motivational speaker and life coach.
Years ago she attended a personal development conference and realized that the personal development field is full of men. She changed that by offering her own conference for women where to pushes us to grow to our full potential by taking care of ourselves and setting big goals for the future.
Let’s be real- us women suck at taking care of ourselves. Rachel is great at reminding us that we need to take care of our mind and bodies before we can pursue our big scary dreams that we deserve to pursue.
Want to listen to her books for free? Learn how by reading this post: How to Listen to Free Audiobooks
5 reasons Rise is worth the splurge
1. Rise is the ultimate self care weekend
Have you ever wanted to “get away” and take care of you for one weekend? Well, that is exactly what you get at Rise.
The conference is 3 days of self examination of your past, present, and future. Busy women sometimes forget to take the time to “do the work” that will get us to where we want to be. Rise offers you 3 days of guidance to help you figure out where you came from and how you can use that to become the best version of yourself.
2. Every seat is a good seat
The speakers do an amazing job at engaging the crowd.
At one point, staff and dancers were at the very top of the Hertz Arena dancing with women in general admission.
This isn’t the type of conference where only the VIP and front row audience get to participate. Nope! If you are in the audience you can participate as much as you want.
In fact, Rachel walks around and does her best to call on people from all over the audience.
Don’t feel like you have to buy a more expensive seat in order to make the most of Rise. All you need to do is be there!
3. The ambiance is amazing
As soon as I walked into Hertz Arena, I was immediately reminded that Rachel Hollis’s first career was event planning. You can tell!
Sure, she probably hires people to do the planning for her now, but you can tell she’s a pro. Everything was transformed. I’m talking about huge wall decals covering up unsightly areas that didn’t fit the vibe, cute sayings on walls, inspirational quotes on the mirrors in the bathrooms, fun signs on the floor, and even uniform signage for the seating. Everything was uniform- even the bathroom signs. Yes, the bathroom signs were wrapped in special Rise signage that was uniform. This was convenient because that meant most of the men’s restrooms were changed to women’s restrooms for the weekend. With four thousand women and only about 6 men, it only seemed right to have mostly women’s bathrooms.
Plus, there was a huge tent outside with more photo opps, lounging space, picnic tables and a spot dedicated just to women flying solo.
4. The speakers
Don’t get me wrong, Rachel is great, but her speakers are pretty amazing too!
She does a wonderful job of picking speakers who will resonate with the audience. Rise x Ft. Myers featured Jen Hatmaker, Amy Porterfield, Stacey Flowers, and Trent Shelton.
These are big time inspiring people! It’s not every day that you get to listen to multiple successful people share their stories.
5. Swag bag
Have you ever gotten a really crappy swag bag?
I know I have. As a minimalist, I usually end up tossing everything from swag bags in a few days.
Not with Rise! No way. I have kept everything. My swag bag had a retail value of over $50. Each ticket section got a different swag bag, with the exception of the cheapest tickets that don’t come with a swag bag.
How Much are Rise Tickets?
Let’s get down to business and talk about money, okay?
Rise tickets are not cheap. The Rise 2020 ticket prices start at $300 for Terrace seating and go all the way up to $1800 for VIP seats.
Here is the breakdown for Rise 2020 ticket prices:
- Toronto– $419 Terrace | $599 GA
- San Diego– $300 Terrace | $600 GA | $900 Premiere | $1800 VIP
- London (in Euros)- €195 Terrace | €375 GA | €575 Premiere | €1150 VIP
- Fort Myers– $300 Terrace | $600 GA | $900 Premiere | $1800 VIP
2020 rise Events
2020 is a big year for Rachel Hollis, The Hollis Company, and Rise. There are more Rise events this year than ever before.
Check it out!
2020 Rise Conference Events
- Fort Myers– January 9-11
- Toronto– March 5-7
- San Diego– June 11-13
- London -August 6-8
2020 Rise Business
Rise Business is November 5-7 in Austin, TX. Get more details here.
2020 Rise Run
The first ever Rise Run is a 5k and half marathon on December 5-6 in San Marcos, TX. Get details here.
How to get the best bang for your buck on Rise tickets
If you know me at all, then you know that I’m always thinking about how to get the most out of something, especially my money.
Here are my suggestions for getting the best bang for your buck when it comes to Rise tickets with Rachel Hollis:
- First, check out the venue that is closest to you. If you don’t have to travel to see Rachel Hollis, you will already be saving a lot of money!
- No venue close by, but you still want to go? Check out the seating chart for all venues. You can see all venues here. Pick a venue that is a little smaller so that you are one in a few thousand as opposed to one in 8,000!
- While at conference, arrive early! There are no assigned seats. This means that if you buy a cheaper terrace seat but sit in the right place, you very well may have a better view of Rach than someone who bought a more expensive ticket!
- Get creative with parking. Parking for Ft. Myers was $20 a day. Consider car pooling, parking off site and walking, or taking an Uber.
- Pack your own lunch! The parking lot was full of women tailgating with coolers, chairs, and all sorts of tasty food.
More tips for getting the most out of the Rachel Hollis Rise Conference
If you spend $300 or more on a Rise ticket, you better be sure to get a lot out of it, right?
Here are some of my favorite tips for getting the most out of a Rise conference:
- Pre-register the night before. This is a great time to meet people that will be sitting in your section, plus you skip the line the next day and get straight to your seat!
- Skip the photo lines. You’ll notice that during ever break there are lines for cute photo opps. Skip them! Instead, take the pictures when you need a break in the middle of a session or when you take a bathroom break.
- Speaking of bathroom, don’t stand in line for the bathroom. Wait until a lull in the conference and head to the bathroom. Otherwise you will be waiting in line forever during breaks. With so many women and only so many bathrooms, this kind of thing happens!
- Be friendly! This is not the place to be shy. Everyone is in a similar boat so go ahead and put yourself out there. Make a new friend. Be kind!
Free ways to Get your Rachel Hollis fix
Did you read all of this and realize that you want a Rachel Hollis fix, but you still can’t justify the price of a Rise Conference ticket?
I feel you! If it’s not in your budget now or you don’t have the time to attend a conference, check out these FREE ways to get advice and tips from Rach.
- Follow Rachel on Instagram and watch her IGTV. I’ve noticed that a lot of her videos are excerpts from conference.
- Listen to the podcasts. The Hollis Company produces 4 different podcasts and all 4 are currently free!
- Check out the Start Today brand on social media. Yes, she is pushing her products, but there are some great FREE tips for time management!
More tips for Rise
I was lucky enough to attend Rise x Ft. Myers with a couple of my favorite blogging friends.
Check out this post from Tara Met Blog: Tips for Attending a Rise Weekend
Do you have more tips to add?
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This is not for women from “all walks of life”. Just for the ones that can afford it.
Yeah, I’ve definitely had a few more thoughts on Rachel Hollis lately. Probably worth updating this post. I stand by the fact that I really truly got a lot out of the conference, but I don’t think I align with her values.