We were lucky to catch up with Amber Kennedy recently and have shared our conversation below.
Amber , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?
One of Amber and Stephanie’s favorite things to do every year was meet up for a girl’s weekend where they would attend a faith-based women’s conference, go shopping, and eat out. After 2014, the conference wasn’t offered in Montana anymore, so they found alternate activities, but really missed the conference. They would talk about it and heard others talk about it, as well, so knew there was a need.
Amber started to wonder whether a similar event could be offered on a smaller scale in Glasgow. In 2017, she called Stephanie and they decided to launch Lose the Luggage. The women’s conference was well received, and they continued to offer it annually in the fall until the event began to reach capacity.
When deciding how to accommodate more attendees, the idea of a second conference started to take shape. A spring conference featuring tabled seating, crafts, and workshop-style speakers was a refreshing addition that had the potential to reach more women.
Amber and Stephanie began to see and feel a need to offer the conference on a larger scale and were prompted to take a leap of faith. They reached out to MetraPark, the arena where they had previously attended conferences, to explore logistics and details of renting the venue. While they didn’t know exactly what it was going to look like, they were willing to take the risk to see their vision come to life.
One of the biggest obstacles was advertising and getting the word out about the event. They ended up spending 10x the amount they had budgeted for marketing and still struggled to reach the target audience. People were unfamiliar with the name and Amber and Stephanie needed to build credibility, which hadn’t previously been an issue because people knew them in their community. Through resistance and even rejection, they were able to build resilience because they believed in what they were doing and continued to move forward.
After years of growth, refinement, and unwavering belief, Amber and Stephanie saw their faith and persistence come full circle at the September 6, 2025 Lose the Luggage Women’s Conference at MetraPark in Billings, Montana. The event reached their largest audience yet with women from across the region who came ready to connect, worship, learn, and lay down the “luggage” they had been carrying. The atmosphere was electric from heartfelt worship to powerful messages. Amber and Stephanie watched in awe as women were encouraged and stepped into freedom. The momentum has set the stage for the next conference on October 24, 2026 with plenty of seating to reach even more women!
Amber , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
When deciding on a name for the conference, they wanted a name that reflected their heart for women, which is recognizing the baggage, the things we carry through life, that women were never meant to carry. Lose the Luggage felt like a kinder way to say “ditch the baggage.” Our heart is to create a space where women can come be encouraged and have the opportunity to lay things down so their hands are free to pick up the good things waiting for them.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
As they neared the date of the first statewide conference, they received a call that the keynote speaker would unexpectedly be unable to attend due to a medical emergency. The call came 8 days before the conference, going into a holiday weekend. While it felt like the rug had been pulled out from underneath them, they quickly re-focused to create a solution. The speaking agency provided a list of possible alternatives, Amber and Stephanie tried to think of other possibilities. Within 24 hours, they had hope on the horizon with an author whose current focus aligned with the vision of Lose the Luggage. The revised contract was signed 4 days before the conference. It worked out better than they could have imagined and the author was a fantastic addition to the day.
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
Amber and Stephanie met the day they started their freshman year of college. They were both accepted into the Theodore Roosevelt Honors Leadership Program at Dickinson State University and were assigned as roommates. They became friends and stayed in touch after graduation. In 2018, Stephanie relocated and joined Amber in Glasgow, Montana, where they work at the same healthcare facility. They share their passion for women’s ministry and enjoy the challenges and opportunities that event planning provides.
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Image Credits
The first photo with our backs to the camera on the stage was taken by Cirsten Fauth.
All other photos are our own.