We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Vanessa Hartsell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Vanessa below.

Vanessa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

We believe that although a non-profit organization and fully run by volunteers, our call to excellence and internal structure doesn’t have to be second best. After 13 years of equipping, empowering, and mobilizing the women of Las Vegas, we’ve raised up 250+ volunteers to serve from their sweet spot, lead from vulnerability, embrace their uniqueness, and use their life as a platform to change the world. We not only honor the person on the platform but the person who built and cleaned the platform. There isn’t a pathway to get to the top of the organization, only your ability to give your best yes for your unique wiring and talents. Where so many organizations are first focused on output, we’ve made it our intention to invest internally, raising up incredible leaders who understand their role in the mission.

Vanessa, 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?

Originally from Detroit, MI, I relocated to Las Vegas, NV at 22 years old to step into my dream job in leadership development. An unseen storm was brewing in 2008: a debilitating recession, my personal cancer diagnosis, and being the new girl in a city I didn’t know. I began to lean deeply into my Christian faith for peace in the midst of my chaos. I realized my own deep need for community; a place to belong. In what seemed to be the most inopportune time in my life, I took a huge leap! I resigned my position and began building the dream in my heart. In 2012, Ignite Life officially launched as a non-profit organization with a mission to equip, empower, and mobilize women to be the spark that ignites change in the world for the sake of Christ. Over the past 14 years, Ignite Life has created hundreds of environments (conferences, retreats, workshops, and gatherings) for women to discover their story, find their seat at the table of community, grow in their faith, understand their unique wiring, and put their dreams into action. Las Vegas is an incredibly transient city making it near impossible to find deep relational connection. Each month, Ignite Life serves 500+ women within the city of Las Vegas to engage in authentic, life-giving community. This is an organization that exists for the women of Las Vegas hosted by the women of Las Vegas. Relying on the efforts of 250+ volunteers, every aspect of our organization is facilitated by women who are invested in the mission of igniting life in someone else.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

We all hit a wall when we ran into the year 2020. Like so many others, we had to re-evaluate what we were doing and how we were doing it. The thrust of our entire organization is based on gathering… the very thing we couldn’t do in 2020. We quickly started to make a list of the services we provide with three columns: Do it, Do it different, Stop Doing it. We came to an honest realization evaluating which services we were offering that were actually not worth the amount of time, energy, and resources we were putting into them. It’s incredibly humbling to lay a part of your dream to rest, but also incredibly necessary. As we removed an entire arm of our organization, it created capacity for our next big opportunity. 2020 didn’t only ruin all of our plans, it also created new problems that our organization existed to solve. Churches from across the Las Vegas valley were forced financially to eliminate positions many areas including women’s ministry. They still had women coming to their churches but no one to lead them and no funds to hire someone to fill the gap. We couldn’t have anticipate the great need of our services to support local churches. Currently our organization serves as a third party women’s ministry to 11 local Las Vegas churches providing coaching, monthly gatherings, and support.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

We have found the best way to keep people coming back is to make them more than just a consumer. If a person stays as a consumer, their loyalty is only as deep as their own need. Once their need is satisfied, there is no reason to stick around or to talk about our organization. Our desire is to make every person who walks through our doors into a contributor to the mission. Contributors get the value of our services, but they also get the joy and satisfaction of seeing others benefit. Research has told us that those who financially invest, serve with their time, or believe their presence adds value will consistently come back. Our strategy has changed from putting butts in seats (short term win) to partnering with our clients to get them in a place that they see themselves in the mission (long term loyalty).

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ignitelifelv.com
• Instagram: @ignitelifelv
• Facebook: @ignitelifelv
• Other: You are welcome to link my personal pages if you feel that’s appropriate @vhartsell

Image Credits
Tina Herschberger Holly Snoreen