ROOTED in Gratitude
- Marie Ambusk
- 1 minute ago
- 2 min read
A reflection from the Vermont Womenpreneur Summit
Every time I share my story — about trees, roots, and second chances — I remember how closely our personal and professional growth are connected.
Speaking at the Vermont Womenpreneur Summit this summer was one of those full-circle moments.
The theme of this “TEDx-like” talk was Gratitude, and it couldn’t have been more fitting. Standing in front of hundreds of creative, successful, determined, and generous women, I quickly realized that gratitude isn’t passive — it’s a living, powerful force. It’s what keeps us grounded through change, inspires us in adversity, commits us to supporting one another, and makes us eager to pay it forward whenever we can.
My talk was both a reflection and a reminder: just as trees thrive through connection — to soil, to sunlight, to one another — so do we. Along our TreesROI™ journey, we have failed a lot. That’s hard, but it’s also very important. Because …
if we don’t fail, we don’t learn;
and if we don’t learn, we REALLY fail.
Innovation, like personal growth, requires care, patience, and the courage to stay.
That day, surrounded by badass women who believe in community over competition, in a safe space where we even dared to share those vulnerabilities that are often diminished by the pressures of everyday work, I felt the same spark that fuels our work at TreesROI™ — a belief that when our vision is bigger than ourselves, it’s really not about us at all.
And remember …
“If YOUR DREAMS don’t scare you, they are not big enough.”
To the organizers, speakers, and attendees of the Vermont Womenpreneur Summit:
Thank you for ROOTING FOR ALL OF US …
This work by TreesROI™ LLC is made possible in part by a grant from the State of Vermont through the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, Department of Economic Development, and by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program.