Vol.1, Special Edition - ✨ Field Notes: 54 Hours at Raleigh's First Startup Weekend

September 25, 2025

Dear Brilliant Community, 

Last week, I wrote about stepping into vulnerability—about choosing to participate rather than just 'be in the room.' I had registered to pitch at Startup Weekend, feeling that jolt of nervous excitement right in my chest. This weekend, that commitment was tested.

Raleigh joined a global movement, hosting its first-ever Startup Weekend at The Wright Village alongside cities like Lima, Copenhagen, and São Paulo. 

The event—dubbed The Wright Start—kicked off at The Wright Village, a co-working space and incubator for entrepreneurs, where strangers became teams and built bold solutions for real-world challenges in just 54 hours. 

Walking into Friday night's kickoff, I carried last week's words with me: I am participating. No hiding in the audience—I was bringing my whole self, my company, and my full commitment to the forefront. The nervous excitement had transformed into focused energy.

The weekend, powered by sponsors like NC IDEA and the City of Raleigh's Office of Strategy & Innovation, was an intense sprint: to develop a working prototype, demo, and VC presentation by Sunday evening to a panel of judges by Sunday evening.

When teams formed, I gravitated toward a problem that resonated deeply: Twilight Overnight Childcare. Working with my Launch Raleigh cohort members Sonja Bulger and Manisha Ghimire, we dove into the real challenge facing night-shift workers—nurses pulling 12-hour shifts, Amazon warehouse workers, correctional officers—all needing safe, reliable childcare while they serve our community after dark. This wasn't just a business opportunity; it was about dignity and support for essential workers.

Other teams pitched equally compelling ventures focused on breast cancer awareness and adaptive reuse of corporate buildings. Through it all, the hours were long—Friday night kickoff, all-day Saturday, and another marathon Sunday—but the experience was electric. It was part endurance test, part crash course, and part celebration of possibility. After a fierce round of pitches, the judges crowned a winning team, but the real victory was the tangible energy of creation that filled the room. And for me, it was also affirmation: mentors and judges echoed the same frameworks I teach my clients every day. 

As I stood to present on Sunday evening, I realized something had shifted. The nervous excitement from clicking 'register' had evolved into something steadier—confidence built through action. The vulnerability I'd committed to wasn't just about showing up; it was about staying present through every exhausting hour, every pivot, every moment of uncertainty.

Life doesn't frighten me anymore—not the shadows, not the long nights, not the unknowns. Not even a 54-hour sprint to build something from nothing.

Life Doesnt frighten me at all -Maya Angelou

✨So here's my invitation to you this week:

I challenge you to find your own version of clicking 'register.' What opportunity have you been circling that requires you to bring your whole self to the forefront? Share it with someone who will hold you accountable—or reply and share it with me.

And if you're leading a nonprofit or small-to-midsize organization, maybe your 'register' moment is bringing in support to design the programs, systems, and processes that will let your team thrive. That's the work I do at Brilliant Corners: helping mission-driven leaders move from nervous energy to confident action. Because I don't just want you to show up—I want you to win.

Onward, 

Soyini