Vision board business fast tracks goal setting

Cathy Gruss’ company Vision Partying helps people create clear goals to reach a new future.

Cathy Gruss is a firm believer in having a vision to reach your goals.

“One thing I wished I had known as a child is that our thoughts and the choices we make are the keys to our future,” she said. Today, in addition to her full-time job as a computer programmer/analyst consultant, she has launched Vision Partying — a chance to leave the world behind and step into a magical creative state that lets your dreams flow.

How it started

Gruss said the idea started decades ago at the beginning of her career. “I was working on Long Island in the ‘80s and they brought in a coaching group to help us think with an unlimited mindset when it came to goals and that helped me,” said Gruss, whose dream at the time was to work remotely. “I decided to test it out so I wrote down that I wanted to work remotely in 1989,” she said. By 1993, Cathy had birthed twins and the dream came true. To this day she works remotely.

As the years passed, Cathy strove to help her children dream big as well. Today, her daughters are actresses (their work can be found on IMDB) and her two sons work as actuaries.

Vision boarding can be a conduit to visualize goals and how to reach them. It feeds into your subconscious.

Cathy says that vision boarding can be a conduit to visualize goals and how to reach them. “It involves clipping images of your short and long-term goals and affixing them to a board,” she said, adding that the mere act of doing the exercise fast tracks everything and brings about clarity. “It feeds into your subconscious,” she explains.

Using these tools became so important to Gruss that she embarked upon the next step—to share her knowledge with others. “One day I was programming and it all-of-a-sudden hit me. I didn’t sleep for weeks when I decided to create a company based on vision boarding,” she said.

By 2018, Gruss had a partner and the pair were holding local vision boarding parties. They called themselves “The Goal Club.” Unfortunately, the business had to take a pause with the illness of Gruss’ mother and then Covid, but now she’s back with a newfound enthusiasm. Gone is the Goal Club– Vision Partying has taken its place and Gruss has met some new, inspiring friends along the way.

Coached into a business by “a fantastic entrepreneurial guide”

One was Blake Fleegle, of JARI, whom Gruss describes as a “fantastic entrepreneurial guide and nurturer, an inspiration and a dreamer and most of all a leader.” Gruss said that he pushes through boundaries to start things new and fresh and his enthusiasm is infectious. “When we have people like this in our communities, it is a blessing,” she said.

Fleegle says that Gruss’ enthusiasm is equally infectious and he’s looking forward to watching her grow the business and helping as many members of the local community as possible. “And, who knows, perhaps I’ll be seeing them in the future to further help them bring their visions into reality,” he said.

Blake is a fantastic entrepreneurial guide and nurturer, an inspiration and a dreamer and most of all a leader. When we have people like this in our communities, it is a blessing.

With Gruss’ new venture also come newfound friends like “The Loveliest Collective,” a boutique marketing agency that helps women with networking and attaining their social media goals, and “Women Who Rock,” a sisterhood of women who support each other. “Their goal is to support women and female-identifying artists, bands, singers, instrumentalists, producers, writers, DJs and more.

“The group partners with Gibson Guitar and have been covered in People Magazine and are on fire this year,” said Gruss, who offers advice for budding entrepreneurs. “Find your tribe—people who make you happy, are inspirational and can help you network. I had to get out of my own little cocoon and am branching out as far as Pittsburgh and Maryland with vision boarding parties,” she said.

Gruss said she is flexible as to where she conducts vision boarding parties—at her brick-and-mortar, where there’s plenty of free parking in Portage, or elsewhere. “Have goals, will travel,” is her motto. “What I want most out of this is to allow people to have fun. Vision boarding parties are BYOB and we supply the foamboards, the magazines and other supplies that are needed,” she said. Gruss has already planned for the future—with the help of her vision boards. “I eventually want it to become so popular that we can have party hosts all across our nation creating vision partying communities everywhere,” she said.

Create your own vision board at the upcoming Entrepreneur Enrichment workshop on May 16.

To learn more, visit Gruss’ webpage at www.visionpartying.com.

Startup Alleghenies helps startup and emerging small businesses succeed by providing free coaching to entrepreneurs in Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon and Somerset counties. To access personal, one-on-one support from a coach in your county, including guidance, resources, tools and networking opportunities, sign up at startupalleghenies.com.