Stay, Play, B.L.A. - a blog

Welcome Aboard!

WAVE young professionals network: future leaders of the Lakes Area, uniting all industries to form a powerful wave of influence, optimism and professional success.

By Paul Augustinack

What is WAVE?

We are the future leaders of the Lakes Area, uniting all industries to form a powerful wave of influence, optimism and professional success. Our goal is to build lasting relationships as we elevate our skills and advance our careers. We aim to make a positive difference in our companies and communities, learning from and inspiring each other along the way.” - Brainerd Chamber of Commerce.com/WAVEWAVE YPN welcomes membership from all individuals aged 18-39 who live in the Brainerd Lakes Area. Cost to join is $240 per year (or $20 per month charged to a credit or debit card), which may be covered by employers as an investment in professional growth. Through the support of our investors, scholarships are available to young professionals with financial limitations to help offset the cost of membership.

WAVE will host monthly, annual, and pop-up events with a wide variety of topics. Most events are free to attend and open to everyone. Prospective members may attend up to two WAVE events before joining. Most events will have a professional development topic such as entrepreneurship, salary negotiation, or interview techniques.

We recently held our kick-off event aboard a Gull Lake Cruise, and welcomed 80 members aboard! It was a full boat of networking and coming together to map out what the next year of this group will look like! If you missed our launch event or have any questions, reach out, I’d love to chat!

Our next event is Thursday, October 19th at woodlore cider with the owner, Josh Gazelka talking about entrepreneurship and how he started his business in the BLA! Check out the WAVE website for more details and to sign up for the event!

How we started

WAVE Young Professional Networking Group was born out of the mind of Matt Killian, the Brainerd Lakes Chamber of Commerce’s President. In April of 2023, a group of young professionals were brought together in a few different focus groups to determine if the community felt the need for this group to be brought to life. After speaking with both employers of the area and young professionals already in the area — the consensus was clear that there was a need for a young professionals network. Over the course of the summer, the focus groups were narrowed down to about 10 people who truly were interested in helping this group come to life. With the help of the Brainerd chamber and the project manager Kendra Johnson, 8 members were selected to be apart of the volunteer Anchor Board. The board consists of a number of industries and different ages within the 18-39 age range of our group. I was honored to be named Chair, and super excited to have Leah Boedigheimer as my Vice Chair.

To learn more about this group or register to be apart of it, click here!