Where Were You Ten Years Ago?
As we celebrate the Greater Houston LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce’s 10-Year Anniversary and a Decade of Impact, we asked our team to reflect on what this milestone means — not only for the organization, but personally.
In this reflection, Amber Godbold, the Chamber’s Programming & Events Coordinator, shares her story of growth, belonging, and how her own journey has unfolded alongside the Chamber’s evolution over the past decade.
Ten years ago, I was nineteen — foolish, naïve, and just beginning to step into the world on my own.
I had started traveling for work events with a bread bakery company, experiencing cities and rooms I never imagined I’d be in. Around that same time, I moved out of my parents’ house. For the first time, I felt freedom — real freedom. The kind that makes you ask big questions: Who am I? What do I want? Where is my life headed?
Even as I was traveling for work, Houston still felt enormous. I was a small fish in a very large ocean, trying to understand where I fit. I had ambition, but not yet direction. I had drive, but not yet clarity. If you had asked me at nineteen where I would be ten years later, I couldn’t have imagined this version of my life.
“I was a small fish in a very large ocean, trying to understand where I fit.” |
What I didn’t realize at the time was that while I was figuring out who I was, the Chamber was also laying its foundation — building something that would shape not only my career, but the community across Houston.
As I grew through my twenties, so did this organization. What began as vision and courage from a small group of leaders became a thriving, connected community — a place where people could find belonging, build businesses, and create opportunity.
Over the past decade, I’ve grown alongside this city and alongside this Chamber. I’ve learned that being a “small fish” isn’t about insignificance; it’s about potential. It’s about finding your current, your people, and eventually helping shape the tide for others.
Now, as we celebrate ten years of impact, leadership, and community, I can’t help but reflect on how intertwined these journeys feel — mine and the Chamber’s. We’ve both evolved. We’ve both expanded. We’ve both learned what it means to build something meaningful.
When you ask me where I see myself ten years from now, the answer is simple.
I see myself still involved with the Chamber. Still building community. Still creating space and opportunity. Still helping the next young nineteen-year-old who feels small in a big city realize they are not alone — and that there is a place for them here.
Because the ocean is still vast.
But ten years proves something powerful: growth happens when vision meets action. I am deeply grateful to the founders and early champions whose courage created this Chamber, laying the foundation for a legacy that will continue shaping Houston for decades to come.
“Ten years ago, I was searching for direction. Today, I’m helping build it.” |
Ten years ago, I was searching for direction. Today, I’m helping build it — and I’m honored to help shape what the next ten years will become.
As we celebrate the Chamber’s 10-Year Anniversary, stories like Amber’s reflect the very heart of this organization — a place where individuals grow, leaders emerge, and community transforms possibility into reality.
Be sure to say hello to Amber at an upcoming event — she brings our spirit of radical hospitality to every experience we create.
Amber, thank you for all you do to move our mission forward and help shape what the next decade will become.