I cannot lie to you, friends, I am exhausted. The past few months have been a whirlwind of pitching, negotiating, overnight flights in economy class and homesickness.

For me, having a company was never an ambition, it was simply the means to an end. And that end was to make the shows that I saw in my head. But running Little Airplane isn’t easy and I’ve been feeling the strain.

So I was very happy today to escape for a few hours into a musical venue of my own making: The Little Airplane Café. The idea for the Café has been brewing for years. Ever since we signed our lease on Front Street we have imagined having some kind of performance space in our “Great Room.”

And today we made it happen.

Over 100 kids and parents showed up to see Laurie Berkner perform live in our intimate living room-style venue. The event was hosted by Mindy Thomas from SiriusXM Radio’s “Kids Place Live.” She’s the host of “The Absolutely Mindy Show.”

The room was jam packed with preschoolers who were dancing and singing along to Laurie’s wonderful and catchy songs. There was a different energy in the building than I have ever experienced before. It was chaos and laughter and impromptu dance solos by three-year-olds.

It was that rare and beautiful connection between performer and audience.

It was good for the soul.

As the parents filed out, a few of them stopped to say hello to me. They had very kind things to say about the shows we make at Little Airplane and the impact that these shows have had upon their own families. I have heard this before but today it felt particularly important to me.

By the day’s end, I felt restored. I felt replenished. I felt reminded that all of the hard work that I and my team put in every day–all the drafts, the revisions, the pitch bibles and the long flights–has a real impact.

Running Little Airplane requires every ounce of creativity, strength and courage that I can muster. And there are days when I question if it’s all worth it. But today was not one of those days. As Laurie sang and the little girl danced beside her, I thought, “This is why I run a business. So I can make things. Things like the Little Airplane Café.”

A very big thanks to Mindy and Laurie and their wonderful teams. A big shout out to Eric Daly who produced this event for Little Airplane. And another to our Creative Director, Jennifer Oxley, for taking all these amazing pictures for the blog. And lastly, thanks to Tom Brown for building our studio and being my rock all these years.

If you’re interested in attending any upcoming shows, please go to www.littleairplane.com and click on “Café.” Our next show is Milkshake on July 26!  See you there!