Women's Congress

Highlights and Inspirations

In March 2007, I attended The Women’s Congress held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.  The Women’s Congress is a business-to-business event specifically targeted to women professionals who drive today’s economy.

This two-day conference featured over 100 speakers. Needless to say, the networking and learning opportunities were boundless.

In addition to the new knowledge gained and the networking connections made from attending this conference, the greatest impact for me was two opening keynotes addresses made by two powerful and influential women. They both were compelling and mesmerizing.

• The first was by Sharon Allen, Chairman of the Board of Deliotte & Touche, USA, LLP.   She shared the many challenges and barriers that she had to overcome as being the first woman in many areas in her professional life.  She stated that it is time for the statement to change from being “the first woman” to being “the next woman”.

She emphasized that when you start to feel comfortable with what you are doing, you need to raise the bar.  You need to be constantly stretching and challenging yourself to go to the next level both personally and professionally.

• The second was by Sheila C. Johnson, CEO of Salamander Hospitality and a partner in Lincoln Holding, LLC.  She is also the co-founder of BET (Black Entertainment Television).  Sheila focused on how entrepreneurialism and passion goes hand and hand.  One of the great things about being an entrepreneur is charting your own course and destiny.  Having passion means having the enthusiasm, dedication and commitment that it takes to achieve whatever you want to do in life.  She also spoke on giving back and mentoring others to achieve their goals and ambitions.

One of these statements made me think about how women are viewed in the world.  Maybe we should think of ourselves as “the next”.  Just take a look at the statistics of women in business.  We aren’t alone nor are we “the first”.  

And what about passion; when one is passionate about something; aren’t you devoted, faithful, excited, and focused on the goal, mission, task and job ahead.  Do you have passion in your business and in your life?

I would like to leave you with this thought; the next time this conference is in Boston; make every effort to attend!  You will be energized, surprised and pleased that you did!