Celebrate our women leaders

It is late.  It has been a busy week and I am exhausted.  Yet here I am, not able to sleep, unable to turn off the brain with ideas bubbling to the surface.   

So I am sitting at the computer trying to capture my thoughts and lessons from International Women’s Week.  Like every year at this time, there are a flurry of events to celebrate the occasion, and it is an opportunity to reflect on how far we have come and how far we still need to go. 

I had the pleasure of listening to two amazing women – Barb Stegemann and Fay Chapple.  And what struck me as I reflect on their keynote presentations, is that the trigger to their success was a disastrous life event that propelled them into action, and changed not only their lives, but had far reaching impact on others around the world.

I applaud their optimism and ability to turn a tragedy into a triumph. They inspire you to look beyond yourself, to step out of your comfort zone and aim for the stars.   Fay’s advice, for example, to take risks and to stretch yourself, truly resonated with me.  As she asked, what’s the worst that can happen?   While Barb readily acknowledged that not everyone will like your idea and that’s OK, but that doesn’t mean it is a bad idea and we need to trust our instinct and intuition and move on.

Rather than getting caught up in a pity party or just accepting what had happened as a done deal, both women were pragmatic and sought to find answers; to find some meaning in what had happened. In fact, Barb encouraged us to accept the challenges in our lives as a gift.

With their business savvy, their energy and tenacity, there is no question in my mind that they will achieve greatly and continue to make a difference in the lives of others.  We need more women leaders like them. We need young women to hear their stories, so they see  role models paving the way on their behalf. We need to step up ourselves and become who we are meant to be.  We owe that to ourselves.

I salute Barb and Fay and all the other women in the world who are striving to make it a better place. 

Happy International Women’s Day. 

A day to remember

It has been a couple of days since the conference and I admit I have just chilled, enjoying the emails flooding in from women saying how much the event had inspired them.  For some even life-changing.  Wow.

When you plan an event for a year, it’s easy to lose track of the impact it may have on the participants.  Particularly as closer to the event, you get caught up in logistics, who sits where, what to have to eat, and finalizing all the last minute registrations.

But as I listened to the speakers throughout the day, and heard the buzz in the room, I knew we’d “done good.”  Without realizing it, there seemed to be a real theme, a thread that wove its way throughout the day.  I never know what the speakers will say, but each message seemed to underscore and lead to the next.

We got off to such a lively start with Liz in her gangnam dance.  I knew she was going to do it, but frankly, being a YouTube luddite, had not heard of this video, so didn’t really know what she was planning to do.   She must have lost at least five pounds with all that bouncing and dancing.  Still it was all for a good cause – creating a fun, upbeat start to a day that would transport many to different and new horizons. 

Dr. Ginger Grant was quick to tell us that as women entrepreneurs we were the underpinning of the economy and we need to step into our spotlight (thanks Tsufit) to shine and share our talents with the world.   I could have listened to her for hours as she shared her wisdom and learning about creativity.   

While Ginger piqued our brains to start us thinking and going down the right creative path, our Courage Panel awakened our emotions. Linda Lundstrom, Fay Chapple and Trey Anthony were so open and honest in their discussions.  There were times when it was raw, and you could feel the pain and yet the message was clear.   You have to do what it right for you.  Life is too short to be stuck in a job, a relationship, a business that no longer feeds your soul.  My sense is this was the life changing moment for some in the audience.

From the opening Dragon’s Den clip that showed Barb Stegemann converting Arlene Dickinson and Brett Wilson to take on her business, to her frank discussion about her humble beginnings and then the development of a profitable business that also helped build the economies in war-torn countries, Barb had everyone spellbound.  So much so, that our afternoon plans had to be diverted as crowds gathered to purchase Barb’s book and perfume.

So in plan B, we had to somewhat shorten the group discussion and turn our immediate attention to the experts.  But then we had our own Making the Pitch challenge. It takes courage to enter something like this, and I commend all three finalists for taking that leap of faith.   Our congratulations to Daina Makinson for winning both the audience and the judges over, not just with her video clip, but her sense of humour.

So all told – an eventful day that while it didn’t altogether go to plan, was truly inspiring and impactful to all who attended.  My challenge, I can see, as I tend to compete with myself, is to make next year's conference even better.  See you at the 8th Journey 2 Success conference.