So, recently my friend (and Pursuit co-founder) Sue and I went a bit rogue and decided to take a leadership leap and hustle ourselves up to New York City for a few days to attend the Inc. Women’s Summit.
I didn’t know much about the Women’s Summit when I agreed to go, but Sue found it intriguing and suggested we attend together. If I’m being honest, I think we were initially more excited about the city experiences we had planned than the actual Summit content. Because, NEW YORK.
And yes, we did it up prior to the event: shopping, a Broadway show, a phenomenal dinner and a Kimpton hotel. So. Much. Goodness.
I can’t tell you how many educational opportunities I’ve participated over the years that have left me feeling disappointed and a tad duped.
This was not that training. This event blew away all of my expectations.
It’s interesting because I feel like I’m not the target audience for the Inc. Women’s Summit. Oh sure, I’m a female in the workforce. I’m also constantly aspiring to achieve excellence and accomplish new levels in my career, but I’m not an entrepreneur per se. (Unless you count my aspiring writing career.)
The conference featured an impressive lineup of entrepreneurs who shared their stories and the lessons they learned along the way. The speakers were innovative, diverse, and truly dynamic.
My personal cornerstone moment was connecting with Sara Blakely, founder and CEO of Spanx. Yes, that Spanx. She is the the youngest self-made female billionaire in history with a net worth is over $1.18 billion dollars and she has four children under the age of seven. So, yeah. Consider me impressed.
Photo credit: Inc. Magazine
She had some sage advice to share with attendees which kept me riveted. But it was her unabashed authenticity and optimism that spoke to my soul the most. She made no apologies, had confidence in spades and let her personality shine through. She won me completely over. (Resulting in me being her new internet stalker, natch.)
“Believe in your idea, trust your instincts, and don’t be afraid to fail. I must have heard the word “no” a thousand times. If you believe in your idea 100%, don’t let anyone stop you. Not being afraid to fail is a key part of the success of Spanx.” – Sara Blakely
While I may have connected strongly with Blakely, there were so many other words of wisdom passed on by summit speakers that were also invaluable.
For example:
- Do things that scare you all the time.
- Don’t ever be afraid to fail or embarrass yourself. It’s how you learn and grow.
- Use your gut and intuition as a compass.
- Be mindful of who you share your dreams with, especially in the beginning.
- You can figure anything out on your own. Be scrappy!
- If you don’t feel worthy of achieving success or money, you will self sabotage.
- Leaders communicate. Learn how.
- Relationships matter. Be deliberate about the ones you want in your life.
- Hustle expires. Life is short. Figure out the ROI of what you are putting your time into.
- Prioritize yourself.
- The only way you can affect change is if you do things differently.
- Imposter syndrome happens to everyone. Rise above it.
- You have a right to be in charge.
So many nuggets of wisdom, don’t you agree? If you’re interested in seeing more content from the 2017 Inc. Women’s Summit you can check out the below video resources from Inc. magazine. I highly recommend taking part in it when it becomes available. We can’t wait to participate again!
- Self-Made Billionaire Sara Blakely on How She Overcomes Failure
- How 3 Female Experts Negotiate Strategically In Every Situation
- What 1 Entrepreneur Did When She Discovered She Had Cancer
- 3 Big Money Mistakes Experts Made–And How to Avoid Them
- Kevin O’Leary Goes In-Depth on Why He Prefers to Invest in Women-Led Companies
