One of the best things I have done in my business life is to become a member of the EWomenNetwork (http://www.eWomenNetwork.com). It is an organization for Women Entrepreneurs and it is the #1 resource for connecting and promoting women and their businesses worldwide. We also help women access needed resources and create business relationships that move from interactions to transactions.
From June 7-10th, I joined 2000 other DARING, DETERMINED AND DYNAMIC women who gathered for an International Conference & Business Expo in Dallas, Texas. It was an awesome, educational, and highly informative conference.
Sandra Yancey, the Founder and CEO of eWomenNetwork, and the author of Relationship Networking: The Art of Turning Contacts into Connections opened the conference with powerful messages about how women can support each other in business and become highly successful together. Through the eWomenNetwork Foundation Sandra provides many ways for our members to reach out beyond their own companies to support women who are developing new businesses and who are new to the United States. I strongly encourage you to read more about their programs and success stories on http://www.ewomennetwork.com/foundation.html.
On the first day of the conference “The Drum Café” from Johannesburg in South Africa opened our conference. The Drum Café enables people to appreciate the value of working together and creating common ground through drumming. Imagine 2,000 women drumming together! Within the first two minutes, the joy of all of us drumming together spread like wildfire! Through the drumming we began to awaken to the wonderful benefits of entrepreneurial women working together and supporting each other's success.
Patricia Russell-McCloud, the author of A is for Attitude, shared her spiritual wit and wisdom and emphasized the importance of forming strategic alliances and working together as teams. Tory Johnson, from Women For Hire and Workplace Contributor on Good Morning America (http://www.womenforhire.com), reinforced the importance of passion and curiosity – immerse yourself fully in your job, have passion for what you do, and never be afraid to ask for help. For her expertise in coaching women to ask for-and-get-salary increases, Glamour magazine dubbed Johnson the “raise fairy godmother”.
On Saturday we participated in “Wisdom Circle” groups. We shared our challenges with our group and invited other women to make recommendations and share their “wisdom” with us. It was such a powerful exercise and I highly recommend that you do this with your colleagues, family, friends or support groups. Never forget to thank people for sharing their wisdom!
On Sunday, we had two distinguished keynote speakers, Carly Fiorina and Stedman Graham. Fiorina, the former CEO of computer giant Hewlett Packard, is one of the most celebrated woman executives in the business world. She engaged us with her fascinating and powerful career stories, beginning from when at age 23 she was a law school drop-out and had no idea what to do with her life, up through her being named by Fortune magazine as one of the most powerful women in business. I drew special inspiration from her message that “Each time you endure, and stay true to yourself, you become stronger and better.”
Stedman Graham is an entrepreneur and a management and marketing consultant. We received so many inspiring messages from Stedman, and I will share a few: Do not be a slave or feel like a second hand citizen. You can make it happen. Be the best you can. If you cannot be the sun, be a star. We limit our potential by moving in our own small circles – get out and network! Steadman Graham's message that “if you cannot be the sun, be a star” particularly resonated with me as a South African woman who immigrated to the United States, because it helped me appreciate how we can be highly successful while adjusting to the challenges of life in a new country and an exciting new culture.
Throughout the conference distinguished speakers shared with us their wisdom, and encouraged us to set realistic and challenging goals and always have a plan – a life-, business-, marketing-, and a back-up plan. When you move to a new country, generate a plan to actively embrace your new culture, systems, people, schools and your daily life. Have a “grand to-do-list” handy and you will adjust more quickly and enjoyably.
Most of all, I encourage all of you to believe in yourself and to live your dreams. Do something daring. Believe in your dreams, and new paths and relationships will open up for you.
