I'm getting super excited about the upcoming Know Your Worth Women's Leadership conference coming up on September 27. This will be the fourth year for this empowering conference and the third year I've been co-chair with Denise Sherman. I think it may just be the best one yet.
We have incredible speakers. I told you about our keynote speakers Tiffany Pham and Myrne Roe in a previous newsletter. As I've been working on the agenda for the conference, I am struggling to pick which breakout sessions I'll attend. They all look too good to miss! Check out all the speakers here.
We still have tickets, and they're going fast! Register here right now. The cost to attend is extremely reasonable at $79 for a full day of empowerment and knowledge. You'll also receive a copy of Ms. Pham's book, "Girl Mogul." You can keep the book for yourself or share the inspiration by passing it along to a young woman in your life.
We have many companies that send their employees to this conference together. If you're interested in bringing your team to this event, let me know, and I can help you register multiple people at a time. Invest in yourself, or ask your company to invest in you, to attend this conference.
The knowledge you gain from attending is valuable - the connections you make networking with other Modern Women is invaluable. Here's what I had to say about it after co-chairing the conference the first year in an abridged version of this article.
Worthy Women's Club
You know, I'm just no good at saying "no." I have been working on it, from strategies I've learned from the "Saying No" class we offer from time to time at the Finishing School.
I am making progress. I think part of the problem is that I have a "fear of missing out," otherwise known as FoMO, which is such a common issue, scientists have studied it. Even when I was a child, I never wanted to go to bed, concerned that I'd miss out on something good. I still stay up too late.
So, when Denise Sherman, chair of the Know Your Worth Women's Leadership Conference asked me to be co-chair of this year's conference, I really had to think about it. I'd already written the email in my head, declining the offer, when I ran into Denise at the Wichita Chamber of Commerce's Honors Night.
Denise and me taking a victory lap at the end of the 2017 conference
The more I thought about it, the more I realized it was something too good to say "no" to. I was right. Collaborating with a team of 15 dedicated, influential, brilliant women was a gratifying experience. So much so, I agreed to do it again!
One of the things I like most about bringing women together for events, like our classes at the Finishing School and this conference, is the magic that happens when we're all together. Connecting with other women to exchange ideas, solve problems, work on ourselves, and laugh is powerful.
At the conference, I saw women open up and share their thoughts with complete strangers, to walk away, feeling stronger and more connected as sisters.
As we mature and get busier, it's harder to make and maintain female friendships. I think this happens for lots of reasons, and usually more than one.
Women who had close female friends when they were younger, lose touch with these friends when marriage, babies, and life become a more significant part of their lives.
Since girls can be very competitive and cruel growing up, some women have been burned more times by so-called "girlfriends" than any man. They gave up trying to have close women friends.
Women lose touch with women work friends when they change jobs, and don't find the time to keep up with these friends when they aren't at work together anymore.
Some women felt more comfortable with their male friends when they were younger and never forged close relationships with other women.
Moving to other cities for work or marriage takes women away from the friends they grew up with. Finding the time and resources to make new friends, besides ones at work, gets harder when we're busy with our careers.
As we get older, and we lose our close long-time friends. We aren't sure where to go to make new ones, as if a new friend could ever give the same depth and history as the one we've lost.
Could these reasons be why we isolate ourselves and give up on relationships that go beyond acquaintances?
But what this ignores, is that we need each other. That taking the risk of being vulnerable and asking someone out on a "girlfriend date" is so worth the effort!
Because, as we get older, we need our sisters more than ever.
They are there for us in crisis and celebration - divorces, deaths, and loss; good times, successes, and minor miracles. Our women friends inspire, encourage, and support us to take big risks and to know when to say enough is enough. They slap us back to reality when we need it and help us navigate this crazy time on earth we call life.
If it weren't for my sisters, I couldn't have accomplished much of what I've achieved or thrived through the crushing blows I've been dealt.
Look at this powerful network!
We need a network of women in our professional lives too. Men have the "Good Old Boys" club. These are relationships that men forge outside the boardroom, usually on golf courses, country clubs, sporting events, and private clubs, like fraternities. This is where business gets done, and decisions are made on who will be successful and who will not.
Unfortunately, these are places where women usually aren't included, keeping us from serious business transactions and conversations.
As women, we need to come together and support each other too. But rather than our club being about excluding people, let's make our club about empowering each other and lifting each other up.
Instead of an Old Boys Club, we can have a Worthy Women's Club!
This isn't an organization you can join. This is an informal coming together of women who can help each other be more successful. Just like finding "mentors," we have to find the right fit; women we can collaborate with. We have to put ourselves out there, work together, and see who we click with.
A big part of mastering how to say "no," is knowing when to say "yes." Agreeing to co-chair this conference has helped me find new members for my own Worthy Women's Club. I'm excited to collaborate with them again for the conference next year and beyond.
Join us and make new connections,
Headmistress Jill
The Finishing School for Modern Women, located in Wichita, Kansas, offers classes to help women find their authentic selves; not because we need finishing, but because we’re never finished. We bring together women of all ages, to learn from experts and each other, how to claim our power in business, finance, communication, and life. To learn more about our live classes visit https://www.finishingschoolformodernwomen.com or https://schoolmodwomen.com/ for our online classes and free social membership.