Yesterday was International Women’s Day and there was no better way to spend it then surrounded by inspiring women at both the Women in Business  Conference, which celebrated its 10^th year, followed by #StartupWomen Talks.

I have a lot of pictures and so much to share about the day so I’m just going to keep it to a few learning points per speaker.

Women in Business Conference:

Be Your Own Hero – Jolene Hung, Investment Consultant at Investors Group:

“Money isn’t everything but without it, you can’t do much of anything”

First, big shout out to Investors Group for being the Title sponsor of the event and to Tatyana Burylova, Award-Winning Consultant – Regional 2018 FACES Magazine of Ottawa Award for ‘Favourite Financial Planner’, for the invitation.

• Jolene’s talk focused on the discussion of “What is Enough?” and women’s struggle to think and feel that they are enough – “Good Enough is the New Perfect”
• The seeds have been planted in us for a reason, we are enough, we have enough, and we need to share what we have
• She left us with a tool, to learn what our advantages are and how to leverage those into a personal brand- http://www.howtofascinate.com/personal-branding

Falling into the Rhythm of Life-Life Lessons Straight from the Horse’s Mouth – Sharon Campbell Rayment, international speaker and author:

“Things that matter the most should never be at the mercy of things that matter the least”

• Sharon talked about the traumatic brain injury she sustained following a horseback riding accident, and what she learned about beating the odds, being resilient, and how important it is to be present.
• She talked about getting rid of the “Itty bitty shitty committee” that lives in our heads and prevents us from being present and letting go
• She gave us a tool – meditation in motion using a Harmony Labyrinth
  • Doing this exercise simultaneously uses both sides of your brain
  • It helps you move from Beta waves (energy) down to theta waves (calm)
  • It engages the prefrontal cortex of the brain, the executive function or part of your brain that helps with problem solving and will power

 

Everything is Energy – As Above, So Below: Transform Yourself inside & out Using Ancient Wisdom Teachings – Jennifer Jane Clark, Transformation and Turnaround Specialist

“Her courage was her crown and she wore it like a queen”

• Jennifer talked about using energy and intuition and how courage is about the ability to speak one’s mind by telling all one’s heart
• She spoke about looking back at past patterns to identify what your triggers and unmet needs are in order to figure out how to move forward
• She guided the room in an Future Self Meditation, a technique used for thousands of years by Shaman

Women’s Financial Weak Spots: Research-Based Answers and Solutions – Doris Belland, Financial Literacy Educator, Author, and Speaker, Founder of Your Financial Launchpad:

 “It’s okay to delegate, not to abdicate”

“Wealth is the source of financial resiliency, not income”

• This was a financial session with lots of information so to see a lot of the details Doris talked about please see the picture collage below
• She went through her Know-Make-Manage-Grow model
• Doris focuses on facts that are demonstrably true – when she surveyed women about their confidence in their ability to make money they scored pretty high 8/10; however, after further discussions and digging she realized that while they were confident in their ability they were less confident in their ability to execute
• There’s a need to tackle self-limiting beliefs around money
  • low expectations for income manifest as money patterns
  • What’s the underlying belief? Is it demonstrably true?
  • Be kinder to yourself
• When it came to managing money she found that women were good at the day to day management of money but had no strategic approach, dealing with situations on a more adhoc basis – for this she recommends value based planning:
  • Take your top values
  • Set your goals based on your values
  • Spending drives goals – there’s no more question of should we; just ask is what I’m spending on in line with my values?
• When it came to growing money through investment this is where women had the most trouble, the average confidence rating for investing was 4.4/10, because they are involved in the talk but not the execution

Jana Dybinski, VP of Marketing & Culture at REBEL.com:

• Jana talked about transforming the culture at REBEL and the importance of Neurolinguistic programming – Our words shape our beliefs, our beliefs shape our actions
• If you’re in a place where you’re stuck use the words “up until now”

Samantha Dreiling, Holistic Entrepreneur:

“It’s about how may I serve, not sell”

• Samantha spoke about authentic empowerment in connecting with the customer
  • List of things that you love about yourself
  • List of values your business/service has to offer
  • Statement of what you want to grow into
  • View your future self

Breaking the Mold – Lesley Lawrence, Senior Vice President, Financing & Consulting BDC Ontario and National sponsor for the Bank’s Women Entrepreneur Initiative

• Lesley Lawrence talked about the funding and programs that BDC provides to women entrepreneurs and moderated a panel on women in the manufacturing business – look out for future resource posts related to BDC tools.

Marketing & Branding in Our Digital Age – Hana Abaza, Head of Marketing at Shopify Plus+:

• For details on this talk, see the photo collage below

Leadership and Entrepreneurship – Manjit Minhas, Co-Founder & Co-Owner of Minhas Breweries, Distilleries, and Wineries, & Co-Star on CBC’s Dragon’s Den:

“You don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate”

• Manjit spoke about her journey into becoming the Co-Founder & Co-Owner of Minhas Breweries with her brother
• Some of the key take a ways from her talk were:
  • Find and be a mentor
  • The power of negotiation
  • There’s no elevator to success, you have to take the stairs

My Day ended at Kivuto Solutions for #StartupWomen Talks where I heard Eva Lau, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Two Small Fish Ventures and Jennifer Flanagan, President and CEO of Actua, talk about Diversity. All in all, a perfect cap to a perfect day of inspiring women.