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Event Summary: Get Business Done on Instagram

28/4/2018

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Source: Femigrants
Another great event hosted by Femigrants, 'Get Business Done on Instagram' training at the Instagram HQ on April 26, 2018.
 
Event Highlights
  • Focus: Instagram Training for Femigrant Business Owners
  • Website: http://www.femigrants.org/ | Facebook: @femigrants |Twitter:@Femigrants| Instagram: @femigrants_foundation, #gbdoi, #femigrants
  • Format:  Networking, Training
  • Attendees: Female founders, Business Women
  • Topics: Tips and tricks to promote your business on Instagram.
  • Flow: The evening kicked off with a lovely tour of the Instagram HQ, Introductions and getting to know the ladies. We then had a lovely dinner and continued with the excellent training.
 
Highlighting Female founders
Check out the vast diversity of businesses the ladies represented:
  • Jessica Phan, Hathorway, Jewelry and accessories made from sustainable material.
  • Daria Tsvenger, Supergirls Club, Online health, and wellness community.
  • Virginia M. Blanco,  NYMPH San Francisco, All natural personal care.
  • Azita Moayeri, D & D Jewelry, Fine jewelry.
  • Anna Seslavinskaya, Be Unicorn, Product design and development for startups, enterprise, and celebrities.
  • Zahra Heidari, belletrendi , Fitness motivation on Instagram.
  • Aijin Deng, Cupertino-Nanning Friendship City Association.
  • Marie-Christin Anthony, MarieChristin Anthony, Coaching and Consulting for professional immigrant women.
 
My Objectives – why did I attend this event?
  • Meet other female founders and learn about their businesses.
  • Learn how to do business on Instagram.
 
Key Insights – what did I learn? 
Services offered by Femigrants
This event was the second Femigrants event I attended. I was amazed to discover the free services Femigrants offers in addition to the valuable community of female immigrants.
Femigrants provide key resources for success, free of charge: online marketing services for business owners; professional networking meet-ups; online live interviews to increase exposure for new and aspiring business owners, and a coaching-mentorship program for aspiring professionals.
I encourage you to join the community and enjoy the services offered.
 
Instagram for your Business
Until I attended the training, I was not aware of how much Instagram can help me grow my business. The statistics shared that 80% of Instagram users follow at least one business convinced me that I need a business page on Instagram.
Four useful tools for a business that Instagram provides include:
  • Business Profile - present your business and share updates in a visually compelling way.
  • Messaging - the ability for your customers to contact you directly and vice versa.
  • Insights - get valuable information about your customers and followers.
  • Promote - increase your reach with the help of Ads on Instagram.
For more information on doing business on Instagram check out: Stand out with Instagram and get Instagram for Business Training. Get inspired by the Instagram Business blog.
 
Tips & Tricks: Using Instagram Stories
Instagram stories offer much value for businesses as well as fun features. Stories can help a business gain more customers and bring traffic to their content. It provides a more personable experience with a brand, product or service.
For more information take the Bring Your Business Story to Life With Instagram Stories training.
 
Supporting each other's Business
It was great to learn more about the other great female-founded businesses. As we shared more about our businesses, we identified different ways we can support one another. Above all the value I got from the training, seeing women support other women was a highlight for me. Let's build a community of businesswomen who support each other's businesses.
 
Sharing our knowledge
As female immigrants, we can all benefit from each other's knowledge and experiences. In the training, we had female immigrants who had been in the US for six months to over 40 years. There was a lot of information exchange. Equip yourself with as much information as you can to make your journey more comfortable and share your knowledge.
 
Final Thoughts
  • Attend as many valuable events as you can. Let's continue to build a community.
  • I look forward to attending other events organized by Femigrants and meeting great women.
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Event Summary: Women's Global Leadership Workshop

26/4/2018

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Attending the Women's global leadership workshop on April 20, 2018, was a highlight of my Events series. I gathered a lot of practical tools and tips for my toolkit. I am excited to share my Insights with you.
 
Event Highlights
  • Focus: Take Charge of Your Life and Invest in Yourself
  • Website: https://wgli.org/ | Facebook: @WGLI08  | Instagram: @wgliorg  | Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/women's-global-leadership-initiative/
  • Format: Keynote, Working sessions.
  • Attendees: Students, Female leaders, Entrepreneurs
  • Topics:
    • Women as Leaders - What makes a powerful leader?
    • Personal Experience and its Impact on Developing Leadership skills
    • Identifying Your Personal Vision and Mission
    • How to Sell Yourself - Tools for Self-Branding
  • Event Page: https://wgli.org/event-list/?eid=10856
 
My Objectives – why did I attend this event?
  • Gather tools and resources for my development as a leader
  • Define my next phase as a leader
  • Learn tips for Self-branding
  • Formulate my personal mission and vision statement
 
Key Insights – what did I learn? 
Women supporting women
Diana Ruiz kicked off the event with a powerful statement "Equity starts when women support women.” Cristina Trujillo crystalized this point by saying Surround yourself with women supported and allies.
Imagine how much stronger we will be with stronger networks. My mission for “Her Perspective” is to build a community of women who support one another on their journey. Encourage the women around you and help them grow. Someone will do the same for you.
 
Know your worth and your contribution
Most women don’t know their worth and their investment. Recognizing your worth and your contribution is essential. If you do not believe in yourself and your cause, how can you expect others to believe in you? Start by knowing your strengths and weaknesses.
I  recently wrote a blog post titled  Know your worth! sharing my insights. Knowing what you are worth, and what you bring to the table will help you ask for the pay you deserve. Acknowledging your achievements will make you more fulfilled.
 
Prioritize your self-care
Cristina Trujillo hit the nail on the head with this point - "Make self-care a non-negotiable priority." Danielle DeRuiter-Williams shared the importance of taking care of yourself, knowing what you need and asking for it. She shared her experience in one of the most trying times of her life where she reached out to her closest friends for support. I used to be very good about taking care of myself, ensuring I got what I needed intellectually, physically, emotionally and spiritually to feel and be my best. However, in 2017 I got carried away with work and neglected my self-care. This led to me not being my best physically and in my relationship. I decided to prioritize my self-care this year. Whatever self-care means to you, please prioritize your self-care. You need to be whole to do the great things you are destined to do.
 
Simple self-branding
Nancy Marmolejo shared a simple way of communicating your strengths to the world through your brand statement. Nancy defined self-branding as a "process of establishing a truthful and authentic image or impression of who you are in the minds of others."
  1. Describe what you do with power words (verbs). My top five power words were: Connect, Empower, Organize, Counsel, Plan.
  2. Then formulate your statement: I (power word) (who or what) so they can (result). One of my statements was "I connect women to people and resources they need so they can be successful professionally.”
 
Who are the women you admire and why?
Rachel Harrelson took us through an exercise of thinking about why we admire some female leaders.  When we were asked to identify women whom we admire, we go to the Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama and so on. Try to list women you know personally.
Three things to consider when you chose women you admire:
  1. Choose women leaders close to you. It will help you feel their success is more attainable for you.
  2. Formulate statements about the women you identified - She is successful because of her….
  3. What qualities does she have? Look at your list; these are qualities you aspire to have.
 
My Next Steps - What am I going to do?
  • Keep working on my personal brand as I grow and develop.
  • Continue building a community of women who support one another.
  • Prioritize self-care as I transition into my next phase.
 
 Final Thoughts
  • Know who you are- your worth and your brand.
  • Tell your story the way you want to tell it.
  • Getting out there and attending events has been a great experience. Check out my other event summaries.

About the Speakers

Diana Ruiz - CEO Women's Global Leadership Initiative.
Danielle DeRuiter-Williams - Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Specialist and Organizational Development Strategist
Cristina Trujillo - Founder & Executive Producer at Reigniting Empowered Expressiveness & Motivation.
Nancy Marmolejo - Personal Branding, Leadership, Diversity. Executive Coaching for Executives, Teams, Entrepreneurs.
 
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How to get the most value from Events

14/4/2018

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As part of my orientation plan for 2018, I set a goal to attend more events this year. In the past months, I have worked towards my goal by attending 14 diverse events. Also, I started sharing some of my learnings on my Events blog posts.
After sharing my insights, I got questions about how I find, why I attend and the value I get from these events. I am excited to share my knowledge on how I select, prepare, participate in and wrap-up events. I get great value from events, and I want you to get value too.
 
Phase 1: Selecting an event
It is essential to spend time selecting events. I would encourage you to be very intentional about the events you attend as you are investing your valuable time and resources.
What is your objective?
Be clear on what you want to get from an event before you attend it. Some reasons I attend events include networking, meeting new people, sharing my ideas, learning something new, discovering trends in my industry as well as expanding my perspective.
What type of events are you interested in?
Know the topic areas that interest you and where you need growth. My focus areas are primarily women in leadership, women in tech, professional development, career advancement, entrepreneurship, social media, client acquisition and financial empowerment.
What events are coming up in your area?
Start your search on popular platforms for upcoming events that match your objectives and interest areas. Platforms I use regularly include ticket websites such as Eventbrite, company websites, networking websites like meetup and other sources.
What is your selection criteria?
It is crucial to have simple criteria that help you select events wisely. Personally, I recommend the following selection criteria.
  • Topics - Is this an area that interests you? Should you be interested in this topic?
  • Speakers - Are they people you know? Are they known experts in their field?
  • Price - How much are you willing to pay for an event to make it valuable?
 
Phase 2: Preparing for an event
Personally, I have discovered that I get the most value from an event when I prepare before I attend it. The time spent on preparing for events differs depending on my investment. Some activities I recommend you do in preparation for events include:
  • Research event description, topics, and agenda.
  • Check out speakers on LinkedIn and their work.
  • Invite friends to accompany you or look for people in your network who might be interested in attending.
  • Outline 3-5 objectives for the event.
 
Phase 3: Participating in the event
You are prepared and want to get value from the event now let's discuss things to do at the event.
  • Ask questions and contribute - Be an active participant.
  • Network - meet people, exchange business cards, add people on LinkedIn.
  • Take notes - you want to be able to refer to your learnings at a later stage.
  • Share on social media - this is new, and I am on a learning journey.
 
Phase 4: Wrapping up after the event
As a project manager, I have learned that it is essential to spend time reflecting and wrapping up an event afterwards. My learnings are amplified when I do the following after the events I attend:
  • Check if event met your objectives.
  • Summarize learnings and next steps.
  • Share your experience with friends or colleagues - I recently started sharing in my Events blog posts.
  • Plan your next event.
 
Call to action
  • Find an event in your area of interest around you and attend.
  • Apply my tips and adapt accordingly.
  • Please share your experience with me.
 
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Event Summary: Empowered - Women's Leadership Summit 2018

29/3/2018

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Source: http://www.theexpatwoman.com/empowered/
Event Highlights
  • Focus: Celebrate Rising Stars and Women Leaders on International Women's Day
  • Website: http://www.theexpatwoman.com/empowered/ | Facebook: @THEEXPATWOMAN | Instagram: theexpatwomanus, #LeadOnTEW
  • Format: Keynote, Panels Discussions with Q&A
  • Attendees:  Expat Women - Professional, Founders, and Entrepreneurs
  • Topics:  Advice for Professionals and Entrepreneurs, Showcases of women-owned business, Financial empowered and education as well as Technological Innovation
 
My Objectives – why did I attend this event?
  • Learn valuable lessons from female founders and business owners.
  • Get tips to set up my business to be successful.
  • Expand my view on investing money and personal finance
  • Network and make new connections
  • Getting to know “The Expat Woman” platform
 
Key Insights – what did I learn? 
Let me start by saying the day was packed full of great insights. I paired down my list to highlight my key lessons.
 
4 Pillars for professional success
Sejal Patel shared the four pillars that have brought her professional success as part of her Keynote address.
  1. Grit - You get grit if you do not shy away from challenging experiences.
  2. Mastery - Strive to be in a place where work intersects with your passion.
  3. Emotional Quotient - How we treat people will determine how far we will go.
  4. Relationships - To be successful you need genuine relationships. Have a tribe, mentors, and sponsors.
 
Keep learning - To win in your profession
Maira Benjamin shared great insights on the importance of continuous learning and staying current on developments in your field. To show how important learning is, Sima Patel said: "Gain knowledge to overcome your challenges" and shared her story on how she learned about an area to cross barriers she faced.
 
Power of building your network
Meral Arik presented three great points about Networks
  1. Increases the effectiveness of what you do - multiply the impact.
  2. Build strength – Benefit from the power above yourself.
  3. Enhances your knowledge - share your perspective while you learn.
 
Women lift-up women
We need to change the narrative of women pulling down other women. The speakers had a theme they mentioned women who helped them on their journey. We were encouraged us to encourage women around us and share our knowledge to support other’s growth.
 
We need a support system
In various sessions throughout the day, the speakers inspired us to build a support system of your friends, mentors, and sponsors. You do not have to travel on your journey alone. You will win more with a great community.
A good support system will:
  • Encourage you when you are down or afraid to take a step.
  • Challenge your thoughts before you make a big mistake.
  • Celebrate your successes.
 
My Next Steps - What am I going to do?
  • Continue building my support system.
  • Share insights on Financial success.
  • Expand my learning plan.
 
Final Thoughts
  • The most fabulous surprise for me at this event was the additional financial advice shared in "Investing in stocks" and "Planning your financial future" sessions. I will be writing detailed blog posts to expand on the great Insights shared.
  • Attending events will open your mind. Hearing other women share opened my mind to many possibilities.
  • Thanks to Nyna Pais Caputi and all the speakers for giving us so much.
  • Have you registered for an event?
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Event Summary: Femigrants of Silicon Valley

27/3/2018

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Source: http://www.femigrants.org/
What a way to spend my Thursday evening learning from great women at the 'Femigrants of Silicon Valley'- Forum of Female Immigrant Leaders event in San Francisco on March 22, 2018
 
Event Highlights
  • Focus: The event was celebrating the 1-year anniversary of the Femigrants platform.
  • Website: http://www.femigrants.org/  | Facebook: @femigrants | Instagram: #FOSV18 , #Femigrants
  • Format: Keynote, Panels Discussions with Q&A.
  • Attendees: Female immigrant entrepreneurs and professionals from many countries living in the San Francisco Bay area.
  • Topics: Be Your Own Boss, Own Your Career in Silicon Valley.
 
My Objectives – why did I attend this event?
  • Getting to know what the Femigrants platform is and the value it provides.
  • Networking and meeting other female immigrant entrepreneurs and leaders.
  • Gathering insights on entrepreneurship and building a platform.
 
Key Insights – what did I learn? 
Believe in yourself even when others do not believe in you
Beate Chelette, a fellow German immigrant, shared her life experience in the keynote. She shared stories of how people doubted her dating back to her years in middle school.
How many times have people doubted you and your skills? You will be successful if you persist and continue to believe in yourself even through difficult times, peoples doubt and even self-doubt. Personally, telling me, I cannot do something motivates me to do it and succeed. Don't let others discourage you and kill your dreams.
 
Be bold and take on opportunities
"Say hell yes to every opportunity that comes to you" was a phrase that Elena Krasnoperova shared that resonated with me.
After listening to Shonda Rhimes TED talk My year of saying yes, I challenged myself to say yes to more things and put myself out there. So, hearing Elena share her insights on saying yes was confirming the journey I am on. I am committed to put myself out there and say yes to things I will typically say no to because I am scared.
 
Trait to succeed - Be organized and visualize your plan
Kwanua Robinson's advice on the significant role being organized plays in being successful was very timely.
Being organized and having a plan has helped me progress in my own life. Having a plan should become the norm for everything you do in your personal, professional and business life. You will begin to see the outcomes you desire.
 
Entrepreneurs: Test your ideas first
Elena Krasnoperova shared great advice on testing your product with real users before you go all in.
In the process of developing your product, it is critical to test with real users. Before you make any significant investment in your product, you want to know that you have a user group.
 
General Advice:
The panelists and speakers shared some great advice that I would like to share with you.
  • Be mentors and mentees - you can help someone out there.
  • Strive for excellence in what you do and make sure everyone sees it - Market yourself.
  • Don't underestimate the help you can get from a stranger.
  • Prepare, have a plan before you go to speak to potential sponsors or investors.
  • Always ask questions - get to know what has worked for others.
 
My Next Steps - What am I going to do?
  • Continue saying yes to new opportunities this year.
  • Test the product/service that I am currently creating.
  • Make my mentorship program more official.
 
Final Thoughts
  • As female immigrants, we have a unique opportunity - Let's use our skills and experiences.
  • Women need to support other women - it starts with me.
  • Women are winning as founders - You can do it too.
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Event Summary: Women in Leadership Conference 2018

21/3/2018

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Source: https://www.wilconference.org/
I am very excited to kick-off my "Event Summary" series. As part of this series of blog posts, I will review events, conferences, round tables that I attend. This year, I decided to follow my advice and attend more events and grow my network.  Additionally, to increase the value, I get from visiting these events I will document and share my lessons and key insights from the events as well as my next steps I am committed to taking. Please join me on this great adventure.
 
Event Highlights
On Saturday, March 17th I attended the Women in Leadership (WIL) conference hosted by the Haas School of Business, Berkeley.
  • The theme of the conference was Evolve: Develop, Progress, Advance
  • Speakers were women from different levels of leadership and diverse fields such as Tech, Social Impact Entrepreneurship, Consulting, Legal, Finance, Academia, Leadership development.
  • Event Website: https://www.wilconference.org/ Twitter: #HaasWIL , Instagram: #haaswil
  • Session Formats: Keynotes, Panels, Workshops
 
My Objectives – why did I attend this event?
Going to the conference I had three objectives for attending this event were:
  1. Networking: Getting out there and meeting other women in leadership
  2. Awareness: Gaining insights on what other women like me are going through and talking about
  3. Practical Tips: Getting tips and learning from other successful women's experiences
 
Key Insights – what did I learn?
I took so many notes during the sessions and captured great insights. In my quest to focus, I will be sharing the top five lessons that stuck with me.
 
Value the skills you have
In her Progress keynote, Larissa Roesch shared a lot of great insights. The largest one that stuck with me was this question: "What else can I do with the skills I already have?"
In recent conversations with a lady close to me, we were discussing how much skills we have gathered and don't value. I believe that the value I bring today is a combination of the skills I have. We need to change our perspective on the skills we have and stop feeling like we are not enough. Start telling yourself - "I can do a lot with skills that I have."
 
We need "sponsors" in our professional life
"People with sponsors are 23% more like to move up in their career than those without, yet women and far less likely to have Sponsors". Source: WIL 2018 Handout
Over the course of the day, various speakers emphasized the importance and value of having a Sponsor for our professional advancement. I learned the great difference between having a "sponsor" vs. "mentor."  I did some research and found this definition - “A sponsor is someone in a position of power who uses his or her influence to advocate on your behalf” – Source: Forbes Article. I looked at my own professional life and noticed that I do not have a sponsor that speaks up for me at places that matter like promotion conversations.
 
There a massive gap for Women of color in leadership - We have a lot to do
"Women of color are underrepresented in the cooperate pipeline. 8%- Senior Manager/Director, 6% - Vice President, 4% - Senior Vice President, 3% in the C-Suite" (Source: McKinsey Women in the Workplace 2017 ). At the event Chloe Johnson, a McKinsey consultant shared the latest findings from the Women in the Workplace 2017 Study.
Only 3% - this is not acceptable.  The conversation is mostly around what other's around women in leadership positions can do to raise this number. We (Women of color in leadership positions) have a significant role in increasing the 3%. I am personally committed to identifying the steps I can personally take to be part of the group that raises that number.
I am hopeful because the study also says, "And yet: despite facing more pitfalls to advancement, women of color have higher ambitions to be a top executive than white women." (Source: McKinsey Women in the Workplace 2017)
 
On being and becoming a woman in leadership
Eve Chaurand shared the following key points on our role and responsibilities as women in leadership:
  1. Share your knowledge and promote learning within your teams
  2. Take on responsibility for the growth of others
  3. Continue to view themselves as leaders - it is a continuous process
  4. Create and belong to a leadership support group
 
Connecting dots build our life story
Over the course of the day, the Steve Jobs quote “You cannot connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” was mentioned a lot.
Larissa Roesch drove this point home for me when she told her story with the help of some key "dots" in her life that formed who she is today.
This one spoke to me personally. I have always struggled with telling my story because it felt a little disjointed and complex. From the way Larissa told her story I started identifying key experiences or dots in my life that make me the woman I am today. I did not always understand how they all fit together while I was going through them and some still don't make sense. However, now looking back I am beginning to connect some of my dots. Watch this space for MC's story: Connecting some dots.
 
My Next Steps: What am I going to do?
To increase the value of this event for me, I have identified the following action items:
  • Get a "Sponsor" at work and with my business.
  • BE a sponsor for another woman in my professional life.
  • Connect with the top leaders in my company.
  • Create/join a professional women's support group.
  • Value and market my skills.
  • Write my story - connecting the dots.
 
Final Thoughts
  • Big thanks to the planning team and all speakers for a Saturday well spent. I look forward to attending the WIL 2019.
  • There is a lot we can do as women in leadership positions.
  • Don't be discouraged - we are not alone on this journey, and we can support each other.
 
Call to Action
  • Attend a conference or event over the next three months and share your tips with us.
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