A delegation of People Pattern women attended the 14th annual Texas Conference for Women. The conference, hosted by the First Lady Anita Perry, is the largest women’s conference in the state and is focused on providing a venue for education, inspiration and networking for Texas women.
The full-day event played host to an audience of 6,000 that enjoyed presentations from Tamara Mellon, formerly CEO and CCO of Jimmy Choo, swimming phenom Diana Nyad, award winning journalist Soledad O’Brien, Pulitzer Prize winner Sheryl WuDunn and Debbie Sterling, founder and CEO of GoldieBlox—the groundbreaking toy company encouraging young girls involvement in engineering. Over the course of the #TXConfWomen, folks from around the state connected with like minded individuals to celebrate leadership, equality, creativity and innovation with a star-studded roster of influential female leaders.
Aside from the keynotes, one of my favorite sessions was “Inside High-Tech Culture: How to Belong Without Giving Up Your Values”. The panel encouraged women in technology and was sponsored by Freescale, hosted by Karen Rapp, CIO at the company. Panelists included Kimberly Bryant, founder of Black Girls Code, Debbie Sterling, and Renee Mitchell, VP Global Distribution Sales at Freescale. Each panelist brought a unique perspective to the session, but common to each woman’s message was a strong emphasis on taking risks, staying confident, and nurturing creativity.
1. Take Risks
Debbie shared her experience starting GoldieBlox, punctuating the story by asserting that, “when you think you’re not going to get it, push a little further and you probably will”. Risks come in all shapes and sizes, and require a certain amount of courage. Over the course of the panel, each woman shared her own experiences with risk, and the emphasis the incredible pay off in the form of experience, education and opportunity.
2. Keep Confident
The women emphasized the importance of confidence. Taking risks requires confidence and accepting comfort with discomfort. Freescale’s Renee Mitchell told stories of being the only female in a male dominated world could at times be uncomfortable. However, her confidence in the value of her perspective empowered her to rise through the ranks at a time when few women did. Mitchel shared that when she didn’t have all the answers, she was confident enough in her experience to ask for help: “You don’t have to know everything, but you’re going to have experience enough to know how to ask.”
3. Nurture Creativity
Creativity is the result of confidence in ability and openness to taking risks. Each panelist was confident enough to take risks and try new things in order to pursue passions and dreams. In her story about founding Black Girls Code, Kimberly Bryant shared how she approached the problem of women in tech–specifically women of color in tech. She founded the organization with the aim of providing young women with role models and the tools to succeed in an industry that had yet to be conquered by women. With an open mind, Bryant founded the organization and works with thousands of young women and girls to encourage them to become leaders in the technology space.
These three tips really resonated with me. Although offered in the unique context of the conference, the suggestions transcend beyond the female experience within the tech industry and are applicable to a much wider world. Advertising and marketing are changing, and in order to be in the position for the most success, it’s important for industry professionals to feel empowered to be bold.
At People Pattern, we work with marketing professionals, strategists and analysts to provide the data to support innovative campaigns and creative endeavors. In a world where metrics matter, data takes the uncertainty out of risk, informs confident strategies, and empowers creatives with tools for more informed marketing.
Interested in learning how you can embolden your business? Email us or request a demo to learn more about the benefits of deep audience intelligence.
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