The Q&A—On Mentors and Role Models in STEM Fields
With Arm’s Liana Nicklaus
With Arm’s Liana Nicklaus“If you care deeply about an issue and want to see it improve, whether that’s women’s professional development or something completely different, it’s time to get to work, because it’s not going to happen without you.”
Q: Which people have been your most important mentors and role models throughout your life?
As a kid, my most important role models were my parents. I learned how to advocate for myself and speak in a professional manner by overhearing my mom’s conference calls and having long talks with her in the car while she drove me around to after-school activities. My dad passed down his passion for science and engineering through many evenings and weekends spent running experiments with my sister and I in the kitchen sink, taking us to science camp, and helping us with math homework. Read More
The Q&A—On Striking a Healthy Work-Life Balance
With Liberty Mutual’s Amy O’Neill
With Liberty Mutual’s Amy O’Neill“Looking back, I would want a mentor to tell me that there is no magic formula to the work-life balance. The key is to find a healthy balance that enables you to be your best at work and at home, which will allow you to experience a fulfilling career.”
Q: What was your dream job as a kid and why?
I wanted to be a teacher. Growing up with nine siblings, I remember playing “school” with my younger brothers and creating tests and homework assignments; I loved the idea of running my own classroom (or bossing my brothers around!)
Q: Today, you have an enormous job—being someone who is responsible for driving strategy and the execution of health and welfare benefits and well-being programs for nearly 50,000 people. What is one of the most valuable and perhaps surprising lessons in leadership that has enabled you to do what you do? Read More
July 2019 News
This edition of the TX Conference for Women newsletter was published July 9, 2019. Subscribe to our email list to hear from inspiring speakers and get tips on improving your life & career every month!
Three Rewarding Ways to Unleash Your Career Now
We have three offerings this month about how to fast-track your career: Play to your human strengths. (AI can’t replace those!) Don’t let fear of failure hold you back. (More people than you imagine survived a massive failure before making it to the C-Suite.) And think about networking like going to the gym. (We’ll explain.) Read More
Shawn Achor Shares the Single Greatest Predictor of Success, Happiness and Longevity
Shawn Achor, one of the world’s leading experts on the connection between success and happiness, told 7,500 women at this month’s 2018 Texas Conference for Women that his latest research “validates the entire reason you’re here today.”
“Social connection, which is created by being here, is the greatest predictor of long-term happiness and the greatest long-term predictor of success,” Achor said. “What we have just found out is that it is also as predictive of how long you will live as obesity, high blood pressure, or smoking.”
Achor’s new findings build on his prior research that revealed: Read More
Brené Brown Inspires 7,500 Texas Women with Talk About Courageous Leadership
In her most recent research project, Brené Brown asked 150 leaders one big question:
What does the future of leadership look like? Or, as she put it before an audience of 7,500 at the Texas Conference for Women this November: Who will still be standing, and who will be gone, in five years from now? Read More
Three Real Women Talk About What the TX Conference for Women Means to Them
Our friends at KVUE produced a great short video featuring attendees of the Texas Conference for Women!
Check it out:
2018 Volunteer Information
All volunteer spots have been filled for the 2018 conference and the waiting list has reached capacity as well. This page is a resource for volunteers who have signed up for the 2018 conference. Read More
BIG NEWS: The Power of Us, Quantified in HBR
We’re proud to have made it into the Harvard Business Review today, in an article by happiness researcher and Conference for Women veteran Shawn Achor.
You can read the full article here, but here are our main takeaways:
- People can be cynical about the utility of women’s professional conferences. Achor’s [male] seatmate on a recent flight said “I’m all for equality, but I’m not sure what good it will do.”
- What good CAN it do? Achor spoke with fellow happiness researcher Michelle Gielan, and the two decided to survey attendees in advance of the 2017 Conferences for Women in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Texas.
- They wanted to know what, if any, financial or intellectual impacts could be measured among attendees.
- They surveyed 2,600 women, using prior attendees to study outcomes and first-time attendees as a control group.
- Among attendees who had never attended the Conference, 18% had received a promotion over the past year. During the same economic period, 42% of women who had attended the Conference received a promotion.
- The likelihood of receiving a promotion doubled after attending the Conference for Women.
- 5% of women in the control group received a pay increase of more than 10% compared to 15% of women who had attended the Conference.
- Attendees of the Conference for Women had triple the likelihood of a 10%+ pay increase.
- 71% of prior attendees reported that they “feel more connected to others.” Achor’s book Big Happiness argues that social connection is the greatest predictor of success and happiness, and tangentially leads to longer, healthier lives.
- 29% of prior attendees reported that they “agree a lot” with the statement “I feel happier.” 78% of prior attendees reported feeling “more optimistic about the future” than before the Conference. 25% of prior attendees reported that they “agree a lot” with the statement “I feel more capable of handling stress in a positive way.”
“Laurie Dalton White, founder of the Conferences for Women, adds ‘Something special happens when you see that you are not alone. Making connections and building relationships with other attendees and speakers helps women form an understanding of their worth, and then they learn strategies to ask for promotions, seek fair pay, and even become a mentor to others.
Shawn Achor and Michelle Gielan
‘We invite women like Michelle Obama and Sheryl Sandberg to speak at our conferences not just because of their own personal success stories, but because they are role models who inspire women in both big and small ways.'”
Achor and Gielan’s findings suggest that business leaders ought to encourage employees to find social connections in a professional context.
The result may be a happier and healthier workforce.
The Statesman Cap10K: Give Yourself a Round of Applause in 2018
Runners at last year’s race
By Jeff Simecek, Director, Statesman Cap10K Race Read More
2017 Author Signing Schedule
Book signings will take place in the Exhibit Hall, next to the on-site bookstore.
9:45 – 10:15 am
Mallika Chopra (signing in HomeAway booth #729, Tech Pavilion)
Adam Grant
Anita Hill
J Kelly Hoey
Read More