Breakout Recap Articles - Texas Conference for Women

5 Ways to Create the Career You Truly Want

1 March 2020

At 27, Erica Williams Simon came to an important recognition. She was “successful” but not happy.

“So, I did what we are never supposed to do—especially as women, especially as black women: We’re never supposed to quit. You don’t quit. Well yes, you do and I did,” she recently said.

What she discovered in the time of self-exploration that followed was that many cultural and generational narratives had shaped her idea of what it means to be successful that had nothing to do with what she actually wanted out of life.

Now, the woman who had been listed on several “30 under 30” lists as a rising political star and TV commentator, is on a mission to help others understand the cultural stories that shape their lives and create new ones that will lead them to the life they actually want.

The author of the 2019 book, You Deserve the Truth, Erica shared these five insights with the Conference for Women: Read More →

Want to Advance in Your Career? Try These 5 Ways to Make Yourself Known

28 February 2020

If people were promoted just for being great at their job, there would undoubtedly be more women in leadership roles. But while leaders need to continue to work to make workplaces more equitable, there are also things women can do to help advance their own careers—and one of the most important may be making yourself known.

At least, it certainly worked for Gabrielle Simpson Gambrell, who advanced from a production assistant role to the first black woman to become Vice President and Head of Marketing & Communications at Barnard College by the age of 27.

She recently shared five of her strategies with the Conference for Women community. Read More →

3 Ways to Use Technology to Make Your Life Easier

27 February 2020

Stephanie Humphrey is a Technology & Lifestyle Contributor at ABC News who considers it her job to show people how technology can make their jobs easier.

Here are three tips she shared with the Conference for Women community: Read More →

4 Money Tips to Help You Have More Time to Do What You Love

5 February 2020

Tonya Rapley, who Black Enterprise Magazine called the “New Face of Wealth Building,” is on a mission to help women break the cycle of living paycheck-to-paycheck and do more of what they love.

Author of The Money Manual and founder of My Fab Finance, Tonya offers these tips for making better decisions about money: Read More →

To Be a Great Boss, Focus on These Three Qualities

3 November 2019

If you’ve ever been told you won’t be able to get ahead if you’re too nice, Fran Hauser, author of The Myth of the Nice Girl, has news for you.

You don’t have to choose between kindness and strength. You only have to focus on how you communicate—which is more important today than ever. Read More →

Four Ways to Candidly Improve Your Work Relationships

2 November 2019

It can’t be fun to be pulled aside by Sheryl Sandberg, after giving what you think was a successful presentation to Google’s Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt, and be told that when you say “um” every third word, it makes you sound ignorant and stupid and you really should see a speech coach.

But Kim Scott, author of New York Times best-selling book, Radical Candor, was immensely grateful for the experience—because, after seeing that speech coach, she discovered she really did say “um” every third word; and after a career of giving talks, she felt like Sandberg was the first person to point out that she had a giant hunk of spinach between her teeth. Read More →

Proven Ways to Pioneer Equity and Diversity

7 October 2019

You might want to take a deep breath before you take this in:

At the rate we’re going, it will take another 202 years for women to be paid as much as men, according to the World Economic Forum.
The percent of women CEOs on the Fortune 500 list is still less than 7 percent—despite the fact that women represent 47 percent of the workforce.
And, it’s all worse for women of color (despite last month’s report that the majority of Americans now entering the work force are people of color, primarily women).

Now for the good news! Research is revealing what works—and what doesn’t—in efforts to give all women a fair shot at career advancement; and Lori Nishiura Mackenzie of Stanford University Clayman Institute for Gender Research knows what they are. Read More →

Stop Underestimating Yourself

7 October 2019

Before being interviewed for the position of president of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards thought she was unqualified and should just skip it. Uncertain what to do, she called her mom, the late former Governor of Texas, Ann Richards. Never one to mince her words, the elder Richards said simply: “Get it together.” Read More →

Don’t Play the Weather Girl if You Want to Be the VP

6 September 2019

A woman gets into an elevator. She’s a hard-working executive who comes to the office early every day. One day, the CEO gets into the elevator with her. She freezes, afraid to talk and afraid not to talk. So, she chats about the weather.

Another day, she’s riding the elevator when the CEO steps in again. But this time, a male colleague also gets in, shakes the CEO’s hand, introduces himself and says: “We just had a great meeting with a new client we were pitching the other day. And, I think we’re going to get the business.” The CEO looks at him and says, “You just made my day.”

The woman, realizing her mistake, reflects: Her colleague was branding himself as the next VP while she was branding herself as the weather girl. Read More →

Think Only Extroverts Can Lead? Here Are 5 Reasons to Think Again

6 September 2019

If anyone has ever hinted that you need to be an extrovert to be a successful leader, here’s your one-word response: Oprah.

As Susan Cain wrote in her 2012 bestseller, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, there are many misunderstandings about the nature—and skills—of introverts. But over the past decade, that has been changing.

Here are five things people are now recognizing about introversion in the workplace and beyond, according to Jennifer Kahnweiler, a Conferences for Women speaker and author of The Introverted Leader, Quiet Influence, and The Genius of Opposites:

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