MONTGOMERY CO., Va. – 350 female business leaders and owners packed The Inn at Virginia Tech for this year’s conference. The day was filled with women sharing advice and stories while fostering important business relationships.
Women’s Leadership Conference chair Brooke Brinson said organizers expected a powerful start to the day.
“We know it’s going to be an incredibly powerful morning, and the day just keeps rolling from there,” Brinson said. “So we’ve got incredible speakers all day, we’ve got a lot of fun planned, we’ve got an incredible silent auction. Overall, it’s going to be an amazing event.”
Emma Baker, vice president at Carter Bank in Blacksburg, said the event creates opportunities for women across the community.
“It’s an amazing opportunity for everyone — all the women in our community — to get together and learn from each other, grow with each other and learn all about what it’s like to be an amazing leader,” Baker said.
Ashlynn Earnhardt, an aesthetician and business owner, said networking started almost immediately.
“We were here for not even 30 minutes this morning, and we were already talking to so many people coming up to us and handing out business cards and little goodie bags and stuff,” Earnhardt said. “So I would definitely want to come back just to hear more speakers and kind of network our business a little bit more.”
Fellow aesthetician and business owner Abigail Felty said the event has already sparked new ideas.
“And it’s made us kind of be more creative in the way that we’re trying to get out there,” Felty said. “Because it’s old-school word of mouth.”
The keynote speaker for the conference was Lauren Sisler, an ESPN sideline reporter and a native of Giles County and Roanoke. During her speech, Sisler shared some of the adversities that have shaped her into the successful woman she is today.
“This means a lot to me, just getting to come back, share my story and really pour into these amazing leaders,” Sisler said. “People that are serving our community so well and kind of creating that ripple effect for them.”
Earnhardt said Sisler’s willingness to share personal experiences resonated with the audience.
“People willing to share something so personal, or even something that has caused some trauma in their life — it’s just very inspiring to hear that from her,” Earnhardt said.
Baker said Sisler’s message encouraged resilience.
“I think that it really puts the perspective out there that it’s OK to go through things and that it doesn’t define you — it is what you make it,” Baker said. “So if you take those opportunities and you make them into something great and use it as motivation, it’s beautiful.”
The audience included women of all ages and at many different stages of their business careers.
“The age range is drastic, and it’s very young — I mean down to right at 18,” Brinson said. “There’s a very wide age range, but there are a lot of young women in this room.”
Paige Guynn, the conference’s presenting sponsor, said that diversity of experience is encouraging.
“It’s really reassuring to know that they feel comfortable coming into this environment,” Guynn said.
Sisler said she enjoyed seeing professionals at different stages of their careers.
“I love the diversity here — people that have been walking their journey for years and years and years and others that are just getting started,” Sisler said. “It’s kind of fun to just be in the middle of that, because I remember where I was just starting out, a young budding journalist in local TV here in Virginia, and then kind of working my way up the ranks.”
Felty said the event provided valuable insight for younger entrepreneurs.
“We’re new business owners, we’re very young, and we wanted to know a little bit about what leadership is,” Felty said. “And it’s just nice to see that women have such higher roles. We were sitting with the CEO of a bank at one of our tables.”
Although this year’s conference was a success, organizers said they are already thinking about improvements.
“Each year we kind of build on what we’ve done years before, and it just grows — not only in attendance, but in who pours into it by contributing to the silent auction and the speakers that want to come speak with our community,” Guynn said. “It’s increasingly amazing.”
Baker said organizers spent the day evaluating ways to improve.
“All day long, we’ve been running around watching things and seeing what we can do better next year and taking ideas from little pieces and figuring out what we’re going to do,” Baker said.
Organizers say this was the largest Women’s Leadership Conference the chamber of commerce has ever hosted, but they hope to make next year’s event even bigger and better.
The conference has sold out for three consecutive years and is expected to continue growing, but those interested in attending are encouraged to reserve a spot early.