Women Moving Forward Together

I took piano lessons when I was 13 years old, biking three miles one way and three miles back from my teacher’s house. I never became the accomplished pianist I dreamed of at the ripe age of 13, but I perfected the song “Memories” which I played every time I sat down at the keyboards with my family groaning in the background when they heard the first chord. Today, with the tune “Memories” playing in my head, I am delivering the speech I gave to 110 women entrepreneurs, 11 speakers and 40 sponsors. If you want to make this reading more dramatic, put on “Memories” on YouTube.

9/27/17 – “POWER” Wednesday Wisdom

As I started to prepare my opening remarks for this special P.O.W.E.R. event, I was moved listening to “A Concert for Charlottesville” created and hosted by my favorite band the “Dave Matthews Band” who had their beginning in Charlottesville. I became a DMB groupie when I saw them perform at Woodstock in my hometown of Rome, New York in 1999 – (not 1969) but I’ll save stories about Woodstock for another time!!

Dave Matthews is an activist someone who stands up for the environment, indigenous people, inequality, and he even walked in the Women’s March in Seattle with this two daughters in January! I do love this guy for so many reasons – the last one especially. So when the Dave Matthews Band threw a quick free concert to bring unity and peace to their beloved city of Charlottesville, I had to listen as I worked on POWER event communication and marketing. I love being inspired.

Some of you might remember the White Nationalist Rally in Charlottesville that ended in a woman’s death and has been an uproar since. This concert was created to build peace and bring more unity to the community and to show the world too. The rally reminded me of taking 110 women to the Women’s March on Washington in January of this year to walk for women’s rights which are also human rights. We weren’t sure what we would face in the streets of DC but what we found was one of the most peaceful marches in recent history. It was simply the best event I have ever attended (besides Woodstock).

To be honest with you, I lost 2 of my best friends when I told them I was taking women to the women’s march because it was seen as purely political perspective, but in my mind it was about activism and doing what I could for the gender I love -women. I realize not everyone feels the way I do about women but I just do. Maybe because I’m the oldest of 8 siblings and the first 6 are girls. Maybe it’s because I am still best friends with two of my kindergarten girlfriends or my 22 years of supporting women in Syracuse in my leadership roles. I want women to have equality in all aspects of life including business, sports, and in life period. I wish I had the voice of Dave Matthews to sing for you right now to prove it but again…that will have to wait for another time because I wasn’t invited to the concert on Sunday or Woodstock to sing!

I look out today and see this amazing audience of women brought together under one roof, in one place for a common goal – to be inspired, united and strengthened in our support for other women entrepreneurs no matter how similar or different we are. We are women running businesses in a still male dominated world making it more difficult at times.

Just like the concert attendees joined voices Sunday night to sing to the tunes of Justin Timberlake, Ariana Grande, Stevie Wonder and Dave, I hope when you leave this POWER conference today your voices, actions and support for women are strengthened. We must be united as one to support sister entrepreneurs no matter if they make 1 million in sales, 10,000 in sales, are black or white, gay or straight, catholic or jewish, old or young, new in business or 30 years in business because it doesn’t matter really – what matters is that women support women!

The only way our society will change and get better is if women have each other’s back. It is time – way past time- to put more of your support, voice and especially money in the hands, bank accounts and pocket books of women first and foremost to level the economic playing field.

We are powerful. Women forget we have the power. We make up 52% of the population. And today is an event to remind you that together women are stronger than alone and no matter our background, product or services or revenue numbers, we should always choose to support and buy from women first and foremost helping to eradicate pay inequality and making women financially stronger together.

I hope the economic power of supporting women resonates stronger with you today by the time you leave. Women are powerful – Please repeat it with me loud! Women are powerful.