I was recently asked by a friend if I had any female in my life that was a mentor of sorts; who based on her life and achievements, I could say “this is what I can achieve and this is how I can achieve it”. I racked my brain for a bit and could only come up with a a rather distant example.
A few days later, on the work group chat, my boss sends the WIMBIZ Annual Conference countdown and asks a female colleague and I to attend. Looking back on the conversation I had with my friend, I call this pure serendipity.
The WIMBIZ Annual Conference is a two day event organized every year by the nonprofit organisation, Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ), with the aim of bringing women with aligned vision together to network and get empowered. The 17th edition of this conference kicked off on November 1st at the Eko Hotels and Suites. The theme of this year’s conference was “Unstoppable You: Reinvent & Reinvigorate.
My colleague, Enniye and I arrived at the venue bright and early and proceeded to the registration point. After a rather stressful registration, we went in for the networking breakfast, which we discovered to be a speed networking session, rather than an actual breakfast. We all took seats at different tables and had 30 seconds to pitch ourselves to the person on the other side of the table. What I took away from that breakfast, was how important it is to be able to sell yourself in 30 seconds or less, in a way that keeps the other party interested and engaged. Advertising at it’s finest!
After the networking breakfast, we moved to the main hall, where to my surprise, I found over 1500 women in attendance. The event kicked off with keynote addresses
Of particular interest to me was the Plenary Session on branding, with people who had managed to carve out distinct niches for their brands. They managed to do this in heavily dominated industries by understanding what their businesses stood for, owning their spaces, finding the value that differentiates them and staying consistent to that.
A major highlight of the event for me was the Female Achievers’ Awards. This year, women in the military who paved the way for others were honored. Their sheer determination and grit helping them on their climb to the top in such male-dominated fields.
The 17th WIMBIZ Annual Conference took me through a plethora of emotions. I went from feeling excited to emotional, even teary-eyed, to empowered and really honored to be in the presence of all those strong, powerful and beautiful women and be imparted with all that knowledge. I left the conference feeling the need to do more, to be more. If these women could do it, so can I, because I am a PHENOMENAL, HEALTHY, HAPPY WOMAN.
I AM UNSTOPPABLE!
No Comments