#EveryGirl RISE: A Virtual Conference

I wasn’t sure about how I wanted to write this when I first started writing the post, but now a little under a week has passed and I’ve realized that I just needed to write about it. Last Saturday, the 29th of August, I attended the Every Girl’s annual RISE conference sponsored by La Marca Prosecco. It was truly the opportunity of a lifetime and I am so glad I attended. So much so that I signed up for the next session, on October 3rd.

I honestly didn’t know what I expected from the conference, I didn’t attend last year’s since I had moved to Miami and they required travel to Chicago or Atlanta. I have only ever been to one other conference of this magntiude when I first started blogging while I was in Orlando, and although I learned so much at that conference it didn’t even begin to compare to this baby.

I was completely blown away by the experience. The panelist, the Networking opportunities (even as a digital event), the community itself was amazing. I haven’t felt this comfortable talking to a group of strangers, ever! I also learned an incredible amount. There were two panels, one on personal fulfilment and the other on professional fulfillment. Both were out of this world. The panelist themselves made the entire experience worthwhile. They provided such insight that it was truly inspiring to listen to them speak.

Thinking back, I felt like the opportunity was presenting a sign for me. As you may now, from following me on social media or here on the blog, I have been frustrated in my professional career. COVID has truly impacted alot of the plans I had for myself, personally and professionally, and it has started to get to me. I absolutely despise the “everything happens for a reason” exuse, but I have to say that this definitely made me realize that as much as I hate it…sometimes, it’s so freaking true.

To give you better context about two, possibly three, weeks ago I turned to one of my mentors at my current workplace. I had reached, what I felt like, a breaking point and I knew that if I didn’t seek guidance that I would truly just burst and I like my job too much to allow that to happen. However, an outcome of that call was a homework assignment of sorts (that I have yet do start…). Taking part in this conference, reading the source material provided, etc. I realized that it all aligned. Almost too perfectly.

There is one part of the confernce that hasn’t been done yet, and that is the conversation with one of the panelists from the conference. I elected to speak to Anddria Clack-Rogers Varnado, who has an insanel resume tied to her name. It’s going to be a completel honor just to speak to her 1:1! I cannot wait!!! Additional to this, and completely unrelated to The Every Girl brand, yet still completely relevant to the theme, is a mentorship event with Aliza Licht that I was just accepted into. I have always admired Aliza and her book, Leave Your Mark, was groundbreaking for me.

Everything is starting to line up for me, outside of work, in my quest for professional development. I truly loved the experience and I can’t wait to continue to learn from these amazing professionals.