If an abundance of positive energy, coupled with inspiring speakers, a healthy lunch and a bit of shopping sound like a great way to recharge, you would have loved the SC Executive Women’s Luncheon held at the Greenville Convention Center on August 30th. Piggy-backing off the BMW Supplier Diversity Conference, the event’s third year was promoted by the newly-launched nonprofit Women Confidence Builders.
By 10AM, the galleria – a conglomerate of women-owned retail businesses flanked by local nonprofit organizations – was teeming with shoppers and networkers, many laden with shopping bags filled with local products and informational flyers.
Program emcee Ebony Sullivan, COO of Cassy Electric, welcomed the audience of well over 300 attendees. She introduced Don Bent, COO of Oshkosh Defense, the event’s presenting sponsor. Oshkosh is establishing operations in Spartanburg County where it will build the United States Postal Service (USPS) Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) adding an estimated 1,000 jobs to the county. Don, a strong supporter of women in business, shared his thoughts on leadership and success – “you have a right to be proud of what you do and to enjoy what you do and, more importantly, to always give back”.
Lt. Governor Pamela Evette told her story of building a successful woman-owned business here in the Upstate. “We have to lead from the front and show the next generation of ladies they can do anything,” she said while sharing that “women supporting women” played a pivotal role in her becoming South Carolina’s first woman Lt. Governor.
Keynote speaker Dr. Rebecca Heiss, PhD and CEO/Founder of icueity LLC, grabbed the attention of the audience from the get-go and warmed up the crowd by having them stand up and do a 15-second energetic dance. She spoke at length about overcoming our innate fear factor and resorting to our ABCs – Ask, Breathe and be Curious. “Curiosity and fear cannot co-exist,” she explained. Speaking to our responsibility to pave the way for future generations, “Become a fearless leader – it allows you to create space for other fearless leaders.” All event attendees received a copy of Dr. Heiss’ book Instinct.
Travelers Rest Mayor and Brains on Fire CFO, Brandy Amidon, closed the event pointing out that “we all want to do life well” and the best way to achieve that is by “doing it together.” She posed the question, “How do we impact more people? We have to do this together.”
The event was highlighted with a presentation of eleven $1500 scholarships awarded to local female college students. The scholarships were funded by Upstate businesses supporting the next generation of women in business and their entrepreneurial spirit.
Women Confidence Builders is a 501c3 whose mission is to educate, mentor, disciple and empower women and girls while encouraging their growth and building confidence.