Her Conference 2016

The saying goes,"Give a woman the right pair of shoes, and she can conquer the world." Shoe lovers everywhere probably wouldn't argue that point but choosing the right pair this season proves to be harder. Of course, I mean this metaphorically, correlating it with the community that there is amongst women. Too much so lately the media has been pitting women against each other like the Taylor vs. Kim ordeal or the Taylor vs. Katy or the Taylor vs Nicki, it's totally heartbreaking. At a time when women should feel celebrated for all of the hurdles that we've had to overcome in the past century, and the many more to come in the future it surely is a time where the tables are being turned. Fortunately there are associations and group for women to join such as Her Campus to praise all of the accomplishments of the fairer gender. I recently attended the annual conference in New York City to be a part of the wonderful community at Her Campus and be witness to all of the amazing opportunities there. 

Her Campus is a digital neighborhood for women and girls attending, looking to attend, and post graduates to share their insights on schooling, joining the workforce and sharing their overall inspiration to other women. It was very clear to me once I got to the event space and mingled with a few of the attendees there, that this theme of "community" was prominent. Everyone was kind and astute to learning. Aside from meeting many of the lovely attendees, I also got to meet some awesome "lady bosses" such as Rebecca Minkoff, Andi Dorfman, Joyce Chang, James Ford, Elyssa Goodman, Vanessa De Luca, and Samantha Power... just to name a few! 

It was two days jam packed with so much information to help budding entrepreneurs and young women that are eager to enter the workforce. I went there thinking I knew everything, or at least an adequate amount but I left with more than I bargained for, from how to be a better blogger for your business to developing your journalistic side, managing your social media, building a career in public relations and so much more. Thanks to Amtrak, I was able to get there with so much ease and flexibility into NYC from Philadelphia. They also provided me with wifi, which was amazing! 

Of course, in between the sessions and panels attendees were given some time to check out the activation booths. The sponsors that were set up were Ulta, Tinder, The Diva Cup, Baked By Melissa, Suja, Amtrak, Shake Shack, and Juicy Couture. Ulta was doing everyone's hair and makeup touchup, while Tinder was explaining the new beyond-dating-app expansion, The Diva Cup correspondents were praising why women shouldn't put their life on hold, period! Also, in between all of the activations and sponsors mini photo sessions were in play, head shots for everyone's LinkedIn to start getting their foot in the door. Of course, I used my Ulta matte lipstick from my "swag bag" to get photo ready! 

While I was there, absorbing all the information from the "Lady Bosses," I was left trying to determine which keynote speaker I wanted to reflect on the most, but it's quite a difficult choice when there were so many wonderful speeches given! How can one choose from deciding whether to talk about how an esteemed designer that came from nothing built her empire with her brother, or how a little girl turned into an olympian gold medalist, or how a woman was rejected so much in her job hunt decided to start her own multi million dollar industry. These are all stories of success, but these women had to jump through major hoops to reach the goal. Without failures there can be no success was a common theme because it's true, we have to fall to pick ourselves up and move forward. Another big theme across the conference was having a great education and superb writing skills. "Education gives you courage, because you know how to think for yourself." - Vanessa De Luca. Education is essential to women all over to help move the economy and the world and of course it helps you become a better writer. 

I'm definitely grateful to be a part of such a wonderful community of strong women that push each other in positive directions. Ladies need role models, ladies need friendships, ladies need each other and that to me is my biggest takeaway from HerConference 2016! To anyone who hasn't gone, I would definitely recommend going next year and check out HerCampus Media. Dear readers, how do you feel about the community of women that there is today?