Ladies, this one is all for us! I’m so excited to share with you all about my recent experience attending the Texas Conference for Women for the very first time this year. In one word it was incredible. I don’t think I can really say enough about this event, but that won’t stop me from trying. Most of all I really hope many of you will join me in attending this annual event next year. It is definitely worth the experience.
So let me jump right in. The easiest way for me to do this is to tell you the top three reasons why I for sure want to go back next year.
Reason # 1: It’s worth it.
If you live anywhere in or near south or west Texas, the Texas Conference for Women is very much worth the one-day trip. The investment of your time and money will be worth it because this conference is not like any other. I want to tell you that you will learn things you can’t learn anywhere else, but that would not necessarily be true. What I can say with confidence is that there is something magical about being in a convention center brimming full with women from all over the country, from all walks of life. Watching the live sessions and listening to the speakers and the discussions they were having was really quite moving and powerful for me. It really made me feel invested in the dialogue and my surroundings, and especially understood. I could tell the other women in the room with me felt the same way and that doesn’t happen all the time.
Reason # 2: It’s inclusive.
Now I say this having only attended the Texas Conference for Women this year. I have never been at this event before. But based solely on this year’s conference, I felt included. I didn’t feel as if I was only casually mentioned or talked about, which has happened to me before – I truly and genuinely felt included. It just so happened that the Texas Conference for Women took place on the national #LatinaEqualPay day this year, and that was a big focus of the conversation throughout the day. If you’re not familiar, Latina Equal Pay Day brings awareness to the fact that Latinas, on average, earn 43 cents on the dollar to what our white male counterparts earn for the same exact work. They earn more than double what we get paid. Sad isn’t it? Well, throughout the day that’s the conversation I kept hearing over and over again. The words used were different and the tone changed from conversation to conversation, but the message was the same: “let’s make sure Latinas get paid the same.” Some even pushed the message further by adding comments like, “the way we can do this is by putting Latina women in leadership roles.” My heart was singing from hearing so many women from so many different backgrounds saying the same thing. It was so nice.
Reason # 3: It’s a small break from the guys.
I love you gentlemen, but a girl has to have a break from you guys every now and again. Specially to engage in conversations where a women’s perspective is so important. There is just something different about hearing from only women keynote speakers talking about the issues that we care about. There is such an embracing tone that takes place when that happens. Even if the topic is aggressive, the way we communicate with each other makes it possible to have a real and honest conversation about pretty much anything. Let’s face it, we have all taken many a passenger seats to male only or male dominated conversations about things like finances, family, education and so on. A women’s perspective is just different. Gentlemen, a lady driving can definitely open your eyes to a different point of view. I won’t say it’s the right one, but you do the math.
Now I can certainly continue with my laundry list of reasons why this event was so special to me, but what I would really like to do is see you at next year’s Texas Conference for Women.
It is happening again in Austin on November 9, 2018, and word is the tickets sell out fast. So save the date and let’s make it another amazing day of womanhood.
