• Discover 3 secrets to stand out IN a crowd and get recognized internally and externally as being unique, authentic, and remarkable.

• Expand your vision about HOW you can market yourself, internally and externally.

• Identify 3 ways that you can easily take ACTION today!

Samantha and Gerrie will be addressing your questions during the live broadcast, giving you the tools you need to market yourself with more confidence and credibility. If you are interested in being featured on the show please send an email to info@conferencesforwomen.org with your name, contact information, and brief overview of your challenges that hold you back from marketing yourself – internally or externally.

These are “Office Hours” you can’t afford to miss.

REGISTER HERE

Please note: A link to the online radio show will be sent upon registration.

About Gerrie Dresser, PCC – Executive l Personal Brand Coach and CEO, Founder of Unique Impact: Gerrie Dresser is a professional executive / personal branding coach, speaker, and author who brings her broad-based, corporate leadership experience to her coaching work. Through her proprietary unique genius / unique impact coaching model, leaders reignite their passion and maximize their distinctive value, so they engage with their people at an innovative, high performance / high engagement level. To learn more about Gerrie, visit here.

About Sam: As the leading lifestyle and parenting expert for women, Samantha Ettus specializes in coaching the busiest parents on the planet. Since earning her undergraduate and MBA degrees from Harvard, Sam has coached thousands of parents – celebrities, top CEO’s and professional athletes – who aim to perform at the highest levels in both their professional and personal lives. To learn more about Sam visit here.

Join us for a free teleclass with Porter Gale, June 26, 2013 from 1:00 to 1:45 PM (EDT).

Networking doesn’t have to be that frenzied old-school game of calendars packed with stuffy power lunches and sterile evenings at community business gatherings. We’ve entered a new era, one in which shifting cultural values and the explosion of digital technology enable us to network in vastly more efficient, more focused, and more enjoyable ways. 

In our new economy, connections are a powerful currency. Relationships are the secret to greater success, wealth and happiness. This teleclass will teach you how to become rich in relationships and connections by pinpointing your skills and interests so you can authentically connect and build stronger connections for greater success.

Key Takeaways

• How to focus your passions and purpose with the Funnel Test
• That giving can be as beneficial and lucrative as getting
• How and why technology can accelerate your networking success
• How to expand your comfort zone and meet new, inspiring people
• Ways to make The Ask without offending anyone or appearing selfish

Whether you’re facing a career transition, a new life stage or simply working towards a goal this teleclass will help you build a network to get you there — and far beyond.

REGISTER HERE

Call-in details will be sent in your confirmation email upon registration.

Porter Gale is an internationally known public speaker, networker, and entrepreneur with more than twenty years of experience working in marketing, advertising, and independent filmmaking. From 2007 to 2011, Porter was vice president of Marketing at Virgin America. Prior to Virgin America, Porter was a consultant and held the post of general manager at Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners San Francisco. She was awarded the Changing the Game Award by the Advertising Women of New York (AWNY), was on AdAge’s Digital Hotlist, iMedia’s Top 25-Digital Marketers, and named a Digital Passionista by The Huffington Post. She lives with her daughter in San Francisco. She is also a blogger for AdAge and The Huffington Post.

While you might not always be able to control the thoughts that pop up in your head, explained Bennington, you can control how you respond to them through mindfulness, “ithe practice of bringing clarity and concentration to your moment-by-moment experience.”

In this 35-minute presentation, Bennington details a process designed to help you respond to your circumstances – whatever they are – from an empowered place, rather than simply reacting to the chaos that surrounds us all.

Key Takeaways

—A virtues, intentions, and goals template that, when completed, will bring deep clarity around what matters most in your life.
—An increased ability to catch yourself ‘thinking’ (solution-based responses) versus ‘thoughting’ (emotion-based reactions).
—A new understanding of mindfulness that will enable you to make better on-the-spot decisions and navigate work challenges with calm confidence.

Listen to the full class to learn how mindfulness can help you in your career and in your life.

2013 Massachusetts Conference for Women speaker Emily Bennington is author of Who Says It’s a Man’s World: The Girls’ Guide to Corporate Domination and the founder of AWAKE EXEC mindful leadership coaching for women. Her work deep dives into what Stephen Covey famously referred to as “the space” between stimulus and response where she challenges professionals to choose intentional, values-centered action. Emily has led training programs for numerous Fortune 500 companies and has been featured in business press ranging from CNN, ABC, and Fox, to the Wall Street Journal, Glamour, and Cosmopolitan. She is also a contributing writer for Monster.com and a featured blogger for Huffington Post and Forbes Woman. You can find her digital sandbox online at www.emilybennington.com.

The following is a brief recap of some of the key points.  Please listen to the replay below to get all the tips, tools and strategies so that you really can “drive your own career and become your best advocate.”

Clarifying Your Goals  – “GPS your career”

Be very clear on what you really want to do, focus on the areas where you are strong and that you are passionate about doing.

Build your career roadmap – Set 30-, 60- and 90-day goals as part of that roadmap.

Leveraging Your Support Network – “Your girlfriends, not your husband, are on speed dial”

Mentors, coaches, and sponsors play a very important role in your career, so identify and create relationships with women who you admire and can help you pave the way for your success.

Create and expand your peer network or your “advisory board,” so you have a group of women outside your job you can go to about work issues, questions and support. We all need our girlfriends.

Communicating your value – “We all need someone to brag on us”

Learn to say “Thank You” when you receive compliments in the workplace and in your personal life. Don’t minimize your accomplishments and successes.

Learn to tell your story and make your story applicable to your current audience. It may be different depending to whom you are talking or which job you want.

Networking – “Target your networking events and volunteer”

Choose your network events carefully and make sure they apply to your job or to your personal passion.

Volunteer and participate in the organizations/charities that you are passionate about, and you will build great relationships you can leverage in the future.

Sam asked Darlene her one final tip and it was “CELEBRATE YOUR SUCCESSES EVERY DAY!”  You deserve it.

Click HERE to listen to the full interview.

Darlene Templeton is a professional speaker, trainer, executive coach and author. A master in LEADERSHIP and TRANSFORMATION, Darlene’s extensive corporate experience (36 years with IBM) has given her the tools to transform even the most dynamic executives into world-class leaders. To learn more about Darlene visit here.

As the leading lifestyle and parenting expert for women, Samantha Ettus specializes in coaching the busiest parents on the planet. Since earning her undergraduate and MBA degrees from Harvard, Sam has coached thousands of parents – celebrities, top CEO’s and professional athletes – who aim to perform at the highest levels in both their professional and personal lives. To learn more about Sam visit here.

Massachusetts Conference for Women board member Karen Kaplan was recently named CEO of Hill Holliday, one of the top advertising agencies in the country. We caught up with Karen just after this exciting announcement to ask her a few questions about her career path and who inspired her along the way. Scroll down to listen to the full interview.

Q: You started your career as a receptionist, and a lot of people would be interested how you got to where you are today.

“My plan, initially, was to go to law school. I heard that Jack Connors, the founder of Hill Holliday, was personally interviewing people. He had rejected 40 candidates before me, and I wanted to see if I could get the job. The minute I stepped off the elevator I knew Hill Holliday was the place for me…Everybody was young, there was a great energy and great vibe. I just connected with it right away. It wasn’t a very strategic choice, but it turned out to be the perfect way to start my career at Hill Holliday.”

Q: You decided to work harder than everyone else by putting in an extra two hours a day and working weekends?

“That’s exactly right. This was pre-email, pre-voicemail, pre-fax… In order to get work done, in those days, you had to be physically in the office.

I started at the bottom with no formal training or preparation… I love to work, and I’ve actually concluded that it isn’t very hard to outwork most people.”

Q: As a leader can you tell us about another leader you have respect for and why?

“Because I worked for him for 25 years, Jack Connors is someone I spent a lot of time studying. He was and is a great mentor for me.

It was a hallmark of his to give someone a task that they think is beyond their capacity at the time and then really allow them to do it. I think very strongly that if you show people you believe in them as a leader, they believe in themselves.

When he hired me as receptionist, he said ‘congratulations, you are the face and the voice of Hill Holliday.’ Just framing the job that way made me take it very seriously.

I thought ‘this isn’t some job, this is a big responsibility.’ I considered myself CEO of the reception desk, then the next job, as the CEO of that, and I approached every one of the 12 jobs I’ve been lucky enough to have at Hill Holliday the same way, and it paid off. That was all sparked and inspired by Jack Connors.”

Q: What would you say has been the driving force in your staying in a male-dominated industry?

“If you embrace what makes you different and you are proud of it, if you just know who you are and you’re proud of who you are and you play your own game, you can turn perceived liabilities into assets.

It’s amazing that in 2013, I’m often in a room of gentleman and I say ‘Who do you think they are going to remember, the 10^th guy in the gray suit or the one woman?’ I look at that as an advantage, not a disadvantage.

And I always say ‘I love men, I just think there enough of them.’”

What do you do when you’ve lost your way at work? (And desperately need a new plan for the future!)

A lot of times, our work is … fine.  Things are going well enough that we don’t look too deeply or ask too many questions of ourselves, and shamefully leave the tv channel set to The Real Housewives.

Sure, we’d like to be more energized, maybe less annoyed by our co-workers, and more money would be nice too, and maybe less of that nagging feeling that you should be doing something better. Or more interesting. Or just…more.

You wake up one morning and find out that somehow you have just lost your way.    You’ve got a vague dissatisfaction that things could be or should be better.  That feeling drives you to roll back over, close your eyes, and wish that a magic fairy would save you from the day (and maybe upgrade your shoe collection?).

Have you ever felt that way?

If so, you are sooooo not alone.  It happens to everyone at some point, but most people just keep on doing what they are doing, hoping magic/chance/luck/fairy dust will come their way and make something new happen.

YOU, however, are not most people.  You are ready to roll up your sleeves and actually make a change! (You are awesome!)

So, given that, here are three things to think about to help you find your way back again:

1. What about your work makes you happy right now? (Be specific)

2. In a year from now, what specifically would make you even happier (be honest and brave here – don’t just go for the more money route)

3. What do you need to do to make this happen for yourself?

Voilà - you have started to make a plan!  This is the first method of attack to letting go of that lost feeling and really figuring out what your next step should be.

You may be thinking: “All well and good, but now I have to go DO that. How?”

The first step is having the confidence that you can and will.  Confidence is not always that easy to come by, and often times we stay feeling “meh” about work because it is the safe thing to do.  That thing that keeps us feeling comfortable and relaxed watching bad TV on the couch (hey hey Real Housewives!).

Well, comfortable and relaxed doesn’t help you get your mojo back.  Have no fear though – it’s time to take yourself in hand and expand your comfort zone.

The first way to do this to start small, by taking a new road to work or trying a new restaurant.  Then, get bigger – have coffee with someone you admire or want to get to know better, try a new skill or an experience that scares/thrills you (roller coaster? Rock climbing? Public speaking?), and do something that makes you pause for a moment and think: “Ummm, was this really such a good idea?” (Yes. YES! It is!)

When you get out of your comfort zone and survive the experience, you feel better.  You you feel more confident in your skills and abilities, and it’s not only easier to figure out where you want to go, you are so much more likely to do it.  Now, go out and try – I know you can do this!

Christie Mims is the Radical Fairy Godmother to the Woman Trapped in Her Suit and is here to wave fairy dust on you and get you unstuck in your career. Sign up for her free job UNstuck kit here! And, if you really want to get out of your comfort zone and have a career adventure – then join her this summer in Costa Rica!

However, as decades of research informs, we need space – slack time, time for messy thinking, time to learn – to fuel our creativity.  Where does this leave us? Applying techniques from recent neurological and creativity research with our experiences helping senior executives, below is a short list of disciplined, proven practices you can put in place.  Creative thinking certainly comes easier to some than others, but every one of us is capable – this is not something for a privileged few.

■     Challenge the status quo.  Think about the core beliefs that drive how you and your company operate – what do you believe are truths.  These can include how consumers behave, what can and cannot be done, etc.  For example, when Steve Jobs opened Apple retail stores, every analyst on Wall Street said this was a bad idea because consumers did not want to purchase computers in a store.  Our core beliefs, especially those held over long periods of time, often reflect orthodoxies – barriers that stifle creativity and get you stuck in repeated patterns.  Spend time alone or with your teams conducting this simple exercise:

–    Step 1. What are our core beliefs about [select a topic: e.g., consumers, operations, processes]?

–    Step 2. Introduce the concept of orthodoxies.  These are often the monuments in your organizations and your life that we fear changing most.

–    Step 3. Ask yourself and your team, what if these were not true (some of course will remain true as not all will be orthodoxies)? What would you do differently? What creative options would you consider?

■     Reframe questions.  Very often the same question is asked repeatedly resulting in a similar set of answers.  By reframing questions, asking them differently, you can get to surprisingly creative answers.  Neuroscientists have recently connected perception and creativity in our brains.  This means that the more you change how you look at a problem or ask a question differently, the more creative your responses will be.

■     Get out and experience.  As adults, the most powerful learning experiences occur as just that – experiences.  The most effective approach to ultimately changing long-held beliefs is to experience something that challenges how you think and what you believe to be true.  These simple tactics such as visiting stores, calling our own company as a consumer and so on are extremely powerful yet so often ignored because of time constraints and end up on the bottom of many well-intentioned to-do lists.

Consider making these tactics a discipline just like many others on your calendar.  For example:

■     Find time at a cadence that works for you and schedule a small amount of time for these types of activities.  For example, each Friday or one Friday a month give yourself permission and time for creative exploration,

■     When problem solving and brainstorming, begin to incorporate these techniques into your daily work and for those on your teams so they become a natural extension and not something intentional, and

■     Lastly, briefly reflect occasionally on their effectiveness and how you might improve.

You’ll be surprised how these simple techniques can have dramatic effects.

2012 Massachusetts Conference for Women speaker Marla M. Capozzi is a Senior Expert and a leader of McKinsey&Company’s Global Innovation Practice based in Boston. 

• clarifying your goals
• leveraging your support network
• communicating your value at the workplace

Samantha and Darlene will be addressing your questions during the live broadcast, giving you the tools you need to be your best advocate! If you are interested in being featured on the show, please send an email to info@conferencesforwomen.org with your name, contact information, and brief overview of what stumbling block you may have encountered with advocating for yourself.

These are ‘Office Hours’ you can’t afford to miss. REGISTER HERE

Please note: A link to the online radio show will be sent upon registration.

Darlene Templeton is a professional speaker, trainer, executive coach and author. A master in LEADERSHIP and TRANSFORMATION, Darlene’s extensive corporate experience (36 years with IBM) has given her the tools to transform even the most dynamic executives into world-class leaders. To learn more about Darlene visit here.

As the leading lifestyle and parenting expert for women, Samantha Ettus specializes in coaching the busiest parents on the planet. Since earning her undergraduate and MBA degrees from Harvard, Sam has coached thousands of parents – celebrities, top CEO’s and professional athletes – who aim to perform at the highest levels in both their professional and personal lives. To learn more about Sam visit here.

1. Be unapologetic about your lifestyle. Making excuses for working is like wearing a short skirt and constantly pulling on it.
2. Have a school network – two moms you can count on in each child’s grade. If you help them when you can, it will be easier to ask for help when you need it.
3. Spend a night out each week – a date night or an evening with friends. This is your fuel; don’t let your tank run dry.
4. Disconnect to Connect. Turn off the technology for a set time each day so that you are present when you are with your family.
5. Do all of your errands within the Golden Triangle – home, office and school. From the dentist to the hair salon, make no exceptions.
6. Treat your arrivals and departures like a train schedule. Predictability makes you more successful at home and at work.
7. Beware of the “Flextime Fantasy.” If you have a flexible career, establish set daily hours so that you don’t lose time reinventing your schedule each day.
8. As soon as the school calendar arrives, add it to yours. This way you can plan around the school play and the parent teacher conference.
9. Sundays are big for you. Plan every detail of the week’s schedule down to the meals and who’s making them. This will reduce conflict, ease stress and save time.
10. Don’t get so attached to your sitter that you can’t see her faults. Spot-check by arriving home unexpectedly to see what happens when you are not there.
11. Help your spouse to be a partner. Praise more than criticize and create opportunities for him to do every task you do.
12. Divide and conquer. Being partners means sharing the responsibilities, divided by your strengths, and pitching in on any as needed.
13. Write it all down. From the grocery list to the lunchbox ingredients, you can’t delegate unless you get it out of your head and on paper.
14. Nurture your marriage with daily 20-minute check-ins. Keeping in touch with your own partner is vital to a strong bond.
15. Synchronize your sleep schedules. Going to bed at the same time together leads to a healthy sex life.
16. You can never show your kids too much affection. Shower them in it and watch them thrive.
17. Triathletes win or lose races based on transitions. Keep all supplies in their place (cubbies for each family member) and pick clothing the night before.
18. Foster a strong family culture by celebrating occasions big and small – birthdays, new seasons. Create rituals e.g. Friday night family movies.
19. Expect stress and roller coasters but remember that bad moments are not “bad days” or “bad weeks.” They are moments. Make this a family philosophy.
20. Aim to have at least one focused meal a day with your children no matter how crazy work can get.
21. If you can’t host play dates during the week, do it on the weekends so that you get to know your child’s friends and their families.
22. Personal maintenance is not discretionary. Incorporate exercise into the “train schedule” and if you feel best with a weekly manicure, add it too.
23. Keep a positive connection with your kids all week long by planning a weekend event for them to look forward to. Start talking about it on Monday; anticipation is half the fun.
24. Identify kid-friendly errands and make a habit of bringing them along. From the supermarket to the car wash, no need to spend this time away from them.
25. Be proactive about what you can do. If you aren’t available for weekday opportunities, volunteer to coach the soccer team on Saturdays.

As the leading lifestyle and parenting expert for women, Samantha Ettus specializes in coaching the busiest parents on the planet. She is a bestselling author of four Random House books, a writer for Forbes and Disney’s Babble, and host of the nationally syndicated radio show, Working Moms Lifestyle. She makes regular television appearances on national TV including The Today Show, The Early Show, Your World with Neil Cavuto and The O’Reilly Factor, among others.  She aims to practice what she preaches in her daily life as a mother of three and wife of entrepreneur, Mitch Jacobs. Learn more at http://workingmomslifestyle.com

How was/is your mother a role model for your career?

Following are some of our favorite responses. Add yours in the comments!

She taught me “Never say can’t. Tell me you don’t want to. Tell me you don’t know how and I’ll show you. But never say ‘can’t’.”

My mom’s mantra was “make yourself indispensable” (i.e. do whatever’s needed, not just what you think you should be doing).

My mom always told us to do what makes us happy.

My mom had her own alteration business in 1948 before (and after) she got married. She taught me to be independent and not to settle – whip up a dress and a fabulous meal too J.

My mom was a stay-at-home mom but also sold Tupperware and Avon. She had such a beautiful light about her, and people were drawn to her smile. I realized having positive energy and a good smile goes a long way.

Funny you should ask. I am a communications trainer and I reference her years in the banking industry all the time. I learned so much from her about how to treat people, how to be a true professional, and how to be a working mom. I am indebted to her entire generation of women who blazed a path for me and the women of my generation. I hope to do the same for my girls.

My mom didn’t have a high school diploma; she worked in sewing factories, long, hard hours for low wages, also waitressing. She inspired me to get an education so that I could earn a better life. I am grateful.

She told me to invent a product, I did, and millions of sales later I have her to thank!

Growing up, my sister and I witnessed my mother (a single parent) struggle and work long hours as a waitress. After many years she had enough and decided to better herself and her family by going back to school for nursing. While going to school full-time and working (and being a single parent was an even harder struggle), she graduated and has been a nurse for well over 10 years now. I am extremely proud of her hard work and dedication. Her persistence has taught me to succeed in everything I do. I would not be where I am in my career today if it were not for my mother.

My mom modeled communication, she took us to campaign, community, church…taught us to prioritize a balanced life…our God, our family, our community.

My mother started “take your daughter to work day” with two other women. She has paved the way for so many women scientists and inspired me to be a business owner. She’s my hero.

My mother owned a public relations company in the ’60s. She was very successful and always told me I had to find a career that I loved so that I would never have to depend on anyone else.

My Mom stayed focused on my Dad until his passing in 2006 with something good to eat and a cup of tea every morning and evening.  When I felt I was failing she would encourage me to “Focus” and I would go back to the subject and would be successful.  I feel very proud to have had her support until she passed nearly one year ago.