Women's Leadership Exchange Conference

I attended WLE's conference yesterday at the Schaumburg Ikea. I met some really wonderful people and saw a few familiar faces (hi Kathryn and Mattine!). All in all, it was a great day and I thoroughly enjoyed my time. However, I have to wonder if I'm the only person who wishes that more emphasis was placed on business strategies, rather than family issues. I understand I was in a very large room filled with lots of moms. I get it, I really do. But the opposite is true of conferences or events that host women and men. Why is that? My first break-out session was about marketing and generating referrals. Yet the speaker spent the majority of her presentation giving analogies about her daughter and grandmother. Would she have done that in a room full of men? Probably not. So why the need to speak to a female audience in a different manner than a male audience, especially when there are so few women who are in C-level positions of major corporations? I just don't get it. I'm not a communications or psychology expert so I can't say that one is right or wrong and as long as business still gets done, value exists in both. Right?

On another topic, I was one of the fortunate few who walked away with a gorgeous gift basket from Ikea. My basket had a TON of cooking items. (Here ya go, Dan!) The first thing I opened was the Ikea cookbook for their Swedish meatballs, which are amazing. I was shocked, and then not shocked at all to find that all the measurements are in metrics. How much is 250 grams of minced pork? When do I stop pouring to get 3 DL of cream? I seriously felt like Spinal Tap trying to figure out military time. My next google search: metrics vs. english. You should have seen my two dogs looking at me while I held the whisk and spatula. I think it was a new experience for them.

Next Tuesday, I'll be joining Leo, Carl and John on the "Livin' the Dream" internet-based radio show! I'm really excited and think it's going to be a great mix. My topic will be career advancement. Leo fluidly handles business ownership, John is our financial planning whiz and Carl strategically maneuvers the world of investing in commercial real estate. All of these topics tie-in nicely together and the three of us have a great rapport. I'm looking forward to seeing how that rapport will translate on the show. Here is a link to the show where you can listen live (11AM CST every Tuesday) or to the archives: http://www.mydreambiz.net/

Until next time, have a great week!