17th Annual WPO Chicago Summit 9/10/20 a HUGE Success!

©2020 Women Presidents' Organization.  All rights reserved.

A big shout out of thanks and gratitude to all the people who worked their tails off for our 17th Annual WPO Chicago Summit that took place Thursday, September 10th from 1:30-6:00PM CT.  Yes, you read that right on the time. Don't ever let people tell you that you can't run a virtual meeting – a 1st for our Summit! – for more than an hour and keep people engaged, enthusiastic and informed.  Our Summit was a HUGE success!

We had more than 50 people participate from all over the world from the Women Presidents'​ Organization and even had the great pleasure of our CEO joining us, Camille Burns.

The theme this year was "Create a Powerful Advisory Board" and our experienced presenters were Barbara Ford, Mary Elworth, Ann S. Deters, Sandy Marsico and Patricia Miller. Thank you all for sharing your experience with us! You guys rock!

Thank you to our Steering Committee members: Margo Jacquot and Ann S. Deters. And to Laura Fairman for her great design work, as always.

Special thanks to the WPO sponsors who attended – can't mention them all but I'll bring in two who spoke briefly: Kathleen Christy CPA, CTFA, CEPA, PNC and Kerri Adams, Financial Wellness Account Executive, Prudential - we appreciate your support.

Finally, thank you to the entire WPO family who signed up for our Summit (you know who you are) because you made our program that much more vibrant and informative. With gratitude ...
(#WPO, #CreateAPowerfulAdvisoryBoard).

Reminder: 17th Annual WPO Chicago Summit 9/10/20

Be Still. Find Your Joy

A few tips to be still and find your joy in everyday life.

5 Business Owners Share Their Tips on Thriving During COVID-19

The five businesses highlighted in the article below for GoDaddy (Open We Stand unit) have been thriving through COVID-19 and we can all learn important lessons from them during this time. They reexamined their strategies, got creative, and made tough decisions on how to adapt and sustain long-term growth for their businesses.

Here are five key tips we can learn from these small business owners that can impact our own strategies going forward into the future.  Two of the business owners featured are former and current WPO members.

Read more:  What we can learn from these 5 small businesses thriving through COVID-19

17th Annual WPO Chicago Summit 9/10/20

How WPO and PNC Empowers Female Entrepreneurs

To support the continued trajectory of women-owned companies and the financial health of the women who own them, PNC Wealth Management is a corporate sponsor of the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO), an international peer-to-peer mentoring model for women who own and run high revenue-generating businesses.

Across its consumer footprint, PNC supports approximately 45 WPO chapters and has been instrumental in founding several chapters in communities where women presidents lacked a peer network.

Read more about PNC, WPO, and the in-depth conversation Beth Marcello (left), director of women’s business development at PNC had with WPO Executive Board member and Xtreme Solutions, Inc. president, CEO and founder Phyllis Newhouse (right).

Doing Good: Disaster Relief Pro Bono Portal

Key ways you can help people affected by COVID-19 and other recent disasters.  Find pro bono opportunities, including those helping victims of the COVID-19 pandemic, below.

Learn more here.

Helping Business Women Reach the Million Dollar Mark

Julia Pimsleur first she took her passion project from a side hustle into a full-fledged business. Then she ascended to the even more difficult peak of turning a business making a few hundred thousand dollars a year into one generating millions per year.

“I’ve [says Julia] always been interested in moving the needle on something for women and realized this was it… I want to help close the economic gender gap by helping more women scale up their businesses.” She decided she wanted to help other women to reach the million dollar mark and beyond by providing them with coaching, community and mentorship.

Learn more on how it takes a totally different skillset to scale a business to a million dollars.

Note to Julia:  Once you work with a woman and they hit the million-dollar mark, send them our way!

JOIN Us: WPO Digital Conference July 22-23, 2020

The Women Presidents’ Organization Annual Conference - Reimagining Business - has been reconfigured as a digital event on July 22ⁿᵈ and 23ʳᵈ. Now we can engage our entire international membership base with impactful content – from thought-provoking keynote speakers to workshop sessions and networking opportunities – all without traveling.

Here's what you can discover by attending.

Conference schedule

Register here.  Look forward to connecting with you!

Time to Kick Back and Do a Little Reading Outside of Business

Find out what Assistant Editor Kate Cray, at The Atlantic, recommends right now as a good read, with a focus on the classics.

The Books Briefing

Gary Hamel and Harnessing Everyday Genius

We are big fans of Gary Hamel.  He spoke at a WPO Annual Conference in Chicago back in 2006.  What an event, filled with extraordinary insights, energy and over-the-top learning.

And now Gary is still at it with his high level intellect.  He, along with Michele Zanini, talk about Harnessing Everyday Genius for Harvard Business Review..

The crux of the article:

This workplace alchemy—turning dead-end jobs into get-ahead jobs—doesn’t require new legislation or billions of dollars in public spending. It just takes commitment to building organizations that kindle the spark of everyday genius in each human being.

Read it all, here.

Cities Where Women Are Most Successful

The new rankings, from the website SmartAsset, analyzed the “percentage of women with a bachelor’s degree, median earnings for women working full-time, percentage of business owners who are women, housing costs as a percentage of women’s earnings and the percentage of full-time working women earning $75,000 or more.”

Here's what they discovered.

Illustration credit:  SmartAsset

One Woman's Battle with COVID-19

With COVID-19, it's likely you know someone who has gotten it – a colleague, a neighbor or family member.  And should that be the case, you can always lend a helping safe hand – from a distance – and have the person realize they are never alone.

Read this story about one woman's journey getting COVID-19 and how she discovered a support team to help her.

Color Blind or Color Brave?

Open Your Hearts and Be An Ally to Black People

Some good resources curated by Susan Diamond, Vice President, Chapter Chairs and Chief Learning Officer, Women Presidents’ Organization.

From Paulette Turner – Chapter Chair, Fort Worth, TX
Black People Need Allies, Too

Nancy Geenen – Chapter Chair, Silicon Valley, CA
This will make you understand privilege

Betty Hines – Chapter Chair, Greenbelt, MD
10 Books About Race to Read Instead of Asking a Person of Color to Explain Things To You

Laurel Delaney – Chapter Chair, Chicago
75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice

Leaders Who Have Already Had to Prove Themselves Are the Most Effective

Women account for less than 7 percent of the world’s leaders, so the fact that so many have distinguished themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic is noteworthy. But that’s not all.

Some of the worst-performing countries are led by unapologetically old-fashioned “men’s men.”

In the article below, the authors says:  "If traditionally “feminine” traits don’t explain female leaders’ strong performance in times of crisis, what does?"

The authors go on to say:  "The answer may be related to the path women take to power, which is generally more demanding than that faced by men. In particular, it may be linked to the “glass cliff” phenomenon, whereby women are more likely than men to be appointed to leadership positions that are “risky and precarious.”

The authors close with:

While many factors are shaping outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic, leadership is undoubtedly one of the most important. It should surprise no one that, by and large, it is the leaders [who also start and run businesses] who have already had to prove themselves who are the most effective. That very often means they are women.

Read the entire opinion piece, here.

A Permanent Shift to Working From Home?

Global Workplace Analytics estimates that 56% of U.S. workers have jobs that are at least partially compatible with working remotely.  What's your plan for your employees at your company?

According to a Gallup poll, half of Americans who now work remotely said they want to continue doing so even after restrictions on business are lifted.

Will you let some employees work from home after the COVID-19 pandemic?

Read more.

Exciting News: WPO Chicago is Taking in New Members!

If you are a female running a multimillion-dollar business, now is your chance to connect with like-minded business owners by becoming a WPO Chicago member.  We are opening up our Chicago chapters to take in new members!

The Women Presidents' Organization is a non-profit membership organization for women presidents, CEOs, and managing directors of privately held, multimillion-dollar companies.

To request a guest visit to an upcoming virtual meeting, email me, Laurel Delaney, and we'll coordinate a best date and time for you. Keep in mind that we meet monthly virtually but in the future, when it is safe, we will be back meeting in person.

Look forward to hearing from you.  By reading this message, you are already well on your way to creating a business that can grow and prosper in the coming months.

Can Mompreneurs Maintain a Work-Life Balance?

Achieving the perfect work-life balance is the new goal for everyone in the business world today.

Mom entrepreneurs are particularly seen grappling with this challenge quite often as they have two full-time jobs: one running a business and the other at home.

So, is there any way to strike a balance between your work and family life, especially during the COVID-10 lockdown?

Read more ...

Bracing For the Economic Fallout

What do you do when the people who have been your customers are now the people whose actions and decisions could very well determine your future? Nationally, everyone is bracing for the economic fallout, and with the backdrop of a the worst national economic contraction since the Great Recession, all business becomes local.

Here are the stories of five local Washington business owners (three being female and one is a WPO member) yet their tales resonate with every business owner.