Recently, Consero’s female colleagues were given the opportunity to attend the Texas Conference for Women. So, we asked them what they experienced at the conference.
Deana Davis, Sr. Implementation Manager, said she really enjoyed Issa Rae’s keynote address where Rae stated, ‘’I realized I didn’t have the luxury of being tired,’’ in reference to the current state of affairs for Black women. “2020 has indeed been an awful year, with the deaths of icons such as Kobe Bryant, the pandemic, recession, and then all of the underlying racial tensions that are boiling to the surface,” said Deana. “It’s been exhausting for so many reasons, but her quote made me realize that I can’t give up, I need to be the change I want to see, and there is so much more that I need to and absolutely will start doing to have the conversations to make a change for my daughters and their friends in the future.”
Erica Sanchez, Executive Recruiter, found the conference to be inspiring, thoughtful and empowering. “As a BIPOC woman [Black, Indigenous and People of Color, ed.] woman in HR and specifically, recruiting, diversity, and inclusion is something I take pride in. How do we contribute to creating opportunities for an underrepresented community but not only create opportunities, but also ensure we have a platform for all to succeed?” Sanchez loved hearing Melinda Gates say at the conference that, “We can’t be what we can’t see.”
Kristen Bridgeman and Bridget Howard are Senior Director of Product and Senior Director of Marketing respectively. They both enjoyed listening to Reshma Saujani. “Listening to Reshma’s discussion on being perfect was so inspirational. Too often, women are afraid to raise their hand or speak up because they haven’t formulated the perfect question or they are worried about what other people might think,” said Kristen. “She showed us that it’s more important to be brave than to be perfect. It’s okay to fail because failure leads to increased knowledge and understanding.”
Bridget had a similar take: “Reshma’s discussion on perfectionism helped me see that re-wiring your mind for bravery is important. When we build courage in our minds, we can challenge those things that we fear.”
