BE Women of Power Summit was like the Girls’ Trip for Corporate Baddies and Fly Aunties
After the way 2025 started, I needed a little boost to strengthen my glow and reignite my shine.
The Black Enterprise Women of Power Summit was what I needed to inspire me.
Since 2018, I've had this summit on my list of events to attend, and I finally made it happen this year. I didn't know what to expect, but what I did learn quickly is that this is the ultimate corporate baddie and fly auntie conference for Black women. Heavy on the auntie. With timely topics and great speakers, I left feeling seen and heard. Here are my takeaways from attending my first summit.
Credit: Black Enterprise
Up close to business leaders I admire
I shared in our last newsletter my thoughts about Karine Jean-Pierre's Vanity Fair essay and her decision to take on the role of caregiver for her mom as Press Secretary for POTUS and not tell anyone. I had the opportunity to hear her speak more about her essay and so much more in a fireside chat with Valerie Garrett, moderated by Abby Phillips. Karine shared with us that she didn't feel "empowered to talk about what she was going through" with her colleagues. Valerie looked at her and said, "I'm sorry you didn't feel safe to be vulnerable."
With vulnerability comes risk. For Karine, it was the risk of being the story. She understood that her job was to serve the American people and not be the story.
I appreciated hearing her talk about this moment. I loved being able to share space with many business leaders that I admire and hear them be candid about life as a leader.
Corporate groups reign supreme
One thing I didn't expect when attending the summit was the number of women there as a group. People came with their companies or a group of friends, making it a girls' trip experience; however, that made it hard for women like me to network and connect.
Several summit sponsors and corporations sent between 20 and 90 women to the conference. I loved that their companies stayed committed to investing in their development. But for those not so lucky to have that type of corporate sponsorship, we had to fend for ourselves when it came to finding a viewable place to sit and converse with the groups at the tables. Those in big groups had the advantage of saving rows of seats and getting tables reserved for them in the front of the room. During the first morning's fireside chat I had to sit at the table in the back, and I wasn’t happy about it. However, I finally found some women in the same boat as me. We bonded and decided to navigate the summit together, but after the first panel, that strategy fell apart, and I didn't see them anymore for the rest of the conference. However, I continued to meet many women in the back of the room, and it became my space for networking. If you have a hard time navigating spaces alone or have social anxiety, I recommend coming with a friend or two for this conference. My hope is that summit organizers find a way to make a moment for those attending solo.
Trust language panelist
Learning more about trust languages
"We expect trust in our platonic relationships and our romantic relationships, but why don't we expect trust at a place that we will spend 90,000 hours of our lives at?" asked Minda Harts, author of the upcoming book Talk to Me Nice The Seven Trust Languages for a Better Workplace. "But oftentimes, we don't know how to ask for trust when things are broken."
In this panel discussion about understanding trust languages, I thought about the ways in which trust was broken between my managers in the past and how I either didn't share how it was broken and silently suffered or approached sharing how I felt in the wrong way. Minda challenged us to dig deeper when we say we don't trust someone we work with. "We say we don't trust our managers, but do our managers not understand our trust language?" she asked.
When going deeper on what it means to lose trust in someone, consider your expectations for your manager or the people you work with and if they are meeting them. You may be looking for transparency and feedback from managers, but they don't give it to you. You may be looking for praise and validation that you are doing good work and expecting your manager to share your work in meetings, but they aren't. If you need something, talk with your managers and or colleagues.
What it takes to be a board member
"Why do you want to be on a board?" The moderator of this panel asked us before three women at different stages of being board members shared their experiences.
Moving to Nashville exposed me to the number of women in their 30s who hold board seats. From nonprofit to corporate, board seats are a great way to participate in a company or organization's policy-making and governance. They can also be a great next chapter for women who are looking to exit or retire from their professional jobs or entrepreneurial roles.
My favorite takeaways from this panel included hearing from two women who were nontraditional candidates for their corporate board seats. Most women who hold board seats have traditional corporate backgrounds, have climbed the ladder, and have made it to the C-suite with an operational background. These women had entrepreneurial and marketing communications backgrounds and shared how their unique experiences brought value to the collective board.
Their advice:
Leverage your network and let them know you are looking for a board seat
Get in rooms with CEOs for visibility
Prepare yourself for what it means to be on a board by taking classes or programs like HBS Board Governance Programs and Deloitte Global Boardroom Program
Know if your company will support you being on a corporate board because not all companies will allow it
Be confident
Every session I attended, the conversation turned to ways we, as women, need to create visibility for ourselves, be vocal about our work, and advocate for what we need. All of these things help us get where and what we want out of our careers, but not all of us know how to do this. However, the first step is to try, and as many of the women shared on various stages during that weekend, confidence takes practice.
"You may not know everything, but you deserve to be here," shared Robin L. Washington, Salesforce's chief operating and financial officer (COFO).
So be confident and take up space.
I recommend this conference if you are looking for inspiration and a space to be around other Black women. Again, I suggest you attend with a group of friends to help navigate networking if you struggle in spaces alone.