Women's Leadership Institute Day 1

I have to be extremely grateful for the support of professional development at Florida State. Because of that and the support of our Union Director, I am currently sitting at the 4th annual Women's Leadership Institute, sponsored by ACUI and seven other associations. It is being held at Amelia Island, FL at the Ritz-Carlton Resort. (Yea...the Ritz...the one and only time I will probably ever be here...ha.)

Today was the opening of the institute. We had a nice reception and an opening speaker, Katty Kay who co-authored the book Womenomics. A study in how women are changing the workforce. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised to hear some revolutionary thoughts and some encouraging statistics. Turns out, women actually make business not only run better but become more profitable. "Pink Profits." Go figure, right? It is also about re-framing how we see our careers. Knowing what we want, not being afraid to ask, and learning to say no when needed. Hearing what she and her co-author found in their research was enlightening. Oh, and she gave all of us a signed copy of the book. Sweet.

I must admit the major introvert in me was initially overwhelmed, and I still sort of am. We have 95 women attending this institute, and I do not know any of them. I had to make myself get out and meet people at the reception, which for anyone who knows me knows that is not the easiest thing for me to do. I am also one of the youngest, if not the youngest, person here. Although I think that is going to make me get much more out of this. The women here are from all across the board in background and current positions. I think I will find it extremely interesting to hear from them over the next couple of days, and I hope this will help me grow in the networking aspects of my career.

My goal is to blog each night in order to help me process. I was inspired by the fact that the planners of this incorporated "wellness time" into our schedules to make sure we are doing things for ourselves while we are here. I hope to have much to report. :-)