Nathalie
What an inspiring couple of days this past weekend was. Rooms filled with accomplished women and women like me who are just on the rise at the second Her Conference I’ve attended. This wasn’t some boring or intimidating conference. Her Conference is for women who want to work in media and it features a lot of amazing, intelligent and successful female panelists.
The national co-chairs of the Women’s March, Linda Sarsour and Carmen Perez, POPSUGAR founder, Lisa Sugar, and Pretty Little Liars actress, Troian Bellisario, served as some of the keynote speakers. There were also more speakers in smaller panels that we had the freedom to select based on our interests! These panels included how to grow as a blogger, marketer, and even a social activist! But, it’s not all about working in fashion or entertainment; There were panelists who work for the U.N., and marginalized women like Amani Al-Khatahtbeh who have created a platform to give a voice to Muslim women with Muslimgirl.com. These women showed me that social impact can arise from being part of a fun and creative field.
I took plenty of advantage of the people that were at my fingertips. Networking and learning were my main takeaways. This is a rare opportunity where there are rooms filled with similarly aged women with similar goals. We want to create positive relationships and grow by learning from the failures/successes of others. So why not start a conversation with another college woman sitting next to you who just recently became the campus correspondent for their chapter? Yes, I did this. And because of that I gave her my business card and we talked about our common struggles with running our Her Campus chapter. We exchanged our Instagram handles and we hope to collaborate in the near future. It was as simple as me asking if she came to the conference on her own!
I shouldn’t forget about the amazing opportunity we had in the conference to ask panelists questions after the panel was over. Sure I would wait in line for maybe ten minutes, but I got to speak to Linda Sarsour and a blogger/lawyer who gave me a reassuring answer about my own blog, Nat Curiosity. These people might seem inaccessible and sometimes they are. But, I made sure to make myself visible because I had the chance to do that.
Most people aren’t a fan of trying to start a random conversation with someone which is understandable. A fellow conference attendee even told me to ask someone a question for her because she “doesn’t like to talk to people.” Also, someone stopped me in the bathroom at the end of Her Conference to talk about my role in Her Campus. And I’m so glad she did! I was the first person she networked with (better late than never right?). I mention these moments because you can make a connection by speaking with just one person and that one person could be overjoyed to speak with you. There’s no reason to not like to interact with people because that’s the way we get to speak to bloggers or Nathalie Penas (wink wink), who are just starting out in the industry.
I’m glad this whole experience was filled with women who were not competitive or bragging which is sometimes the case. Instead it proved that “empowered women, empower women.”
*Read more about Nathalie’s experience and get some quotes from the speakers on her blog, Natcuriosity.com.
Katie
When I first heard about Her Conference, I wasn’t really sure what it was going to be about, which sounds kind of silly. It has the word “conference” in it, so one would assume it’d be just that; a conference. But I’m happy to say that Her Conference was anything but what I expected it to be. It was no stuffy, boring conference that made you feel like you were sitting through another boring 8 am lecture. As corny as it sounds, it was truly an experience I’ll never forget.
I’m not big on large conferences or events where I don’t know a lot of people. While almost everyone I know have said to me that I come off as very outgoing, on the inside, I have always felt more like an introvert. I enjoy doing a lot on my own, such as going to coffee shops to read/write, or just walking around the mall. While new settings, new experiences, and new people do excite me, they also terrify me. I have a hard time introducing myself to new people, due to my shyness. I also have the constant inner monologue of, “What if they think I’m weird?” Or, “What if they think I’m annoying? That my makeup looks bad? What if they’re mean to me and I start crying in the middle of the room and I have to run to the bathroom to call my mom?” Thoughts like that.So, going to Her Conference was sort of a big step for me, even though I knew three people from my chapter (my co-CC, Nathalie, included!) were going to be there. I guess not knowing what to expect is what made me the most nervous. Sure, I knew there’d be keynote speakers and panels, but I wasn’t sure how the day would actually run. Would I get there on time? Would I wake up to my alarm? The weekend was full of anxiety and nerves, but they all went away as soon as I walked through the doors of the Convene Conference Center on 3rd avenue.
As Nathalie highlighted before, Her Conference was a two day event held in New York City for members of Her Campus, and anyone from the general public who was interested. It’s goal is to empower and educate young women interested in the media field (journalism, broadcast news, blogging, social media, etc) by having an array of powerful, badass female speakers and professionals who were in our exact shoes only years before. I had never been to or had seen anything like this before. It was so inspiring, educational, and fun. All of our keynotes were well-known, established, fearless women who had taken their futures by the reins, went full speed ahead, and didn’t stop on their journey to create the lives they envisioned for themselves. Some were activists, some were CEOs, and others were actresses, but they all had one thing in common: they took charge of their own futures. I was in awe of how eloquently Linda Sarsour, Lisa Sugar, and Aja Naomi King – to name a few of the keynotes – spoke. They were fascinating to watch, and gave so many good pieces of advice to us girls; especially girls in college, who are trying to figure out what the heck we want to do and how to actually get there.The panelists were amazing as well. They were more specific, like how to work in book publishing, or how to make a living off your blog. I liked that the coordinators of Her Conference created different blocks that were specific to girls about their interests, like marketing, blogging, and editing. And it didn’t help that the panelists for literally every single panel were amazing, insightful women; I listened to so many of the panelists talk about how they achieved their goals, and each time I left a room, I was completely inspired. I talked to the digital senior editor of SELF magazine, Zahra Barnes, expressing to her that her job was actual my dream. I have always struggled with cover letters, and I asked her what was something I could improve on. Something that Zahra said really stuck with me: beyond not repeating what is on your resume, she advised me to highlight anything I have done involving leadership and administrative work. Employers like to see how you can rise and take on administrative tasks, to better improve their company. She kindly reminded me that the cover letter is to focus on how I can help SELF magazine, not what they can do for me, which is a common mistake I have done in completing them.
I think the biggest takeaway from the conference was something many of the panelists, and even the keynotes, emphasized about learning more about the media. They told us to email any editors, writers, or bloggers whose careers interested us. They advised us to send a nice, professional message, asking these individuals to coffee or tea for a brief meeting, just to pick their brains on how they got to where they are now. They acknowledged that some people may say no, or not even respond, but the ones who do are more than eager to offer advice and help. And what editor doesn’t want free coffee from an aspiring journalist and to talk about their fabulous lives working in media?In all, Her Conference was an amazing experience and one of the best weekends I’ve had this summer. I was blown away by how many nice, friendly girls I met at the conference who shared the same goals (and fears) about working in the media as me. I was also stunned and super psyched about all of the free goodies we received, like a free Urban Decay lipstick and a NuYu sports bra. The conference was so well organized and really made me excited about my career as a journalist after college. It was so inspiring to see and hear successful women speak about their lives; their struggles, victories, and everything in between. As girls, we are often told that we will not be the top executives. That a man can do our job better, and will get paid more for it (which, they still unfortunately do). Especially in careers like journalism and broadcast news, where everyone is out for the same goal or story, it is easy as a woman to not be taken seriously, merely due to the culture of our country. I had never really cared that much about being a strong, powerful, successful woman until college, when I took classes on feminism and when our president, who is known for being highly disrespectful to women, got elected. It made me angry that women were not taken seriously, and ever since then, I have wanted nothing more than to just be a successful, badass woman that people both admire and respect. One of our keynotes, Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, the founder of MuslimGirl.com, said the best quote of the conference, one that will always stay in the back of my mind. On talking about the power of women and how men tend to ignore us, Amani ended her keynote with this statement: “Let’s be the biggest threat they have ever known.”
I couldn’t agree more.