A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the Wings for Women event hosted by Redbull. The event was centered around author, motivational speaker, and girlboss Maxie McCoy. First off, Maxie is probably the coolest person I have ever met! Her bright personality, and badass hot pink blazer, captured the audience of local girl bosses and made this night so fun and inspiring.
It was refreshing to be surrounded by amazing women in the Tampa Bay area and experience the overwhelming support between all the women at the event.
Photo courtesy of Faith Danielle
Maxie’s talk revolved around her book “You’re Not Lost” which Maxie describes as “a tough loving guide to figuring out your next steps and believing in yourself enough to take them.” I must say, listening to her talk was so eye-opening for me. It felt so good having someone like Maxie introduce her book in a different light from other self-help books, who are mainly trying to get you to change your personality and who you are in order to be more productive or successful.
Photo courtesy of Faith Danielle
Maxie made sure to reinforce the idea that we already have all the tools that we need to be the best version of ourselves, and wee just have to be willing to believe in ourselves and what we bring to the table.
Photo courtesy of Faith Danielle
The talk was so interactive. It felt more like we were all just hanging out and having a girl’s night. One of the first questions Maxie asked the audience was, “What does your future smell like?”, which made us all laugh out loud as we tried to imagine the scent of our futures. Our very own Editor-in-Chief, Sara Wilson, bravely volunteered and talked about her goals of living in Florence with her family. So many women got up to share their journeys of figuring out their passions and how to turn them into a business. The amount of love and support they all received was super encouraging.
Photo courtesy of Faith Danielle
One of my favorite concepts from Maxie was to search for direction and not destination. I felt like she was speaking to me directly. I am sure a lot of women feel that way too. It may seem like such a simple statement, but it carries a whole lot of weight. Think about it. We spend so much time trying to find exactly where we want to end up that we forget to focus on the present and the actual journey to get there.
Photo courtesy of Leticia Ribeiro
Maxie reminded us to use all the power within us to be more present, bolder, and braver. Perhaps the most important concept of the talk was to build a group of supporting, ride-or-die people around you. We cannot do life alone and we need amazing people to lean on through the process of getting our sh*t together!
Photo courtesy of Faith Danielle