We all need an opportunity to recharge our batteries from time-to-time and yesterday was one such opportunity for me. I was very fortunate to host a table of WiNners at the ‘Inspiring Women, The Experience,’ signature women’s professional development event in Waterloo Region. Our table represented the recent winners of Women in Nuclear (WiN) Canada’s ‘Talk about Opportunities’ contest.

Five hundred and fifty women from southwestern Ontario gathered to hear inspiring women talk about their personal life journeys and share their insights.

The day began with Manjit Manhas, who at 19 and with $10,000 in capital started her own spirits business in Alberta. Ten years later, the business has grown to an international multi-million dollar spirit, wine, beer and cordial business. Her presentation entitled, “Choose work you love and you’ll never work a day in your life,” looked at four goals that Manjit set for her own success:
1. There is no substitute for hard work - work smart, work harder. She told us it was always important to her as she started out in a male-dominated industry to make sure she was the most knowledgeable, the best dressed and most punctual in the room.
2. Trust and be Trusted - trust the ability of those you hire to do their job.
3. Stick to what you know - delegate those jobs that don’t fit your skill set to others more qualified. Don’t get caught up in branching out your business in different directions.
4. Live within your means - Don’t overextend yourself or your business.

Next on the speaker’s list was Joelle Berdugo-Adler, who in her presentation, “The Importance of Giving Back,” shared her belief that living a life of passion is our highest calling. She said women possess passion, which moves us to action and a process of opening ourselves to do something you really believe in. That passion may have you taking risks and can often be confused with emotion in women, but she said more often passion is translated to compassion. The progress she sees being made across the globe in her charity work with OneXOne, has women with strong passion leading positive initiatives. She asked us was to give each other a leg up and use our resources to help young women be successful. “Women will lead this world, but we have to stick together to change the world. Often women can be our own worst enemies.” In her charity work she has been able to solicit help from several celebrity endorsers by perseverance, believing that honesty and integrity are integral components of success. “Success is only a positive thought away.”

Having the courage to stand up for what one believes was the inspirational message delivered by Erin Brockovich, the keynote speaker. “A winner is someone who puts themselves out there, even if you don’t win - just going to battle makes you a winner”, she said. Erin believes that morality is invincible and honesty, communication and character are what it takes to be successful. She empowered all of us to use the ability to choose how to react to situations and to take a positive and moral position. She encouraged everyone to ‘punch’ forward in adversity.

Adele Alfano, ended the day with humour and helped us all ‘embrace our inner bling.’ Adele reminded us communication, celebration, commitment and connections were the keys to success.

It was a wonderful experience sharing the day with so many inspiring women. My batteries are recharged and I’m energized, ready to tackle my to-do list.