It's Wednesday, so it's time for another WCW!
Being a grown up is hard- growing up is harder. That’s why I was excited when one of my former classmates invited me to Young Women’s Empowerment Conference!
Is this an annual conference? Plans?
For now, we are just hosting it this year. We do have future plans to hold something interesting for young men as they, often times than not, get ignored but for now, just this year. This conference was challenging to plan and host as it is our first large public event but we are two weeks away and we made it! I am proud of the things I have learned while planning this conference.
Briannah Griggs, is one of four women involved in this conference, so after a few days of phone tag- the grown life is difficult- we were finally able to chat on the phone.
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| Briannah Griggs |
“A friend of mine [fellow speaker] Stacy Moore, and I were talking about wanting to do a conference for teens and 20 somethings, you know our age group, our audience is 18-30”- don’t worry- one of the speakers is 34 and the rest vary in age, 20, 24, 25, 25 and 34.
Who is your ideal audience?
Our ideal audience are people between 18 and 30. We are trying to reach people who still have time to change or influence their behavior to aid them to a well-rounded life. While we do believe anyone will benefit from our tips we want to target 18-30 year old persons.
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| Stacy Moore |
“Let’s get people together and talk. Have this panel become mentors to show the difference in upbringing and backgrounds but our similar ‘walks’ and dealt cards, someone the audience can make a connection to so you can rely on them if life get hards.”
Where did this idea come from?
Stacy Moore and I were on the phone one night, nothing gout of the ordinary, and through conversation we realized we had the same goal to host a conference to assist young ladies as they go through life to avoid the mistakes we made in our teen and early twenties.
“Our plan is to start with young women first [it’s something we all know] and then do a conference for young men- because then times they’re forgotten.”
4 women are a part of this conference- what do each of you bring to this?
Each woman holds a story that will be impact someone there. They have dealt with issues of family abandonment, homelessness, disrespect by family, being ignored by those around them that say they love them, immature decisions and silent depression. We will share our stories which tell about life’s challenges but we will share the methods used to succeed. Whether the method of survival meant silencing the negativity around them or forgiving those who are not willing to change the audience; will hear how we survived. Life is not easy and challenges arrive often, it is always good to relate to someone who made it to the other side of trouble.
Once Bri & Stacy started meeting with the other 3 women- this conference started to take shape.
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| Marrissa Neal |
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| Edmone Smith |
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| Edlexus Henley |
“I’ve been to a few conferences in my day and I know that there’s not a lot of planning- things tend to repeat and the last thing I want to do is bore the audience.”
In their meetings- they’re discussed the basis of this conference- a resonating scripture. No shame- a humble perspective.
“We want to make sure we come from a genuine place.”
They don’t all go to the same church,The House of The Lord of Akron, First Apostolic Faith Church aka The Faith Place and Church of God Worship Center, but this conference will be Christian based- “why do we love him” “why do we serve him."
“I want to do this because things could’ve been different. Maybe it wouldn't have taken so long to finish college if I had had a sounding board.”
“Same can be said about having someone you respect saying, ‘yeah, you messed up- but this isn’t the end, pick yourself up and dust yourself off and get back out there.”
Why do you do what you do?
- Stacy is focused on developing her career as a cosmetologist to one day, own her own chain of salons. She is dedicated to her profession and works to make sure her clients consistently look their best. Stacy finds herself giving to others, whether it be through advice and or an attentive listening ear, she is always available to those she loves. She is the person she wanted around when life’s troubles haunted her in her past.
- Briannah wants to be a successful business consultant and motivational speaker. Her goal is to travel and share her success story (testimony) with others so they avoid any mistakes she made. While she is aware, no one can avoid mistakes, she wants to be the face of those who do not feel they can make it through their current challenge. Briannah also remembers the challenges of college and desires to send twenty young people to school tuition free. This goal causes her to be well-disciplined, but she is willing to make the sacrifice to see others succeed. She as well, is a giver at heart.
Thank you, Bri!
Check out the event on Facebook!
xo,
KJB
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