“Sisters in Success: A Day of Connection, Inspiration, and Empowerment at the Business Sisters Conference”

OUT and ABOUT with Seeker Chick Mai-Liis: on Monday, November 3rd, attended the Business Sisters – Consœurs en Affaires Annual Conference in Rockland at the Riverrock Inn & Conference Centre with Seeker Chick Julia Lucio.

It was an early start to the day but well worth the hours drive and 8 am breakfast. We were welcomed at the door by volunteer Hélène Faubert who handed us our name tags and on the stage by organizer Doreen Ashton Wagner who introduced us to a very useful tool that translated French to English for those of us who aren’t fluent in French as the conference is held in both English and French.

Then there was a Land Acknowledgement and speech by Elaine Kicknosway that captivated us all followed by some stretches and yoga with Denise Sukkau of Niagara Mountainside Therapeutic Services to start off our day.

The day was filled with networking, interesting speakers including Vicki Saunders of Coralus (formerly SheEO), Manon Bourgeois of Metamorph Consultation and Genevieve Béland of Leadership feminine Prescott-Russell, Shulamit Her Levtov, The Entrepreneurs’ Therapist, Interactive activities, creating a motivational tree centre piece and scrumptious food and drinks. Below are Julia and I with our table showing off our tree centre piece.

In the afternoon there were 3 breakout sessions to choose from, Relationship Marketing with Eden Spodek of Spodek & Co., Social Media Marketing with Mariah Scrivens. Business Coach and Strategist and Marketing with AI with Elaine Turcotte Alexander of Reclaimed Practice. This is the part of the conference that I found difficult, having to choose one from these three amazing topics as I am sure like many others it would have been great to hear all the three speakers.

After a coffee break, with more amazing food we came to the last event of the day which was the Fireside Chat with trailblazing women business owners. This part of the day was presented by the Scotiabank Women’s Initiative. The panel consisted of Karen Brunet, Founder of CNTRL+ in Cornwall, Into., Katharine Perry, Co-founder and vice-president of Adaptt Apparel in Williamstown, Ont. and sisters Nathalie and Chantale Deslauriers, Cofounders of Studio Shanthaly & Académie Shanthaly in Embrun, Ont. Questions were asked by Chris McMartin of Scotiabank and each of these entrepreneurs shared great advice about their businesses.

The day ended with price draws and closing remarks and of course a networking hour followed with yet more food and drinks served by Doreen’s husband Heinz. This was a wonderful day. Thank you to Doreen and her team at Business Sisters for organizing such a great event. I’m looking forward to next year already!

And what are some bits of knowledge that I left with?

Ask and Give – abundance is always around us. There is always someone needing something and always someone who has something to give.

Lead with Love. Put more energy into what brings you Joy. Put your health first and know your limits. Less stress equals more success. Well being blooms where Joy is planted. Find what you’re passionate about because when you’re passionate about what you do you won’t ever feel like you’re working!

Above are some random pics taken during the day.

Of course that was much much more and I could go on for hours but if you want to find out more about Business Sisters visit them on Facebook, their website is business-sisters.ca and the next meeting takes place on December 2 and is the “Holiday Reception” at the business sisters Centre in Alexandria. Registration is required – hope to see you there!