Hispana Leadership Summit<\/a><\/em> in Miami, FL.\u00a0 I was invited to attend by one of my client-friends, and, after overcoming several hurdles regarding childcare, transportation home from school for my children, and hunting for a white outfit after Labor Day, I was finally able to send in my RSVP that I would attend!<\/p>\nI left on Friday morning with the intention of learning how to hone my leadership skills, gathering information useful to growing my business, and having the opportunity to network with other successful and professional Latina women.\u00a0 And, while I was able to do all of that, I was also pleasantly surprised by the unexpected benefits of having attended the summit and how they relate to having a loving, intimate relationship!<\/p>\n
I have to admit, I love attending events and meetings that are focused on empowering women. I\u2019ve found, however, that many of the meetings and conferences aimed at women professionals are solely <\/em>focused on the sales\/marketing, how-to-get-ahead aspects of running your own business or growing in your career.\u00a0 Now, of course, there\u2019s nothing wrong with that.\u00a0 We all want to excel in our careers, and we all want to make a good living that allows us to have the lifestyle we desire and deserve.\u00a0 But, often, the information shared in these types of meetings tend to address our more \u201cmasculine\u201d side, and does not always allow for recognizing or celebrating the aspects about us women that make us different from our male counterparts: namely, our feminine nature<\/em>.<\/p>\nHaving the opportunity to learn leadership skills and practices that will help me grow my business was the reason I attended.\u00a0 And the content presented by outstanding speakers and panelists was top-notch!\u00a0 However, I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that almost every single one of the women who was on stage at some point mentioned her husband or boyfriend, her children and family, and the importance of the roles that we women play in those areas of our lives.\u00a0 Women shared how the support of the men in their lives served to encourage and empower them to take the steps they needed to move ahead.\u00a0 One woman shared how she had to \u201cfire\u201d her husband from her organization, because she didn\u2019t want him to be her \u201cemployee.\u201d What she wanted more than anything was to have him be her husband, and to be able to come home and just be herself<\/em> with him. Another woman shared how her husband\u2019s leadership skills were completely opposite, and, yet, complimentary to hers, making them the perfect team! Several women shared the delicate balance many of us have to find in order to be there for our children and not feel guilty when it comes to doing what we love in our careers.\u00a0 And, more than anything, these women \u2013 powerhouses in their own right \u2013 were vulnerable and \u201creal,\u201d sharing their journeys \u2013 the ups and downs, the choices and mistakes, and the unexpected rewards and heartaches.<\/p>\nOne of my favorite parts of the summit was the party on Friday night.\u00a0 Picture this: About a hundred successful women, beautifully made up, all dressed in white, dancing to salsa<\/em>, merengue<\/em>, bachata<\/em>, and pop music.\u00a0 We made conga lines, did soul trains, and made circles so that we could each strut our stuff on the dance floor. We laughed, celebrated, and danced the night away.\u00a0 There was a feeling of sisterhood, connection, and love in the room, and, to me, that was probably the most surprising part of it all: That feeling of connectedness and affinity for women \u2013 some who I had met previously, and others who were complete strangers.\u00a0 I can attribute it to nothing more than the feminine power that was present throughout the weekend.<\/p>\nSo, what does this have to do with having a healthy, happy, loving relationship?\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\nFor one thing, it\u2019s important that we recognize, honor, and celebrate our feminine nature \u2013 those aspects of ourselves that are unique to being a woman: the vulnerability, strength, and ability to connect heart-to-heart with another woman, simply because it is the nature of who we are<\/em>! Another important factor is the feeling of sisterhood <\/em>that comes when we surround ourselves with other women who encourage, support, and help us strive to become the best version of ourselves.\u00a0 Being around other women helps strengthen our feminine nature. This is why maintaining strong friendships with other women \u2013 particularly those who are pulling for you to have a happy, loving relationship \u2013 is so vital! And, of course, we can not underestimate the importance of practicing self-care, having fun and doing things that are pleasurable and help us feel happy, peaceful and free to be who we are<\/em>! Participating in activities that bring us pleasure raises levels of oxytocin and endorphins in our bodies, elevating feelings of peace, joy, and connection \u2013 all essential elements for creating a great relationship!<\/p>\nSeveral times during the weekend, and, especially, during the testimonials shared at the end of the conference, there were moments where tears were shed as people shared themselves openly and authentically.\u00a0 And, you know what? \u00a0No one thought there was anything \u201cwrong\u201d or strange about it, because, being vulnerable is okay when you\u2019re around other women.\u00a0 They said at the end of the conference that word describing this conference was \u201creassured,\u201d meaning that all of us left feeling reassured that we were on \u201cthe right path.\u201d\u00a0 I left reassured of something else, as well.\u00a0 Not only did I leave feeling inspired and invigorated, ready to make a difference, and proud to be a woman and a Latina, but I left reassured in knowing that we women really CAN<\/span> have it ALL<\/span><\/em>!\u00a0 We don\u2019t have to sacrifice our careers to experience true love. Nor do we have to sacrifice love in order to achieve our dreams, do what we feel we are called to do, and make the difference we were created to make!<\/p>\nI am grateful to my friend for inviting me to attend the conference, to all of the women with whom I had the opportunity to speak, laugh, and share, and to everyone who made it possible for me to attend \u2013 a fellow school mom who drove my kids home, my mother who stayed over two nights so that I could leave early and come back late, and my amazing and supportive husband, who, after I went on and on for about an hour about everything that I experienced and learned at the conference, smiled, hugged me, and said, \u201cI\u2019m so glad you were able to go, Babe!\u00a0 You\u2019re baaaack!\u201d<\/em> And, I do feel like myself again \u2013 my amazing, successful, loving, feminine Self!<\/p>\nDo you have comments or questions regarding this topic?\u00a0 Please feel free to share with us!\u00a0 We love hearing from you!<\/p>\n
Hispana Leadership Summit photo credit:\u00a0 http:\/\/on.fb.me\/ReXv91<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Hispana Leadership Summit in Miami, FL.\u00a0 I was invited to attend by one of my client-friends, and, after overcoming several hurdles regarding childcare, transportation home from school for my children, and hunting for a white outfit after Labor Day, I was finally able to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9,16,17,21,22,23],"tags":[31,47,50,54,57,63,68,88,90,105],"class_list":["post-706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dating-2","category-hdi-blog","category-love-2","category-marriage","category-relationship","category-relationship-advice","category-romance","tag-advice","tag-dating","tag-empowerment","tag-gratitude","tag-hearts-desire-international","tag-intimacy","tag-love","tag-relationships","tag-romance-2","tag-women"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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