Sometimes the moon and stars align, the seas part, the angels sing and a great opportunity comes your way. For me, it was an invitation and a guest blog post. This invitation came from two women I really admire, Rebecca Riviera and Kat Gordon. They invited me to participate as one of the co-leaders of CD Bootcamp “Soft Skills” at The 2014 3% Conference with Nancy Vonk and Laurel Stark Akman in San Francisco this November. I am thrilled.

What’s The Big Deal?

The 3% Conference honors a great many of the things that are extremely important to me like: self advocacy, bravery, self awareness, creativity and empowerment. As a coach, I focus on these things with my clients, male and female, all the time. The beauty of this event is that it celebrates and advocates for women in advertising. Having been in the business myself, I am extremely excited to be a part of this two day conversation.

The 3% conference was founded by Kat Gordon back in 2010 and the first conference was launched on September 27, 2012 to a sold out crowd. What does 3% stand for?  Did you know that only 3% of creative directors in advertising are women and women influence 80% or more of consumer spending?

The mission of 3% is to “build the business case for diversity by championing female creative talent and leadership, in addition, offering content, community and professional development.” This is right up my alley. As in coaching, I partner with people who want to redefine and build on what they are doing now and do it in a positive way. This discussion is not about how women can do everything better than men. This is a conversation about building diverse leadership that can meet the needs of not only the male consumer, but the female consumer as well. This new strategy offers strong collaboration and effective results.

What better way to spend time than a two day conference that educates, empowers and inspires people to be stronger leaders? Check out the links to Kat, Rebecca, Nancy, Laurel and the conference itself. If you are part of the advertising community, you will want to be a part of this event. I am 3% ready, are you?

Oh, and check out my guest blog post if you don’t mind a few scars.