Being part of WomanUP!® has changed my life. Literally. My husband and I just moved ourselves and our two kids from New Jersey to the San Francisco Bay area, and WomanUP!® is to thank.
Neither of us had ever lived anywhere outside of NJ. But the women I’ve met in the last 18 months have given me the courage and confidence to jump in and see where this will lead. The stories of courage from the WomanUP!® stage and from women in the Coldwell Banker network inspired me to take this leap. A similarity I see again and again is that these successful women took opportunities when they were presented – even if it was scary or they questioned their ability.
I’m “getting comfortable with being uncomfortable,” knowing that this is what growth feels like.
It’s really the epic power of community that is the source of the real magic behind WomanUP!® and #CBWomen. From the moment I saw Leslie, Sara and Debra on stage explaining WomanUP!® at Inman Connect New York in 2018, I knew that I needed to be involved in this movement. And I realized that I was uniquely positioned to be able to bring so many others into the fold because of my role at Coldwell Banker.
In the process of trying to build an initiative that helps women in real estate find their path to leadership, I started growing my own community. Every time I met a new woman, I walked away with a sense of awe, thinking, “How did we not know each other?” Then I realized that many of the most successful women inside of Coldwell Banker aren't connected yet, either. When I started to get THEM together, that’s when the magic started to happen. These are women at the top of their game – and they are still hungry to learn from each other and so willing to share their success. I’ve already started to see them influencing each other, tweaking and implementing each other’s ideas.
And I feel like we’re all just getting started on this road.
Every time I see or participate in a WomanUP!® panel, I am growing. There were two moments in particular from WomanUP!® at ICLV 2019 that I have been trying to put into practice. Both involve being a better listener. Tami Bonnell shared a story about how true leaders listen and guide people to be their best self – and how by doing that, she turned the need to fire people into an opportunity for those people to find their true calling. Leslie Appleton-Young, walked us through her own powerful, personal experience with true and active listening. You could say that when others are talking, “I wait to talk. But I’m trying harder to listen.”
Carla Hayes joined Tami Bonnell, Enid Cleland, and Debra Trappen on stage at Inman Connect Las Vegas this summer for a conversation about the Three Cs: Community, Courage, and Confidence.