Dear NAWBO-Silicon Valley,

Yes, it’s here – Q4! Is it cliché to say that the years go by so much faster as we get older? Yes, it is, but yes they do! I’ll admit that I’m never fully ready to embrace Q4 yet, in early October, but by Halloween, I’m all in. And as Thanksgiving approaches, I really do take stock of what I’m thankful for. So, readers, you’ve missed my whole melancholy shift into the new quarter, and now I’m ready. Much has happened since my last President’s message, so I’d like to recap what you’ve missed if you haven’t joined us at NAWBO-Silicon Valley in a while!

September – Five of us from NAWBO-Silicon Valley attended the NAWBO National Women’s Business Conference in San Antonio. The conference was inspiring in many ways. Many of us participated in a leadership training series, where we shared chapter best practices with chapters across the country. We also had a variety of interesting speakers addressing our group – from Presidential candidate Carly Fiorina to Texas Governor Greg Abbott on the political side, and inspiring keynote speakers Leigh Ann Tuoey (of “The Blind Side” fame) and Bonnie St. John, the first African American to win Paralympic medals in ski racing. NAWBO-Silicon Valley was also instrumental in engaging 22 women from Mexico as AMMJE’s (the Mexican equivalent of NAWBO) delegation to the conference. Our own Griselda Quezada-Chavez almost single-handedly hosted these ladies during the 3 day conference and was instrumental in forging partnerships with their organization on a national basis as well as locally. NAWBO-Silicon Valley is the only US chapter with a direct partnership with AMMJE and their Cabo San Lucas chapter. Well done!

September – Here locally, we rounded out our first “themed quarter” of “Communications”. Our September speaker was Cynthia Riggs, and she presented to us about building your own One-Page Business Plan.

October – Our October speaker, our very own Past President and current Secretary/Treasurer, Pam Hedblad, spoke with our group about “Take Action to Pump Up Your Financial Fitness”. Pam shared some great tips about how to put more money into savings and retirement planning and how to just make smarter decisions about money. Her presentation was a great way to kick off our theme this quarter – “Finance”.

November – There are many exciting things going on this month, some directly NAWBO related, and some being offered to us as member benefits from outside organizations:

  • Speaker Hilary Hendershott will be presenting about 7 Steps to Turn Revenues into Profits and Personal Wealth.
  • We have been asked to participate in an SBA sponsored event called InnovateHER where innovative businesses can compete for cash prizes.
  • NAWBO Members have been invited to participate in Inc. Magazine’s Vision 2020 event in SF on 12/3. Contact us for the registration code if interested.
  • Small Business Saturday – following Black Friday (on Saturday 11/28) the event encourages shoppers to spend money at local small businesses – like your fellow NAWBO members’ stores, for instance.

Thank you to all of you who’ve been to our meetings recently. And a special invitation out to those of you who haven’t joined us for a few months. We miss you. And you’re missing out on some good programs and networking! I know that the holidays are soon to be upon us, so I hope to see you in November and December before ALL of the craziness hits. The board has been working very hard on your behalf to keep the quality programming coming. Please judge for yourself and offer them a huge thank you in the process.

See you all soon!

Fondly,
Monika Miles, 2015-2016 President, NAWBO-Silicon Valley