This year, ESSENCE unveiled its inaugural E Suite, which was an exclusive high-touch experience for entrepreneurs, career-driven women and business leaders to connect, share and engage at ESSENCE Festival. As Black women, we are oh so versatile. So not only did we turn up at ESSENCE, get our lives to Janet Jackson, and eat some good in the French Quarter, but in the words of Beyoncé, we helped our financial and business futures so that our “great great-grandchildren already rich, so that’s a lot of brown children on your Forbes List.”
In the E Suite, attendees got to encounter experts who shared tips and insights on accessing capital, sharpening entrepreneurship skills, and planning career advancement. More than 150 attendees from all over the United States gathered in sisterhood magic to experience top notch speakers and moguls to help them accelerate both their careers and their businesses.
We heard from Myleik Teele on how she balances motherhood with her business, curlBOX, Sheila Johnson on how she built her billion dollar business, Lisa Price on getting her start out of her kitchen, Jovian Zayne on working/living/loving on purpose, Robin Thede on becoming a 10 year “overnight success,” Tiffany “The Budgetnista” Aliche on paying down debt and Lisa Nichols on unlocking our abundance. There were tears shed, laughs had, and money made all within the very same room. During these engaging panels, attendees had the unique opportunity to get their burning questions answered and go home with the knowledge to develop a strategy to maximize profits that they can implement right away.
Here are just some of the E Suite Topics examined during the unique conference experience:
– The Mogul Mindset: Package Your Brilliance and Brand Your Business
– Break the Rules: How To Win in the Age of Disruption
– Money Moves: Expanding Your Financial Empire
– The Boss Bride Confessions: How to Integrate Your Personal and Professional Pursuits
– Manage Your Expansion: How to Expand Your Spirit for Sustainable Professional Growth
– Close the Deal: Getting Corporate and Government Contracts
– Squad Goals: Building A High-Performing Executive Team
– Get Seen and Heard: How to Get Your Story to the Page, Stageand Screen
– Secure the Bag: The Truth About Access to Capital & Business Funding
Pop-ups, keynotes, and intimate conversations gave rising stars and seasoned professionals resources and tools to dominate and breakthrough into their best year yet. The panelists for both days were phenomenal, and gave attendees the chance to focus on some of the most important financial aspects of their career growth, while also sharing their expertise on capital investors and equity financing. This enlightening discussion helped everyone in the room better understand how to position themselves in a world that simply doesn’t listen to Black women.
Thankfully, this is the first of many events to come at the E Suite. Stay tuned, as you just might find it at a city near you!