Women Connect LIVE:
Breakthrough
September 28, 2023
The Loveless Barn
Women Connect LIVE 2023 is coming up on September 28th, 2023! We want you to be there with us! Tickets are available and we encourage you to grab your tickets early for this BREAKTHROUGH Event! Our conferences have been focused on being Fearless in your business, Abundant in your mindset, and now we will focus on the Breakthroughs that we as women make, what it takes to Breakthrough to more success and happiness, and ways to do that.
We have an exceptional speaker line up of business women that have in so many ways Broken through glass ceilings, barriers, mindset shifts, and many times a man’s world that needed their special expertise. Our panel interviews will be packed with women that you will want to learn from, and our Marketplace will be full of businesses that you want to check out and support. Our VIP Lunch will be a special lunch opportunity with our speakers and a true opportunity to share what you do like one of our normal lunch connection events.
Sponsored By
Keynote Speaker:
Suneera Madhani
Suneera madhani is a true trailblazer in the business world. As the founder of stax payments, she built one of america’s top 10 fastest-growing fintech companies from an idea to over $160 million in recurring revenue, making it a billion-dollar technology platform. She is the first female ceo to lead a unicorn out of florida and has received numerous accolades for her success, including being recognized by fortune’s 40 under 40, ey’s entrepreneur of the year, entrepreneur magazine’s 100 most influential women, and inc. ‘s 100 female founders to name a few.
After facing countless challenges as a woman in business, suneera became a passionate advocate for gender equality and female entrepreneurship. She founded ceo school, a company that empowers women to scale their businesses and change the statistics. With less than 2% of female founders ever breaking $1 million in revenue, suneera is on a mission to make sure her success isn’t a unicorn but becomes the norm.
Beyond her professional achievements, suneera is a top 100 podcast host, a mom of two, and an avid traveler. She is a role model for balancing work and life and is determined to destroy the gender wage gap and change the narrative for women in business. Suneera’s commitment to empowering women is unwavering, and her new adventure as the founder and ceo of ceo school is just the beginning of her impact on the business world.
Speakers
We are SO Excited about our speakers this year, and you will be too! We invited women from all over this year, not just Nashville to speak about so needed topics. From having the CEO Mindset and Mentality and breaking through to that or the breakthrough you need to take in your decisions to avoid burnout and not taking care of yourself, these two topics are imperative to many business women’s success. You will also hear the COO of The Nashville Predators…heck yes and from our Founder Lucy Miller on the Power of Connection and how to not just check the box and show up…but to make authentic connections. Just to name a few!
This group of powerhouse CEO’S, Executives, Founders, and Coaches are ready to show you what success is all about and how to Breakthrough to what is on the other side of decisions, fear, and that next step.
Company Culture Strategist
Burn Bright
Kelley is an organizational strategist and culture change expert. She has worked both internationally and nationally with organizations to provide tools to mitigate risk and strengthen workplace culture. Kelley is a highly sought-out speaker including engagements with Amazon, the National Academies of Science, National Institute of Health, USAID
Founder & CEO
Brielle Cotterman Media
Brielle Cotterman is a TEDx Speaker, Contributor at Entrepreneur, Activist Against Domestic Violence, Publicity Expert, and Celebrity-Maker. She has spent the last decade helping clients to craft and scale Dream careers to multiple 7 figures and beyond by leveraging their personal stories and passions in order to create speaking tours, author award-winning books, procure media placements, and inspire the millions of people that need to hear their story. She is a survivor of attempted murder and domestic violence and an advocate for a world where intimate partner abuse is not tolerated and survivors are met with empathy.
Her clients are regularly featured in Entrepreneur, Forbes, Fast Company, Martha Stewart Living, Cosmopolitan, NBC, CBS, and many more! She is a graduate of Indiana University in Bloomington, a World’s Grand Champion Equestrian, former National Spokesperson for multiple charitable organizations, Former Title Holder and Director within the Miss America Organization, Member of The Public Relations Society of America, Member of the Association of Image Consultants International, 2019 Epic Award Nominee from the National Association of Women Business Owners and named a finalist for 2023’s Most Admired Woman Entrepreneur by Today’s Woman Magazine.
Brielle has been married for nearly 4 years to the love of her life and owns & operates a show horse breeding farm, where she lives with her husband, three children and many, many animals!
President and Chief Operating Officer
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
Michelle Kennedy joined the Predators in March 2008 as In-House Counsel. Kennedy, CPA, accepted the additional charge of Chief Financial Officer in 2010 while still serving as General Counsel. In 2017, Kennedy was named Chief Operating Officer. In 2023, Kennedy assumed the additional titles of President and Alternate Governor.
Kennedy’s career began at KPMG, and she spent five years in public accounting. She then joined Vanderbilt University Department of Athletics for seven years, ultimately as Senior Associate Director of Athletics, and continued to consult for Vanderbilt during law school.
She was a finalist for Nashville Business Journal’s 2015 CFO of the Year and was featured as a 2016 Nashville Lifestyles Magazine’s Top 10 “Women in Business.” This year she was selected as a Nashville Business Journal Woman of Influence. She is a former board member of Make-A-Wish of Middle Tennessee and is a current board member for the Nashville Humane Association, the YWCA and the Nashville Predators Foundation.
Kennedy obtained both a Bachelor of Arts in economics (1992) and a Juris Doctorate (2007) from Vanderbilt University.
Founder/CEO
TN Women Connect/AL Women Connect
Lucy is a connection creator. In an effort to create a genuine and authentic place for women in business to network and connect, she started TN Women Connect in January 2020. TN Women Connect and now AL Women Connect are expanding and growing so rapidly expanding across their states. Lucy is inspired daily by the women founders and entrepreneurs that her community is able to impact. Growing this opportunity across multiple states is her vision and she is determined to continue to create connections opportunities with impact.
Heather French Henry
EMCEE
Miss America 2000 / VP Media Training for Brielle Cotterman Media
Heather French Henry is a national speaker, author, product designer and media brand strategist. Today, she serves as the Vice President of Media Training for the Brielle Cotterman Media Group. She has been traveling and working nationally for over 23 years with local, state and national media outlets. She first gained national notoriety as Miss America 2000 and used that platform to advocate for military veterans and their families. She has served as both deputy commissioner and commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs for two Governors in the Commonwealth of Kentucky which oversees programs for over 300,000 veterans. Heather is the host of the TV series Kentucky Ancestors and serves on the Commission on Military Affairs for Kentucky, Kentucky Historical Society Foundation, and the KY Military Museum. She and her husband, Dr. Stephen Henry, renown orthopedic surgeon and former Lt. Governor of KY reside in Louisville, KY.
Success Stories
Our Success Stories panel this year will showcase a woman from each of our 4 major cities as we have this year expanded to Chattanooga, Memphis, Huntsville Alabama, and are very abundantly in the Greater Nashville area. We cannot wait to hear the success stories, the trials, the highs and lows, and the opportunities these women see ahead.
Founder + Co-Creator of Her Bank | SVP, Marketing Legends Bank
Founder
Gill Family Law & Graygill Consulting
President/Founder
The Company You Keep
Financial Planner and investment strategist
North Shore Financial
CEO
Ca South
Transparency and Truth
An honest discussion about the mental health of entrepreneurs.
Mental Health for the Entrepreneur Panel
Description- According to an Inc.com study conducted in May of this year, researchers found…
- There are more than 33 million small business owners.
- 75% of business owners say they are concerned with their mental health.
- 56% have been professionally diagnosed with anxiety, depression or stress-related problems.
Using Brené Brown’s “the power of vulnerability” theory, we will come together as business owners, leaders, and determined professionals to share the mental health struggles we experience behind the facade we all too often present. During this raw and vulnerable discussion, our panelists will talk openly and honestly about the minds of business owners. We’ll discuss how mental health manifests in ways that not only impact you personally, but also impact your business and those around you. We hope you walk away from this session with the confidence to be honest with yourself, your peers, and your family and that by normalizing these feelings you will find comfort in knowing you are not alone. Most of all, we want you to learn how you can break through these struggles to become your best self both for you and your business.
Founder
615 Innovations
Author, Speaker, Philanthropist, Military Wife Mentor/Advocate
Founder, Consulting Psychologist
High Places Coaching and Consulting
Founder
Living Fully
VIP Lunch
Our VIP Lunch experience will be a special opportunity to have lunch with our speakers PLUS have the ability to share with the room what you and your business does. We are bringing our normal amazing Connection Lunch experience to LIVE this year with a VIP Lunch that will bring you more connections, a delicious plated lunch, and a VIP swag bag you don’t want to miss.
Marketplace
Over 30 Women in Business will showcase their products and services in our marketplace this year! We covered the patio this past year allowing room for more women to be a part of the day and wow were we so impressed with all a part of the marketplace. Want to show off your products, services, and get info out at the largest Women Connect event of the year? Grab your booth (includes your ticket for the day) and get excited!
The Networking Event You Don’t Want to Miss
This Women Connect LIVE event is taking place at The Loveless Barn. If you have been in past years, you know how dreamy this barn is and how delicious the food is! Your ticket to THE NETWORKING EVENT of the year is a click away and gives you access to not only enjoy the world famous loveless biscuits and food and beautiful ambiance, but walk away having learned SO much from our speakers, panelists, each other, and be ready for your next breakthrough.
We will have morning coffee and biscuits with our first sessions, lunch by The Loveless, a mid afternoon dessert, and ending the day with a networking happy hour. Join us, Come connect with us. We have been Fearless, Abundant, and now we are ready to BREAKTHROUGH!
What to Expect for the Day
9:00 a.m. Doors open for networking, coffee, and the famous Loveless Cafe Biscuits
10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Learning, Networking, and time with our booth vendors. Lunch will be around 12:00 noon
5:00 p.m. – 6:30p.m. – Networking Happy Hour
