Professional Development: Boss Vision Conference 2021

Many people dread when they hear “professional development” because they may immediately think of the following:

• Pursuing a degree or an advanced degree

• Watching a boring seminar

• Connecting with a mentor

• Taking a boring course so you can finally become an “Excel whiz”

Well, I am here to tell you it doesn’t have to be boring, in fact it can be fun. My favorite way to develop professionally is by attending conferences. Pre COVID-19 I was a regular attendee at conferences.

I love going to conferences for three reasons:

1. Network! It is amazing how many people you can connect with at a conference. Connections lead to opportunities.

2. Speakers break down complicated topics into bite sized very digestible pieces.

3. I always leave energized and inspired and ready to take actionable steps to achieve my goals.

On Saturday, I was able to attend my first conference since I moved to Dallas which was the Boss Vision Conference hosted by Dallas Girl Gang. It was beautiful to connect with other fellow entrepreneurs, listen to speakers, and gain insight on business best practices. After each conference I attend, I take the time to reflect what I learned, review my notes, go through my business cards that I collected and send follow up emails, and then lastly jot down the three things that resonated with me the most which I share with you below:

My Three Biggest Takeaways from the Boss Vision Conference were:

1. “There is a difference between not liking something and just being bad at it” - Amanda Nelson, “Un*uck your Mindset Presentation. This statement really stopped me in my tracks. After hearing that, I listed all the things I was bad at and then created actionable steps to get better at them.

2. “What limiting beliefs do you have and what are you doing to address them”- Compelling question from Dr. Micaela Herndon Everyone carries limiting beliefs and it is very common to fixate on those beliefs. Dr. Micaela

3. “Be an action taker” - Alison Carter, Owner of Alison Carter Celebrates In this break out section Alison discussed how many times people go to conferences for professional development inspired but they fail to take action from what they learned. In her session, she gave us a cold call template for reaching out to podcasts to be a guest speaker. At the end of her session, I already had a script and brainstormed a list of Podcasts I could be featured on and blogs I would like to guest write.

When was the last time you attended a conference? If you have not attended a conference before check out these tips below to find a local conference.

How to Find Conferences:

1. Make an Account at Meet Up

2. Make an Account at Eventbrite and search for local conferences

3. Check to see conference listings at your local college or university

4. Use Keywords to search for conferences related to your industry or Example: Women In Business, Real Estate, Female Entrepreneur, Marketing

If you enjoyed this blog consider reading, “Know Yourself: Professional Branding Edition Ft. Drake”.

Stay Creative,

Lauren

#Jobsearchtips #professionalbrand #Networking #BossVisioncon2021

Photo Credits: Lauren Carey