Create a tribe

A core theme of the 2016 Florida Working Women Conference, one of the more prominent Tampa annual events for women executives and entrepreneurs, is overcoming self-imposed limits.

That includes fear of change, where even success could mean new obstacles, says Jessica Rivelli, founder of Working Women of Tampa Bay and Working Women of Central Florida, networking and support groups. The conference, Sept. 8-9 at the Straz Center in downtown Tampa, is a mix of networking sessions, breakout groups and Ted Talk-style keynote presentations. “We try to keep things pretty broad, so everyone feels like they get something out of it,” says Rivelli. “There will be fresh voices people have never heard from.”

Another theme of the conference is connecting women to each other through similar life experiences. It's similar to what Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg wrote about in her 2013 best-selling book, “Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead.” A session in the second day, called Together, We Are Unstoppable, includes chats on Lean In Together and Creating a Tribe, according to the conference agenda. Says Rivelli: “Woman are all about connecting through powerful stories.”