Woman 2.1 Summit ; Sharing is caring

Waking up to a terrible headache on the 19^th October a day I had prepared feverishly for not to miss this years’ Woman2.1 summit. I enjoyed the maiden edition two years ago and I vowed not to miss this one. I was home alone with my dad. Everybody had left to town. I quickly took breakfast in order to take painkillers to calm down headache I started feeling the night before. I took shower and dressed up in a hurry. My dad complemented my looks and walked me to the junction to get a cab to the venue (National Theatre). I finally arrived after going through all the traffic in town. I went straight to Benjamin since I had already booked a seat, filled the form and headed to the auditorium.

Hearing the voice from the foyer, I knew that was Esi Yanka. I wasn’t lucky enough since I heard just the final part of her presentation which had to do with her encouragement. She said “one didn’t have to be the first to be a winner”. She shared some exciting bullets from her book. One other thing I also heard she said that worked on me was, and I quote; “I realized that am soooo tall because I stand tall among tall people”. (As humorous as this might sound, it had a lot of meaning and made a lot of sense in the context it was used.) Fortunately for me, her full speech is online. Get it here www.esiyankah.com/index.php/78-my-speechs/78-woman-21-speech

Next to speak and share her life struggle was Sandy- CEO of “Diva Delicious”. She shared how she started diva delicious and spoke on the topic “Turning your passions into prophets”. Sandy spoke about “how to live within your means and how to invest”. She encouraged us to read a lot and learn lessons from those who are where we want to be in life.  Sandy challenged us not to be afraid to take a step of faith in all we do and doing what we love patiently and persistently. 

It was now the turn of Charlene Osei-Baffour, from “Diamond Pillars Women’s Ministry”. Charlene spoke on the topic “The doorway Of Destination”. With a lot of enthusiasm, she shared with us what Destiny was. Mrs. Baffour coined the 3d’s for destiny; Decision, Discovery and Direction. She encouraged us to do the extraordinary and yearn for excellence since that would take us to greater heights.  She shared some five major attributes of a woman. According to her, every Woman is a;

Divine statement maker

Sugar container

Salt container

Problem solver

Solution carrier

Don’t these sounds interesting?

To her, women have got 7 powers;

Power of Utterance

Power of influence

Power of motivation

Power of motivation

Power of encouragement

Power of adaptability

Power of transformation

Power of procreation

She summarized it all saying “God doesn’t call the Qualified, He qualifies the called”.

Dream it!. Dare it!. Do it! Next on the Bill was the ever loving, gorgeous and mentor of mine Mrs.  Gloria Buckman Yankson.  She shared her journey with us about how “Planit Gh” came to bear, all what she had to go through to bring it where it is now. The sacrifices, the encouragements and the relevant relationships she has built over the years. “It’s not what you have in your life, it’s who you have in your life that counts” #GBY  

For the first time publicly, she shared her experience about how she had to go through a condition when she was fifteen (15) which made her almost give up on life. But thanks to God and family, she wouldn’t have been where she is now. Nothing comes on a silver platter she says. It takes lots of hard work, research and a lot of talking to the right people about what you want to do, to make your dream a reality.

Believe, Begin, Become………………be relentless #GBY

As Benny Bonsu, a young lady who has lived in London and played a fantastic role in making this year’s London Olympic successful. Her story filled my eyes with tears. I couldn’t figure out why. Her mum has and will always be her inspiration as she single handedly brought her and her siblings up and support them in all they do. She didn’t deny the fact that she suffered racial discrimination while in London especially at the time when she started schooling……

Uche Ofodite, Chief Marketing Officer at Vodafone was passionate about her topic on “Womenomics”. She did a presentation on how women could be leaders by being passion driven. She believes that, “if you aren’t passionate about anything, then you can’t be a leader”. She encouraged us to take up opportunities as they come and be bold to take risks and keep our head high. She said these after she shared her challenges. 

Rosy Fynn, Consumer Manager Tigo Ghana got on stage as well and what made her stand out was the fact that she was the only one with the “kpenkpeshi” hair. (a stubborn type hair, which is very difficult to comb easily; until she decided to go natural)

She shared with us through her presentation on ways that can lead you to the top;

·         Learn to Network

·         Be who you are

·         Have a goal and focus on it

·         Learn to deligate

·         Empower any team you lead

·         Free yourself for other to do something

·         Finding mentors

·         Believing in your abilities

·         Develop tough skin

·         Find time in your life for extracurricular activities

·         Don’t be despair when you make mistakes, learn from them.

Monalisa Okojie, CEO/Founder of “Nehita Jewellery Company” that had gone global and was sharing ideas on how you can start a global business and why you should start a Global business and how to achieve success. She also appreciated fact that she had a very supportive family system. 

Finally, Dzigbordi Kwaku Dosoo, a woman I have admired for so many reasons. As she walked up the stage in her yellow colored jeans and dark pink African print shirt buckled with a brown belt, I felt she was really adaptive to the latest color blocking sense of fashion. For a minute I had a feeling she was going to talk about “Image”. A topic she shares at most seminars and on her Talk Show. 

Dzigbordi as usual gave us tips on the right make-up to use as ladies, the best outfit to wear in terms of the job you do. Some table etiquettes and of course touched on a little bit of communication. It was at this session I learnt that when speaking with someone, it was appropriate to look between the nose regions to the forehead, or better still look in the eyes of whoever it was, since looking at the lips of the speaker was found to be flirtatious.

All of the speakers were on point, and they all articulated their time. Though I expected more, I realized Benjamin and his team had factored time since there was going to be another program. Since this was the second time, I think “Effusion Motivate” had done a very good job, but I think more needs to be done in terms of advertisement and getting a lot 

more people to attend. One thing I realized this year too was the presence of guys who felt that though it was to empower women, they knew there was more to be learnt. Kudos to Benjamin and his team, I must say you guys did fantastic. To the MC, …….(forgotten her name) indeed she was great, she also shared a few things with us. Benjamin and his team, please next year God willing we will want to have a packed lunch and not snacks…….hehehehehe. Thank you very much.