Thursday 21st September saw the first in-person event for The Confidence Community, having created the community right before lockdown 2020, events were high on our agenda but for a while live events weren’t possible – until last week, and what an event to start with! Over fifty of our existing community and now new members gathered together to hear from their peers on an evening of community and collaboration.
During the evening we heard from previous Confidence Collective programme participants in ‘fireside chats’ on the topics of Confidence, Community, Personal Brand and Career Progression. A huge part of the programme is about pushing personal boundaries and we address personal brand and speaking with authority on topics you care about, so we designed our very first event to support these members of the community with achieving their goals around public speaking whilst also sharing their authoritative voice and their experiences to inspire others to do the same.
In our first chat we heard from Lindsey Boulton and Zoe Crossey led by Katie White who shared how finding their confidence and their value and purpose was key to the journey they’re now on, from facing a real fear of public speaking to stepping out of their career comfy slippers to focus on personal development and seek new opportunities. There was also a pause for reflection with the panel encouraging everyone to celebrate the moments that matter and how embracing your learnings makes you a better version of yourself.
Our third chat focused on personal brand and we heard from Jo Kowalik, June Gil and Alicia Easley led by Maria Angotti. One of the most powerful sessions in the programme is on personal brand and what you want to be known for and this takes a different shape for everyone. We learned from our panel that personal brand is so much more than writing posts on social media, it’s understanding who you are and what you stand for and harnessing that in a way which suits your goals and values, being intentional and saying yes to new opportunities.
For our final chat of the evening we heard from Emma Roberts and Lucy Bushby led by Anna Dick on the topic of Career Progression, we heard how careers are no longer a straight line, how the world of work is evolving so quickly that roles we may hold now didn’t even exist 5 years ago and why the ten year plan is no longer a reality. Our panel shared how whilst career progression wasn’t a goal when they took part in The Confidence Collective, it is something that has happened for all of them organically as a result of increased self belief and being able to manage the inner imposter, that it’s ok not to end up where you might have envisioned and how there’s real value in a sideways move.
It was an evening of learning and of collaboration and we chose the topics for the evening as they are all things which form part of not just the Confidence Collective programme but also the community we have built around it. We are here to create opportunities to enable individuals to develop professionally and personally and importantly to have the confidence to be who they want to be.
A special thank you goes to the Animo group who enable us to provide accessible places to women who may not have the financial support from employers by paying it forward. Also Toby Wilman and Amelia Bampton for enabling us to host our event at their amazing offices.
The next Confidence Collective programme kicks off in September 2022 and places are available now, if you’d like to learn more please do get in touch, visit our programmes page and please do take a look at our YouTube channel to hear directly from those who have taken part in the programme first hand.