Dream BIG and envision what's possible... InspiHER!

I’m sure many of you can reflect back on moments where you were afforded an opportunity that ultimately helped shape your future and enabled you to become the professional that you are today.

My personal and professional experiences have shaped the core beliefs that I follow every day as a female executive and it’s long been my mission to help inspire our next generation of female leaders and decision makers, and empower them to make bold moves!

Women account for 51% of the U.S. population and yet only 5% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women. At Sprint alone, we have a little over 30% of female executives and only 10% of Sprint board members are women.

What does this show? There’s definitely opportunity.

We have top-notch talent at Sprint and I want to ensure that we continue to develop and invest in our partners, especially our female leaders in the sales organization.

Last week, I hosted Sprint’s first-ever InspiHER Sales Leadership Summit, where I invited 250 women sales leaders to Washington, D.C., to participate in a 2-day event focused on development, empowerment and inspiration.

It’s been a dream of mine to host an event like this, and the fact that I’m in the position to reach hundreds of female leaders that have the potential to take the next step forward and elevate their careers turned out to be even better than I could’ve imagined.

The response was phenomenal! We were able to come TOGETHER and hear from several influential and successful female leaders from various industries:

• Elaine Rogers, USO Metro Washington-Baltimore President and CEO
• Karen Wheeler, SAIC EVP and Chief Human Resources Officer
• Chris Pantoya, Delta Partners Non-Executive Partner

Sprint’s very own Deeanne King, Chief Human Resources Officer, and Marci Carris, SVP of Customer Care, were also able to share their incredible stories.

An extra special highlight of our event was the opportunity for us to give back in a great way as we all came together to create 750 stuffed animals for children with a deployed parent overseas this holiday season!

I came away from the event even more motivated, determined, and energized as ever! I’d like to share a few of the key takeaways from our speakers that I feel we could all incorporate into our daily lives:

• Be BOLD and be KIND: Be bold and push yourself. Pave the way for others, uplift them and support them!
• Embrace others and surround yourself with talented people: Diversify your team and surround yourself with people that are smarter than you. This will enable you to learn even more!
• Build foundations, develop skills and take action: Attend a panel that features industry leaders, take the initiative to meet new people, and show up to work strong, every day.

It’s super important that we continue to evolve as leaders. In order to truly inspire, we must pave the way for others! The first step, become a mentor or sponsor.

There are amazing benefits to both mentorship and sponsorship, so find where you can make your mark. Trust me, it’s one of the most rewarding aspects of any job.

I want a company to be in better hands when I leave versus when I joined, because then I know I did my part as a leader to promote the best of the best.

This is only the beginning... I can’t wait for our great group of female sales leaders to spread the positivity of the event throughout their regions and our retail stores.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Sheryl Sandberg, COO at Facebook, “In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders.”

Dream BIG and ENVISION what’s possible… InspiHER!