Stacey Stratton at the Enterprising Women Conference

Stacey Stratton, President & CEO True Talent Group (right) with Monica Smiley, 2017 Enterprising Women Award Winner Susan Thayer and Marsha Firestone

Stacey Stratton at the Enterprising Women Conference

Earlier this week, our very own Stacey Stratton, President and Owner of True Talent Group, celebrated the success of women throughout the world, as more than 300 female business owners came together to share war stories and insights at the 2017 Enterprising Women Conference & Award Gala (https://enterprisingwomen.com/)

Listening and learning from one another took place as a part of breakout sessions and an awards banquet on the final evening of the 3-Day Conference. In addition to being among the brightest female business owners in the country, the breadth and depth of the conversation lent itself to deep and meaningful sharing and included getting answers to questions like:

‘What does the current workforce economy mean for me, as I aim to grow my business while honoring the workplace styles and preferences of team members who have been with me since the day I started?’

‘How can I ensure I’m offering a safe workplace environment, given the cyber-security threats that are already hitting the likes of multi-million dollar corporations? And beyond?’

“When considering new product offerings and extensions, what’s the best way to market these services to my existing client base (on which I’ve built my business) vs. new channels of and for acquisition?”

While the topics ranged from day to day business operations to strategies that help maintain and drive growth, the core of theme among them included a call for leadership. And this leadership means relying on all that each business owner already knows to be true for them – first and foremost – while looking to and leaning on others from time to time.

“Being surrounded by women who believe not just in themselves and what they have done – but more importantly, in what they CAN do – truly inspires me. I have so many new stories to tell after these few short days. From the story behind the founding of The Bainbridge Beverage Company (http://thebainbridgebeveragecompany.com/) by Sarah Jollay, to the creativity of Kat Quinn and her team at The Kat Agency (http://www.thekatagency.com/), the ways in which each leader has come to their success is so unique,” said Stacey Stratton.

And while in some way, achieving new business development is always scary. There are those that thrive too on that fear. Like ASID Industry Partner, Susan Thayer, a 2017 Enterprising Women Award winner. Susan achieved an incredible growth in sales this past year by applying her talents and focusing on smart expansion

As an advisory board member, Stacey recognized and nominated Susan for this year’s achievement. “While realizing the revenue goal Susan achieved was significant – that was just one thing. Really, it was the leap to open one showroom and then another – and another that I found to be the most inspiring. It takes guts to do it once, but it takes even more to do it – again and again,” said Stacey.  She continued, “Opening yourself up that kind of risk is achievement I am not sure we recognize nearly often enough.”