San Diego Women’s Week 2021
Luvvie Ajayi Jones (Photo credit: Kesha Lambert)
San Diego Women’s Week 2021 – A Virtual New Year
March 15, 17 and 19 Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 8 a.m. to noon
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Reach Beyond Your Comfort Zone and Ignite Your Powerful Voice
San Diego Women’s Week, celebrating 12 years of inspiring, empowering and connecting men and women with a week of leadership events for all ages and professions.
Everyone is invited to join us for networking, keynote speakers, panel discussions and more, all wrapped around creative solutions to everyday issues affecting all of us in the workplace and in our daily lives.
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Fighting Fear Luvvie’s Way
By Marsha Sutton
Doing what’s right in the face of adversity, staring down your fear, and speaking truth to a room full of skeptics is the powerful message in Luvvie Ajayi Jones’ new book, “Professional Troublemaker, the Fear-Fighter Manual.”
To be released by Penguin Publishing Group this March, Professional Troublemaker offers wisdom, assurances, guidance and support for those afraid to say or do what they know they should.
“A professional troublemaker is someone who shows up as themselves no matter what room they’re in; [they’re] people who are not afraid to say or do things that feel hard,” Ajayi Jones said. “They’re disrupters, they’re trail-blazers, they’re game-changers – people who basically insist on charting courses even when they have no map.”
She said they are often “sharp-tongued and misunderstood” but “always golden-hearted.”
Facing up to fear and not letting it take over is a focus of the book.
“In order for us to do better, we’re going to have to do a lot of things that are going to be uncomfortable and are going to scare us,” said the Nigerian-born writer, speaker and self-described troublemaker.
She also calls herself a truth-teller, explaining, “Being a truth-teller is being very honest – even when it’s tough, even when it might cause a lack of harmony in the room.”
Truth-telling, she said, is like a muscle that needs to be exercised regularly to be effective.
“It’s a practice like anything else,” she said. “If you don’t do it often, it’s hard to do it when it’s necessary. You can’t run a marathon if you’ve been sitting on your couch for the last four years. We can’t expect people to all of a sudden be a truth-teller in tough moments if we have not prioritized it.
“Practice does not make perfect – it makes really good, though.”
Told with Ajayi Jones’ trademark humor, honesty and authenticity, “Professional Troublemaker, the Fear-Fighter Manual” is organized into three sections.
The BE section addresses the need to form a strong sense of identity before one can face what’s scary. It says that “half the battle is with our own selves, our own insecurities and our own baggage.”
The SAY section discusses how to use our voices for the greater good and asks that we say “what is difficult even when our voices shake.”
The DO section advises how to put movement to that voice. In other words, “Our actions need to prove the truth of our words.”
Being afraid to do what’s right is what keeps many people from asking for what they want and deserve, she said. This applies especially for women.
“We’re used to being told to keep the peace, and what peace usually looks like is: Don’t ruffle anybody’s feathers, don’t rock the boat,” she said.
She reminds women of their right to demand what they are worth. “My life changed when I got the courage to ask for what I want,” she offered.
“I thought this book was necessary to write as a Black woman because books like these are typically written by White men who walk and talk with privilege.”
Professional Troublemaker, she said, is the “how” to her first book, the New York Times best-seller “I’m Judging You: The Do-Better Manual,” which she called the “what.”
Born in Nigeria, Luvvie Ajayi Jones, 36, moved with her family to Chicago when she was 9, attended school there, and graduated from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana with a degree in psychology.
When she first attended school in Chicago, she found that her real Nigerian name was too difficult for Americans to pronounce, so she went with Lovette, a childhood nickname, which soon became shortened to Luvvie.
Her psychology background and her study of human behavior has helped her see the world in new ways and provided a lens of analysis to find perspective, she said.
Ajayi Jones provides an abundance of humor in her books and writings, which she said can sometimes point out the absurdity of the world.
Don’t get complacent
The election of America’s first female vice president and woman of color, Kamala Harris, was certainly progress, Ajayi Jones said, but progress is not static.
“Sometimes when we make progress, we get comfortable and think the work is done,” she said. “Progress can actually regress. So we can’t get comfortable. What we have to do is make sure there are other Kamalas.”
She advocates for more “disrupters” to not accept the status quo and find the courage to speak up and blaze new trails.
Fear, she said, can be healthy and natural, but people need to learn to fight it. Her book, she said, “is a middle finger up to fear.”
“Fear is a universal emotion, but I think it gets a bad rap,” she said, adding that people associate being afraid with being weak. “They hear fearlessness and think someone is walking around afraid of nothing.
“What I think fearlessness means is you are afraid but you still go forward regardless. I think fearlessness and courage come from being afraid but still making the decision to do that thing that felt too hard or felt too big.”
Real courage, she said, is facing one’s fears and acknowledging it.
Ajayi Jones said people often talk about fear of failure but fear of success is just as real.
“It’s something we all grapple with no matter how successful you are,” she said. “You still have fear. I just find that the people who are most successful are the people who don’t make their decisions purely from a place of fear.”
An 18-year blogging veteran on AwesomelyLuvvie.com, Ajayi Jones is also the host of a top-rated podcast formerly called “Rants and Randomness” and now renamed “Professional Troublemaker.”
She has achieved wide acclaim in past years through her blog, podcast and numerous speaking engagements – including a TED talk titled “Getting Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable,” which has over 4.8 million views and has been transcribed into 22 languages.
She was also chosen by Oprah Winfrey for her inaugural SuperSoul100 list as someone who elevates humanity.
Ajayi Jones describes herself as someone who “thrives at the intersection of comedy, technology and activism,” explaining that marketing, communications, pop culture criticism, humor and social justice activism are all part of who she is.
“I’m passionate about a more just world for marginalized people,” she said.
Moving forward with courage in unprecedented times is a challenge for everyone coping with the pandemic, civil unrest, social injustice and economic distress.
Yet Ajayi Jones suggests facing adversity fearlessly and with optimism.
“We must commit ourselves to be the people we want to see in the world,” she said. “It’s a daily commitment. Do the things that scare us.”
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San Diego Women’s Week Schedule
Every year a large contingent of men also attend throughout the week and share their experience. They feel a sense of responsibility to understand, support and showcase the work of their female colleagues.
This year’s speakers are bright, articulate, diverse and their messages are empowering and inspiring to everyone. The 2021 San Diego Women’s Week is focused on leadership, with speakers that will be sharing their journeys and success.
Women such as Luvvi Ajai Jones, Shellye Archambeau, Tammie Jo Shults, Andrew Bolwell, Karyn Schoenbart, Alessandra Wahl, Barbara Bry, Carolyn Johnson, and others are preparing to speak at the 12th annual San Diego Women’s Week between March 15 – 19. Panelists will also be sharing lessons and journey’s that have shaped their lives and careers.
San Diego Women’s Week is produced by North San Diego Business Chamber and considers diversity and inclusion important in our regions changing business environment. “Our focus for the week is to connect others, share stories, and empower leaders to reach higher” says Debra Rosen, president and CEO of North San Diego Business Chamber. “More companies than ever have implemented women’s leadership programs as part of their diversity and inclusion leadership initiatives.
Exciting Change For San Diego Women’s Week 2021
This year San Diego Women’s Week is offering more keynotes and panels for the attendees to enjoy. The new format will include thre half day conferences, with each day featuring three keynotes and one panel. Keynote and panel schedules are listed on the website sdwomensweek.com
Women’s Week 2021 Featured Keynotes
Luvvie Ajayi Jones
Professional Troublemaker
Luvvie Ajayi Jones doesn’t seem like the kind of person who’s afraid of anything. In fact, the New York Times bestselling author of I’m Judging You, creator of the wildly popular blog AwesomelyLuvvie, and internationally renowned public speaker seems like fear’s worst nightmare. But that same bestselling author was once a confused pre-med student, afraid of calling herself a writer.
The same woman whose TED talk has over 5 million views almost turned the opportunity down, and even wrote the first draft in an hour-long cab ride in the hopes that the organizers would reject it. Nobody is truly fearless, not even Luvvie—but we can learn how to charge forward anyway, and commit to not doing less because of fear. In her new book, “Professional Troublemaker: The Fear-Fighter Manual,” Luvvie shows you how she’s done it, and how you can, too.
Shellye Archambeau
Unapologetically Ambitious: Take Risks, Break Barriers, and Create Success on Your Own Terms
One of Silicon Valley’s first female African-American CEOs, Shellye Archambeau will share how she overcame the challenges she faced as a young black woman, wife, and mother, managing her personal and professional responsibilities while climbing the ranks at IBM and subsequently in her roles as CEO. Through the busts and booms of Silicon Valley in the early 2000s, this bold and inspiring talk will share the risks she took and the strategies she engaged to steer her family, her career, and her company MetricStream toward success.
Through her journey, Shellye discovered that ambition alone is not enough to achieve success.
Andrew Bolwell
Thinking Like a Futurist
The art of thinking like a futurist is a necessary skill in today’s world. Thinking like a futurist shouldn’t be reserved for a select group of people, but instead a basic skill set that anyone can learn. The more people that can anticipate, plan for and create the future they want, the better off we’ll be.
An understanding of the economic, social, demographic, and technologic shifts shaping our world, offers a blueprint to smarter decision making and business transformation. In a world where change is the norm, every day is an opportunity for reinvention.
In this talk, Andrew provides actionable insights to help the audience move forward and create the future they want and learn how to adopt long-term, futuristic thinking.
Barbara Bry
Relentless Pursuit Will Take You Further Than Good Grades
Barbara Bry joined Proflowers.com in April 1998 as vice president of marketing when the company was just an idea with four employees and no website. The company’s plan, to upset the flower cart by shipping flowers directly from the grower to the consumer instead of using retail stores, faced enormous logistical and marketing challenges.
Barbara will talk about the ups and downs of the company’s early history using the People, Opportunity, Context and Risk and Reward framework as well as weave in her own entrepreneurial journey. Proflowers.com, which became Provide Commerce, went public in 1993, and was sold to Liberty Media for $477 million in 2008.
Caroline Johnson
Mentorship: The Best Class of Ship
Caroline Johnson will share her experiences as a woman in the military, and how she is helping to empower the next generation. Caroline was one of two female aviators in her 230-person unit, and one of the only 1.7% women flying fighter jets in the Navy. She deployed in 2014 aboard the USS George HW Bush and saw combat action in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria and was the first woman to employ weapons on ISIS in Iraq from her F/A-18.
Join Caroline Johnson on her adventures flying F/A-18 fighter jets in the US Navy. You’ll experience: the precision of landing on an aircraft carrier, the courage of going behind enemy lines in combat, and the strength to succeed as a woman in a male-dominated profession.
Karyn Schoenbart
Essential Business Advice from One Generation to the Next
Passionate about coaching others to greater levels of achievement, Karyn wrote Mom.B.A: Essential Business Advice from One Generation to the Next as a practical guide on everything from effective first impressions and workplace politics to relationship development, work/life balance, skill-building, and overcoming the Impostor Syndrome. The book is based on the real-life business lessons Karyn amassed during her career.
Tammie Jo Shults
Nerves of Steele
Tammie Jo Shults possessed an early interest in flying, but she faced various obstacles on her path to becoming a military pilot. Applying her lifelong trait of perseverance, she eventually became one of the first female F/A-18 Hornet pilots in the United States Navy.
After concluding her Navy career, she became a pilot for Southwest Airlines. Tammie Jo’s incredible history and talent received wide acclaim on April 17, 2018, when she successfully landed a Southwest Boeing 737 after an engine exploded at high altitude, causing multiple system failures and a rapid depressurization. The successful landing of Flight 1380 in Philadelphia saved 148 total lives including passengers and crew, as detailed in her captivating novel, Nerves of Steel.
Alessandra Wall
The Woman Holding You Back
Dr. Wall will show you how to take a closer look at critics, naysayers, and the people setting impossible standards and holding glass ceilings over women’s heads. You’ll be surprised to find out that sometimes the people holding you back are the ones you least expected to.
On her journey supporting women’s leadership and equality, she discovered that there’s more that holds women back than we sometimes realize.
Dr. Alessandra Wall went from counseling individuals on how to manage anxiety and depression to coaching women and mentoring leaders to bridge the gap and build a world where women reaching the highest levels of success and power is so commonplace it doesn’t need to be mentioned.
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What Attendees Will Receive
Admission Includes:*
Keynote Speakers
Panel Discussions
Two Speaker Books (first 300 tickets)**
Unique Networking
Virtual Vendor Village
Interact and View Live
Watch On-Demand for six months
*details subject to change without notice
**Speaker books will be distributed in order of event registration while supplies last. Books are to be picked up in Rancho Bernardo or can be shipped for an additional charge
Tickets: $119-$189
For additional information: www.sdwomensweek.com
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The Chamber Team Behind Women’s Week
Denise Visconti- Littler, Chair of the Board, North San Diego Business Chamber
Debra Rosen, North San Diego Business Chamber president/CEO, celebrating 11 years
Brianna Eltzroth, North San Diego Business Chamber chief operations officer, celebrating 14 years
Anne-Marie Jewel, North San Diego Business Chamber events manager, celebrating six years
Dylan Fisher, North San Diego Business Chamber economic development/advocacy senior manager, celebrating three years
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Keynotes from Past Women’s Week Events
Since its launch in 2010, San Diego Women’s Week has become one of San Diego’s biggest events to showcase the work of female leaders and trailblazers from around the country. Past Keynotes have included:
Deepak Chopra
Katherine Schwarzenegger
Daymond John
Elizabeth Smart
Ed Smart
Padma Lakshmi
Mariel Hemingway
Marlee Matlin
Sally Krawcheck
Arianna Huffington
Kim Coles
Amy Cuddy
Gretchen Rubin
