Powerhouse Women Share Strategies for Fulfillment

Some of the most powerful women in business gathered at the latest PINK Pop Up event graciously hosted by woman-owned Bones restaurant in Atlanta. The goal? To connect women leaders with one another, and give them the chance to share how they stay connected to themselves so they can live more happily and contribute greatly to their organizations.

Some arrived late, stuck in budget meetings with their billion dollar companies; however, all arrived eager to spend a couple hours of down-time with like-minded women. Executive coach and owner of Listening Deeply, LLC Karen Hardwick admitted she gets up at 4:30 am to have some scarce “me time.”

Jan Singer, the new CEO of Spanx, which sponsored the event, along with support from Audra Dial, Kilpatrick Townsend Atlanta Office Managing Partner, shared that after getting her 7-year-old twins off to school and driving to work, she takes five minutes in her car to decompress before the rest of her day begins, “I sleep in the car,” she shared with the group, which responded with knowing chuckles.

PINK’s CEO Cynthia Good admitted reluctantly that in November she took her first girls getaway in 23 years. Others in the group told her, “That’s not selfish! Do it more often.” PINK graphic designer Kayla Stewart said she tries to remember to actively breathe during the day. “When babies breathe you hear them. But we never hear ourselves breathe. I also take time to do something creative just for myself; like paint.” Former Garden & Gun Publisher Barbara Bing said, “You put yourself in fifth gear and stay there. Until something happens.” She remembers, “I was present with everyone but myself.”

SunTrust’s EVP of Consumer Channels, Rilla Delorier says she recently tried “forcing myself to physically move slower,” to live more mindfully. SunTrust CMO Susan Johnson found “the key to meditation is centering myself.” E&Y Managing Partner, Susan Bell shared that her son, when younger, asked her one day, “Mom are you a doctor? Cause you ask for more patients.”

Others including Agnes Scott College President Elizabeth Kiss, Global Community Connections VP and Chair of the The Coca-Cola Foundation Lisa Borders, Kilpatrick Townsend Atlanta Managing Partner Audra Dial and The Home Depot Southern Division President Ann-Marie Campbell shared how they stay connected to family and close friends as well as their employees. “There are times you have to sit down and share their pain,” said Campbell. Singer added, “transparency… and compassion” are required to be in a leadership space.

Said Good following the private gathering, “I feel really great about it. This helped these remarkable women have a support system and a safe place to share what’s most important.”