IWD Recap

March 8th marks International Women’s Day, a day to honor, commemorate, and celebrate women past and present. This year, the Kendra Scott WEL Institute hosted its inaugural International Women’s Day as a virtual celebration, featuring 34 speakers, attendees from five different countries, and 12 sessions on topics meant to bolster and empower women entrepreneurs.

The event buzzed with activity, marked by exclusive giveaways, a prolific Slack channel that enabled students to network with one another, and two live “Ask Me Anything” sessions that brought our featured female founders and student advisory board members to the stage for attendees to pick their brains. The event not only empowered women, but created a community space that connected women across UT’s campus in a time when everything is remote.

The virtual celebration also brought exciting news that rippled across UT’s entrepreneurial community: the announcement of the Female Founder Pitch competition set to happen this Fall 2021! Female founders will pitch their early-stage startup onstage to a panel of seasoned entrepreneurs, investors, corporate, and government leaders. The pitch competition will act as a catalyst to the top 25 finalists, who will be connected to advisors, coaches, mentors, professional services, and expert advice! In addition to cash prizes, winners will also be connected to resources such as software, hardware, and office spaces. In order to qualify, participating companies must meet the following criteria: be an early stage start-up, demo-ready, female-owned, and available to pitch live.

If you are interested in applying, head to our website!

In addition to this exciting announcement, the day was full of wisdom from panelists. Gail Warrior, Entrepreneur and Nationally Recognized Speaker and Certified Health & Life Coach, headlined as the IWD Keynote. Gail had a candid Q&A session with SAB President, Samantha Bryant. Gail shared some advice with those who attended, advising that failure is part of the process. “Make mistakes, make them early, and make them often,” Gail said in her conversation with Samantha.

IWD’s 2021 campaign was based around creating a more inclusive world and invited people to #ChooseToChallenge an aspect of gender bias and inequality. Julie Goonewardene, UT System Chief Talent and Innovation Officer, said that challenge is an internal and external endeavor.

“I would also encourage people to think about challenging (yourself) internally. Challenging gender bias can be an external thing, but it can also be an internal thing. Sometimes I think for women, we tend to take ourselves out of the game before the game starts,” Julie stated in regards to tailoring challenge around our entrepreneurial and personal growth.

Other panels tackled more technical challenges embedded in entrepreneurship such as raising capital. One panel, which was led by Jessica Gaffney, CEO & Executive Director at Beam, Jan Ryan, Executive Director of the Center for Creative Entrepreneurship and Professor at UT, Adrianna Cantu, Founder of Revealix, and Chrissy Cowdrey, Founder of Stagger, discussed everything women entrepreneurs should know before raising capital. “It's not about competence, but rather your confidence. It's the way you think about money and not letting fear inhibit you,” Jan Ryan said.

Another panel explored The Art of the Pitch, which was a conversation centered around how to craft a successful pitch to investors. The panel featured Dr. Melissa Murphy, Founder at The Pitch Academy and Lecturer at McCombs School of Business at UT, Kim Barnes, Communications Expert at Barnes Team Media, Marissa Limsiaco, President and Co-Founder of Otso, Anna Robinson, Founder & CEO at Ceresa, and Lauren Washington, Co-Founder of Black Women Talk Tech and Fundr.

"At times I have over-pivoted to what story I think I have to tell when pitching. But you don't want 50 investors. You only want five who completely resonate with your story and your vision of what you want the world to be and how you are going to be the solution," Anna Robinson reflected.

After an event abundant with wisdom and insight from many corners of entrepreneurship, the day wrapped up with an “Empowering Women to Lead” Civic Dinner, sponsored by Young Women’s Alliance. The goal for the dinner was to address issues around inequality, explore ways to advance ourselves and women around us, and celebrate our unique experiences.

“I loved hearing from the out of college women on the call because it reminded me that there’s a life after college. It also prepared me for what life is like with a career,” one attendee reflected.

“I loved getting to hear about different perspectives and talking with a successful woman in the field of entrepreneurship,” another attendee responded.

Some students had big takeaways from the day and enjoyed the culture of empowerment the event generated. “I enjoyed being surrounded by strong women who equally want to see others succeed. Moreover, after this event I now feel capable and empowered to uplift others in becoming the next powerhouse in their field,” a UT student said.

The day equipped women across campus and beyond to empower, lead, and explore entrepreneurship. The event had a big send away message: The strength and skills women bring to the table is sure to change the game. To learn more about Women Entrepreneurship opportunities through the KS WEL Institute, be sure to follow our Instagram @kswelinstitute and like us on Facebook and LinkedIn!