Past WFCV Programs & Events
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Sneak Preview Breakfast & Networking Celebration
featuring Dr. Julia Stevenson
Special thanks to Thresa Joyce and Atlantic Union Bank!
Attendees were invited to see the NEW Women’s Business Center Office BEFORE the Official Ribbon Cutting & Grand Opening!
Breakfast, Networking Games, Exciting Tabletop Discussions & Door Prizes!
Join WFCV this August to gather with, get to know, and share your story among some of the brightest and most passionate women (and men) in business in the Coastal Virginia area. We invite you to enjoy a light continental breakfast and coffee while you mingle with past program panelists, attendees, and contributors through interactive networking opportunities.
Business Owner & Plastic Surgeon Julia Stevenson
What is a Plastic Surgeon? How does she positively impact the lives of Women? Hear how she uses Innovative Technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help restore healthy skin and significantly improve skin appearance without surgery!
Door Prizes included: A Free Consultation with Dr. Stevenson, VISIA Complexion Analysis System (As seen on Dr. OZ or CNET) and facial (Value $150.00)
Detects Signs of aging, sun damage and potential risk for skin cancer if left untreated, by revealing the percentage of wrinkles, enlarged pores, spots, and damaged skin cells on the face or neck; as well as the presence of acne-causing bacteria.
Wednesday, May 1, 2019
Negotiating in Business and the Workplace to Avoid Distress
featuring Elizabeth Veliz & Pamela West
Special thanks to our host, Cox Communications!
Negotiating in business, whether you’re a woman or not, is crucial to being competitive in the marketplace. It gives you leverage to drive down costs, receive benefits, and take your business or career to new heights. According to a recent study by psychologists at Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, Germany, women are less likely to initiate negotiations than men. Why?
Overall, women are confident about their abilities to negotiate, but still feel that they are facing institutional challenges such as gender bias and challenges with responsibilities to family or culture when it comes to negotiating.
On May 1st WFCV luncheon attendees heard from two expert perspectives hailing from the worlds of banking and human resources as they share key negotiating skills, advice, and lessons learned.
February 6, 2019
Start Small, Grow Big
featuring Lakesha Brown-Renfro & Jeanne Fiocca
It’s a new year and you have a grand plan for your business and life in 2019. But how do you carry that plan out?
During our FIRST luncheon on the Peninsula, attendees heard from two local businesswomen who bootstrapped their businesses and are now highly successful entrepreneurs in Hampton Roads. Was it easy? Absolutely not. Are there lessons to be shared? Definitely yes.
WFCV, in conjunction with the Minority Business Division of Hampton’s Economic Development Department, hosted its first lunch gathering of the year with special guest speakers Jeanne Fiocca, owner of CookieText, and Lakesha Brown-Renfro, one of the owners of Mango Mangeaux: A Simply Panache Bistro.
Attendees of this unique luncheon learned how Jeanne and Lakesha started their businesses small and grew them big. They also discovered how they cast a big vision, what they did to make their plans a reality, and heard the steps they can take to get what they want in 2019.
December 5, 2018
Holiday Networking Extravaganza
featuring Norfolk Public Schools Strolling Silver Strings
WFCV celebrated TWO YEARS of inspiring speakers, stories, and camaraderie at another wonderful event with some of our favorite people!
Guests enjoyed light hors d' oeuvres and a cash bar while mingling with past program panelists, attendees, and contributors. This event is always a fantastic opportunity to network with some of the region's brightest women (and men) before bidding farewell to the current year and saying "HELLO!" to the next.
Back by popular demand, the talented and awe-inspiring Norfolk Public Schools Strolling Silver Strings were in attendance to delight us with jubilant sounds of the season in addition to other timeless classics that set the stage for an enchanted evening.
October 24, 2018
Mentoring Female Leaders
featuring Deborah Gore Cassidy & Dr. Alexa Harris
WFCV firmly believes in the idea that the more inspiring women we meet, the more inspired we feel as future leaders. In fact, it is one of our founding principles!
Mentorship is a two-way relationship. It can only foster more growth on both sides. Women supporting each other and being role models helps both find a path that’s rewarding and meaningful. These powerful female mentors shared their personal stories with us along with their advice on how to foster a successful mentorship.
June 5, 2018
Navigating & Thriving in Your Company's Culture
Featuring Sharon Harrington, Shelley Smith, and Elizabeth Veliz
Business culture defines the basic assumptions, understandings, and rules of behavior that direct day-to-day actions in the workplace. It impacts many aspects of your job. Moreover, your success and satisfaction with your work experience rests on your ability to navigate your company’s culture.
But, how do you navigate this set of implicitly communicated workplace norms? An important aspect of navigating an organization is first knowing the “unwritten rules” and then examining whether or not they represent an organization you wish to belong to. If yes, then how are you fostering continued success and satisfaction? If no, then what, if anything, can be done to improve the situation and get on the path to success? Shaping business culture is not a duty that falls solely on HR's shoulders. It is every owner, manager, and employee's responsibility.
April 10, 2018
Earning What You're Worth
Featuring Zee Worstell, Francine Spinelli, and Erika Small-Sisco
Chances are, if you’re a woman, you are being underpaid. Whether you work for someone else or you own the company, the money divide is real. Did you know: Only 2 percent of women business owners make it to the $1 million dollar revenue mark? In 2016, women working full time in the United States typically were paid just 80 percent of what men were paid, a gap of 20 percent? And according to AAUW, the pay gap won’t close until 2119.
WFCV took a deeper look at the money women make; and discussed the reasons behind the disparity in money for women, the problems women face in the working world and what women can do to increase the amount of money they take home.
February 6, 2018
Journey to the Extraordinary You
Featuring Jim White
In 2008, Jim was named one of the top male spokesmen for the American Dietetic Association. As a spokesman, Jim has been featured in the news all across the country and is rapidly gaining the reputation as one of the top personal trainers/dietitians in America. Jim has been nationally featured on the ABC Family Channel, The 700 Club and “Living the Life," TLC, Radio Disney, and the Discovery Channel. His focus is not simply on exercise and diet, but on being REALLY TRULY FIT physically, nutritionally, medically, and mentally.
December 7, 2017
Holiday Networking Extravaganza
Featuring Music by the Norfolk Public School Strolling Silver Strings
WFCV celebrates one year of inspiring speakers, stories, and camaraderie! Guests enjoyed light hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar while mingling with past program panelists, attendees, and contributors; an opportunity to network with some of the region’s brightest women (and men) before bidding farewell to 2017 and saying “HELLO!” to 2018! In the spirit of the season, WFCV collected donations for Help and Emergency Response, Inc. (HER Shelter) in support of their mission to provide leadership, advocacy, and resources to survivors and communities affected by domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking, and human trafficking.
October 21, 2017
Creating a Community of Interest
Special Panel Appearance featuring Cheryl Tan, Erika Small-Sisco, Elizabeth Duncan-Hawker, and Kristen Littlewood
The Women’s Forum of Coastal Virginia is pleased to be partnering with the team behind Senator Mark Warner’s Virginia Women’s Conference at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. Founding members Cheryl Tan, Erika Small-Sisco, Elizabeth Duncan-Hawker, and Kristen Littlewood presented a panel discussion covering a topic near and dear to us, “Creating a Community of Interest.”
The Virginia Women’s Conference is a complimentary event.
July 31, 2017
The Pivot: Handling Change with Grace
Featuring Mayor Linda Johnson, Tearanie Parker, and Becky Reed
The only constant in life is change. As a result, we’re constantly shifting, evolving and moving to adapt to the circumstances in our lives and to the world around us. A job change, a job loss, a layoff, a foreclosed house, a failing business, a new baby, marriage, divorce, death; something forces you to re-evaluate your life and...pivot.
No matter your stage in life - a new college grad, a new mom, an empty nester or a retiree - you’re pivoting because the only constant in life is change. Come to the July 2017 meeting and you’ll learn about women who have figured out how to pivot with grace and come out ahead. Join us and you’ll be inspired and challenged to create a new path.
April 25, 2017
Channeling Your Passion and Driving Change
Featuring Antonella Pianalto and Addie Wright Thomason
For several generations, many prominent figures have led the charge on a variety of issues affecting women – including those that fall under the pillars of economic and constitutional justice such as equality in pay, job opportunities, and education – all of utmost importance to women in business yet many believe they will remain fallible without a guarantee of equality in the U.S. Constitution. No matter where one falls on the political spectrum, most will agree that while women have come a long way in the last fifty years, we still have a very long way to go. How can we effectively channel our passion today to drive the change we want to realize for the future? How can we continue to advocate for the issues most important to us as women in business?
February 6, 2017
Guilt-Free Time Management
Featuring Melissa Page Deutsch, Elizabeth Dunan-Hawker, and Suzy Kelly
For many women in business, balancing work and family life can seem impossible, particularly for women with children and ambitious career goals. Is it possible to have it all? It seems that there is never enough time in the day. But, since we all get the same 24 hours, why is it that some people achieve so much more with their time than others? The answer lies in good time management.
Good time management requires an important shift in focus from activities to results: being busy isn’t the same as being effective. There is no “one size fits all” approach to time management, and appropriately so as we each have a unique set of results we wish to achieve. However, there are tried-and-true methods from which we can extract a winning personal strategy. Our panel of experts discussed effective time management practices that have worked for them, their clients and peers.
December 8, 2016
Inaugural Meeting
Featuring Angela Reddix
Using skills and experience gained in her early career, Angela created ARDX as an independent consulting organization in August of 2006 and incorporated within a few months. By 2014, ARDX had emerged as a thriving business with multi-million dollar contracts and a staff of nearly 100. ARDX President and CEO, Angela Reddix, is a visionary thinker with a global perspective and entrepreneurial drive, which inspires her planning and decision making. During her time with us, Angela shared with us her take on Shonda Rhimes' instant New York Times bestseller, Year of Yes: How to Dance it Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person.