I asked Yvonne if she was noticing an influx of women with stress related issues coming to see her for psychotherapy. She said yes. I had also been noticing for awhile that most of the women coming to see me for psychotherapy or hypnotherapy were also complaining about stress related issues, depression and anxiety. I asked Yvonne if she wanted to create a workshop for women. I said I wanted to add the word Lipstick to the name because for me the lipstick represented being strong and ready to face the world. I shared with her that when I was a teen, I’d had many operations and my sisters would always wait for me with my red lipstick outside of the operating room and put it on me even while I was still under anesthesia. When I woke up, I would know that I was going to get through the pain. It became my symbol for strength. I have since discovered many women also use their lipstick as a reminder that they will be ok.
I said to Yvonne that I wanted the word suits in the name because we wanted to attract professional women because they were the ones that were struggling the most with the balancing act. Yvonne very quickly jumped in and said we had to add the “stiletto” to make the name of our workshop super sassy because we wanted to remind women that they could be careerminded but still be sexy and fun. We both agreed and Suits, Stilettos and Lipstick was born!
The next step was creating the curriculum and setting a date for our women focused workshop. Yvonne and I worked very fast and within a few short weeks were ready to deliver what I thought was a great workshop for women. I still remember as if it was yesterday…I thought we would have a hard time filling it, but we had standing room only. That night while we were debriefing the
workshop, I said to Yvonne, “I think we should turn Suits, Stilettos and Lipstick into a conference”. And she said without any hesitation, “Yes!”
Next thing I know I am signing a contract with the Ritz Carlton Fort Lauderdale. I committed to having a 100 women conference in 4 months!!! Yvonne and I began the marathon of a lifetime. Mind you, neither one of us at this point had ever done a conference. We worked day and night, seeing patients, pulling together a board, learning about AV equipment, pitching to sponsors getting media coverage and figuring out how to get fabulous speakers. We were the jack of all trades…stuffing conference bags, making name tags and selling tickets, designing program ads and creating flowcharts for the day of the event.