As I am sitting down to write this, I am all amped up from a women’s event I attended last night in Los Angeles. It was the first annual Women in Sports and Events (WISE) LA dinner and it was hands down a hit. I talked with so many other women in business, and we discussed ways we can all network and help each other more. I was able to speak at this event, and I used a story that was told by Billie Jean King at the espnW event a couple of months ago. She talked about when she meets a couple and brings up sports, the guy is always bragging about how good he is at this and that, even if he isn’t good at all. The confidence just immediately comes out. For the woman, her demeanor could not be more different. She immediately says things like “I am horrible at hitting a ball” or “I am so unathletic”, “I suck”, etc.

BJK’s speech really stuck with me, and the reason I shared it with the WISE LA audience was because I pride myself in talking to 13-18 year old girls about being more confident, secure in who they are, and having the ability to look themselves in the mirror and see a beautiful, kick–ass girl looking back at them. But what I have realized over the last few years is that this advice should not be shared solely for the high school girl, but for ALL women, including myself. We could all do a better job of being more confident, not trying to be pigeon-holed into the classic “humble” woman who can never say how great and wonderful she is. I wanted to share with these amazingly successful women that letting the world know how much we rock, focusing on our assets instead of the negatives, is the way to bust through any barriers we face.

There were two other amazing women who spoke, Leslie Billinger from Coca-Cola and Julie Solowold from John Paul Mitchell Systems. Leslie really hit home that we as women, stranger or not, need to help one another and push each other. Create a “good old girls network.” Julie talked about balance. She was a single mother and was able to climb the ladder from receptionist to VP of Global Sports Marketing over 19 years. She encouraged women that following your career makes you a stronger mother for your child; that her daughter (who was at the event) never felt alienated, but was influenced so much by her hard working mother, that she soon followed her footsteps in marketing.

Being a mom, this really meant a lot to hear this. I want my son to know a confident, strong mom, who is living her and his dreams. I also want my teammates to know it is okay to balance all the craziness we have in our lives. The life of a female athlete, or a female in corporate America, is a life of many hats. And I absolutely love that, and would not have it any other way =)

Editor's Note: Check back for video of Jessica's acceptance speech along with photos and footage of the WISE-LA event.

View Original Post at jmendoza.com

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mhueter

Jess, this is awesome. I love the way you think and carry yourself in public, and it certainly transcends into your writing. You make an excellent role model. I could not agree more that women need to be more confident, especially in business. It's important that folks like you, Leslie and Julie pave the way for us who are a few years younger. I want to see more senior women in business take risks and be strong. You ladies played sports. You know what female athletes better than anyone. I want to see more women in the sports industry give female athletes opportunities in the spotlight that don't involve sacrificing their bodies or promoting a false body image. You can't let the marketplace dictate that to you. In many instances, this will take a lot of guts, and saying "no" to certain opportunities, but it's the only way to stay true to who you are and all the young athletes out there. I'm starting to see this from many of the women that I come in contact with, and I can only hope that it will continue.

Sunday, December 5, 2010 at 6:37am PST