Get Inspired at the Massachusetts Conference for Women

Glennon Doyle Melton. Courtesy photo.

The 12th annual Massachusetts Conference for Women is bringing experts and speakers to the Boston Convention Center Thursday for a full day of discussion, networking, and inspiration from industry leaders. To kick things off, Glennon Doyle Melton is slated to speak during Wednesday’s opening night festivities. Melton is a New York Times bestselling author, award-winning blogger and the founder of Together Rising, a nonprofit dedicated to helping vulnerable women and children.

Fresh off a tour for her memoir and second book Love Warrior, Melton, who speaks often about her struggles with her marriage, addiction, and bulimia, says she’s most looking forward to the opportunity to spend time with the accomplished women from different industries who will also be speaking Wednesday night.

Keynote speakers for the next day’s conference include Brandeis professor, attorney, and civil rights advocate Anita Hill, Back Bay local and Shark Tank judge Kevin O’Leary, SPANX, Inc. owner and founder Sara Blakely, and Oprah BFF and CBS anchor Gayle King.

Local powerhouses including Linda Pizzuti Henry and Maria Stephanos, the WCVB anchor, are slated as guest speakers for Thursday.

“Being a female leader in any arena is lonely,” Melton says when explaining why events like this, which gather women from different industries, are key to empowering and inspiring all women.

“It’s certainly geared toward individual growth, but it also offers people [a] connection with other women who are dreaming big,” Melton says. “We need each other, for sure.”

The conference’s opening night not only has a diverse lineup of speakers, but also offers LinkedIn makeovers, wellness classes, and a marketplace for attendees to shop from over 100 women-owned businesses.

Though there are career resources for attendees and the conference’s main lineup features several male and female business-minded leaders, Melton says the wide variety of vendors and speakers makes the conference a complete experience.

“There are spiritual leaders, there’s artists, [and] people talking about family, which is so important, because every woman that you see is a whole woman,” Melton says. “Her home life is affecting her work life and her work life is affecting her spiritual life. Every person there is a whole person.”

While opening night has plenty of resources and killer role models, attendees shouldn’t come expecting to hear the meaning of life from those who have it all figured out, Melton says.

“All the speakers will have the same challenges and the same issues everyone has in the seats,” Melton says. “Everyone comes to these conferences hoping to find the magic sauce that will fix their lives and there isn’t one. The best thing someone can learn at these conferences is none of us know what we’re doing. We’re all just making it up as we go along.”

$25, Wednesday, December 7, 5-8 p.m., Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, 415 Summer St., Boston, maconferenceforwomen.org.