Happy New Year Inner Circle readers!

I hope you had a great holiday season and are ready to get back to being the fabulous women professionals you know you are!

Before I start going deep into my 2019 resolution planning, this year I’m taking a step back to reflect on how 2018 went before starting my list. What did I do well? What went poorly? What did I learn from each of my wins and failures? What lessons can I take into this new year? Once I have the answers to these questions, I’ll be able to craft a pretty good list of realistic resolutions that I may actually keep!

One thing I’m for sure going to do is try make 2019 my “Year of No Fear.” What do I mean by that? Well, many of us regret what we don’t ultimately accomplish in our lives, and fear is often what keeps us from living the life we want as well as attaining the careers we should thrive in. Making the leap to create change, however, is about being afraid but doing it anyway. Therefore, by making 2019 “My Year of No Fear,” I’m making the commitment to doing things that, while they may be scary, will ultimately help me reach my personal and professional goals.

I learned about the “Year of No Fear” by watching a great TEDx Talk by Grace Killelea, leadership expert, best-selling author and executive coach, as well as the CEO and Founder of the GKC Group, a leadership development firm based in Philadelphia. You can view Grace’s speech here.

During her Talk, Grace discusses how 2011 was her “Year of No Fear.” She did something she was very fearful of that year: she jumped out of an airplane. Grace learned from that experience that letting go of perfection was as liberating as the jump itself.

Grace will be discussing this experience and so much more during her keynote presentation at the Women in Retail Leadership Summit, taking place in Miami April 29-May 1. Her presentation, called Plan G (G is for Grit), will focus on how we can handle unexpected curve balls in our lives and our careers to move from drama to determined and from frenzied to focused. Grace will help attendees understand that they each have an opportunity to move from resistance to resilience; to thrive after challenges; and that using failure as an opportunity to “spring forward” with strength and purpose is at the core of success.

Grace will also be leading our leadership development workshop at the Summit this year. Taking place on the morning of April 29, Grace’s workshop will be focused on leadership development; team building; culture management; and more! She will discuss the Birkman Method, a proven business process for measuring internal needs, motivations, occupational preferences and strengths to facilitate less stress and achieve higher personal performance and achievement in every individual, team and organization.

I hope one of your New Year’s resolutions is attending the Women in Retail Leadership Summit, and Grace’s workshop as well. As I’ve mentioned, we’ve got some fantastic speakers lined up and are adding more on a daily basis. Register for the Summit and the workshop here!

I hope to see you there!

Melissa Campanelli
Co-Founder
Women in Retail Leadership Circle