Good Day Uncut: PA Conference For Women

Philadelphia, we are uncut. Hey everybody, what's going on? It is your old buddy Hank, down at 12th and right across from the Reading Terminal Market. I'm at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Listen guys, this is the Pennsylvania Conference for Women. You might notice that I'm not quite as loud as I typically am because I don't want to be the guy that's got 9,000 of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia's most powerful women chasing him down Arch Street for being distracted. But if you look up on the main screen there, you'll see Lindsey Vaughn. Olympic ski champion, World Cup ski champion. Last time I checked in with her, she was trying to make it downhill in the Olympics on a shredded knee. Nobody does that anymore. Except Lindsey Vonn, guys. This is the Pennsylvania Conference for Women, and you're about to meet Allison Young, one of the board members, to straighten us out on it. After all, I got a learning to do, a lot of learning to do, for obvious reasons. Allison, here's a microphone for you. Thank you. Thanks so much for making the time. I really appreciate it. Sure. Again, just on appearances, it looks like a packed house. It looks great so far. Yeah, it's been amazing this morning. The energy in the building is fantastic because we've got almost 9,000 women here today. Thank you. That's insane, and that's capped, like you all, you could have had 15 in here if you didn't care about the quality of the thing. We are so fortunate that we've had this conference now for 23 years, so it's got a very loyal following, the speaker content has been phenomenal, and so every year we have thousands of women that want to be here in the convention center and just be part of the excitement for the day, yeah. Yeah, it's wonderful. Now listen, you all, I don't know how you do it, because it's not just a home run women that you're bringing in to talk. Yeah. And it's not just about that. I mean, these 9,000 women are sitting together, they're talking together, conferencing together, making relationships, creating possibilities. But you talk about Lindsey Vonn. On the stage before Lindsey Vonn was Kylie Kelsey. The relevance of your guests is astounding. You've got people who are big, but also people that people want to hear from. Thank you for saying so. Of course. We agree. Our speaker lineup this year on the main stage, which is what's going on now. So you mentioned Kylie Kelsey, which we're so happy to have local representation too. How exciting is that? We have Lindsey Vonn now coming up. And we just heard from Tayari Jones, New York Times bestselling author, who is phenomenal. And coming up, we have Bozoma Saint John. We have Mindy Kaling. I mean, we have an all-star lineup today. So it's pretty exciting. Mindy Kaling, I think, is literally, I don't know, the first... I don't know my TV history. We're talking about showrunners, one of the first maybe five or ten to do that. She's a giant. She's sort of like a Tina Fey. I mean, she's that level. She's a big league writer. She's extraordinary. Huge success and a wild wit, too. Oh, that's what I'm looking forward to because, you know, we say that there's a lot here today for career growth and, you know, employee well-being, all kinds of things that you'll get when you're coming here. But we also hope there's a lot of good humor. There's good humor, some inspiration, some light moments because what happens every year, And I've been part of the conference I've been at the conference now for almost 12 years as a board member, is that people, you meet people, you get inspired by people, something hits you today. You come for one thing, maybe you come to see Mindy Kaling, but you leave with 10 new relationships and something else that hit you in a different way. So there's that surprise element that happens every year where we always love hearing from attendees about what they walked away with. Good stuff. Double down on that a little bit if you can, because obviously, I mean, you buy a ticket, you come to this, you sit, you listen to these guests, but you're going to be sitting with somebody else. Thank you. All kinds of different things. There are career centers here as well. And they're about to call lunch. So at 11.45, they're going to come bombing through this door to get, I guess, their conference worth and then back in there for more action this afternoon. That's right. So here in the interactive hall, we have great activations from a lot of our sponsors, really interesting things that you can do, not just go around and pick up tchotchkes. Of course, there's a lot of conference tchotchkes. But we have small businesswomen here that are vendors selling different things. We have some conference sponsors that are doing professional. Headshots, if you need a new headshot for your LinkedIn, we have career coaching, we have so many things happening in the interactive hall that is happening concurrently with the great plenary sessions that we have going on, and then this afternoon, when the plenary is over and lunch is over, we have two different breakout session blocks, where you can do anything from, there's a session on hormone treatment and menopause, which has come up a couple of times on the stage today. Menopause lasts forever, by the way. So, you know, some healthcare focus, but we also have some really deep thinking going This afternoon, for people that want to be, perhaps you want to be a writer, somebody that, there's a really cool session coming up on women that are stretched too thin and you're in too many places at once. Yes. And how do you give everything to everyone? That one would be extremely well attended. I'm attending that. Yeah. I'd like to know who's running it, to be honest, so I can sit down, pay them, and do a one-on-one. Okay. Not to put you on the spot, but you told me some stuff before about this conference for women being more of a national thing than I realized. There are conferences like this in Texas, in Boston. I think you told me California. When it comes to data sharing between you all, California women, I'm sure a little different from Pensy women, but probably 98% the same. When it comes to sharing information from these places, and I know the top, top people are covering all of it, How do you all work together in order to make sure that a ride? Rising Tide lifts all boats. I'm sure that you do. You know, I appreciate you asking that because this is a conference that is about empowering and uplifting, and those aren't buzzwords for us. That's what we do. We all try to help one another. But the way the conference works is the Conferences for Women has staff that support all the conferences, and then we have a localized board in each place. So we're so proud of the board that we have here. There are people from the city. There are people from sponsors. And we even have, you know, it is the Pennsylvania Conference for Women, so we even have our Pittsburgh contingent on the board. Well, for sure. Awesome. We're trying to make sure that there is something here in the convention center for everyone. And so we really do try to make sure that we have a breadth of experiences for anyone that walks through the doors. All right. Allison Young, guys, board of the Pennsylvania Conference for Women. One last question before we go to a quick break. Allison, again, you have this cap at this point. It's that popular. We have the national conference. If you are an interested woman who's not here this year, hasn't been before, but wants to be here for next year's or be on the national conference, what's your advice to them? There's got to be a place to check in. Conferences for Women Conferenceforwomen.org, and we're going to announce next year's date today, so stay tuned, and then you can get an early bird ticket in the next 48 hours. Boom. How about that? Allison Young, board member, guys, of the National Conference for Women, the Pennsylvania Conference for Women. I think she also sits on Lockheed Martin and maybe Budweiser, too, out on the powerhouse women, everybody. Alison, thank you so much. Guys, give us two minutes. I'll keep my voice down. There's important things happening here in the convention center. We'll be right back with more Uncut. All right, everybody, back at the Pennsylvania Conference for Women. And right now you're looking at Fox 29 producer Tracy Schmidt talking with one of the keynote speakers here, Tayari Jones, New York Times bestselling author. Ms. Jones, forgive me. I meant to come and speak to you during the break. My name's Hank Flynn. I'm with Fox 29, and that's a microphone for you. Would you hold it? Yes, sir. Thanks so much, and thank you for having us. How has it gone so far? Have you done much of this, speaking to 9,000 women? I guess that's the skill set that's going to be developing if you haven't done a lot of it. How's your day so far? So far, it's been amazing. Everyone has just been so enthusiastic that energy is just crackling in the air. Let me ask you something, because you are a New York Times bestselling author, and this goes back a little ways. I'll just ask blankly, what's your experience as a black woman author? Reaching those sorts of heights, what was it like? I mean, that's a grizzly bear of a question, I realize. You know, it's just been wonderful reaching so many people. You write a book in your house, by yourself, in your pajamas. It's like sending a message in a bottle, and you realize that it's reached up on so many people's shores. It feels like a minor miracle every day. Was it a discipline thing for you, or was it a message jumping out of your heart? Difficult to sit down and write, or did the computer call you over to write? Tell me a little bit about your process, because you are very successful. I want to say computer isn't really my thing. I'm kind of a manual typewriter kind of girl. How about that? What do you use, Selectric, or is that too new? Have you been to the typewriter store here in Philadelphia? It's the only one in the world. If you're looking for hot typewriters... Wait, y'all have a typewriter? You know my typewriter... Yes, ma'am, Passy Yonk Avenue. Oh, because my typewriter doctor retired. I need a new typewriter doctor. Typewriter store on Passy... Pass the Yonk Avenue. I will send you there after you get done in the show. I know your dance card is punched all day long or whatever. I'll do anything for typewriters. Pass the Yonk Avenue. As soon as we get done, actually, I'll have Tracy punch it up for you. Writer like you needs a good typewriter. She needs to have a typewriter that she wants to have. Yes. All right. So what's cooking now? What will be the ... I'm not asking you to tell me the secrets, but you're bound to be writing something. Well, actually, right now, I'm kind of between projects. And it makes me very lonesome. I need a new idea. I need a new idea. Do you have an idea? I got a lot of ideas, but I'm not sure they're necessarily ones you want. I don't know. There's got to be 5,000 of them at this conference. And I didn't even get a chance to talk to you during the commercial break because everybody wanted to get a picture with you. So everybody wants to talk to you here. If you keep talking to people until your ears hurt. You will get some ideas. Usable? I don't know. That's down to your calculus. I'm a little... Sometimes I think it might be nice in this moment to write a novel about a politician. What do you think? That'd be good. That's deep, thick water. And especially right now, the way politics is in this country. If you wrote a novel about politics, forget it. Because you know I'm a Georgia peach. You get pre-orders for three million of them before you even started writing. Let's do it. You guys are getting all kinds of outcomes down in Georgia. First black governor in the nation. How about them apples? I know, I know. Not bad. From Atlanta. Yes, ma'am. Now, are you from Atlanta as well? Absolutely. I got relatives in Gainesville, and I had folks in Marietta when my uncle used to fly for Delta. He used to fly out of Atlanta. Now, is that where you're going to go back to? Is that where you ideally rest your head at night? I live in Atlanta. I moved back home. Now, where did you move back home from? Were you in New York a long time? I was in New York. I was in Brooklyn. What made you start writing? Were you always that kid? Were you an A student in English in 10th grade, 5th grade? I was always an A student in English, but I didn't know that I could be a writer. I thought it was like a hobby. Yeah. Poor thing. I mean, the kids get the wrong idea of it because they have to do it in school. Then it becomes maybe... I always loved it. I felt like math was the thing I had to do and writing was the thing I loved to do. I just want to circle back to your time on stage here. Did the moderator ask anything that surprised you? Would you have rather done it this way in an interview format? Or would you rather just speak to the people? No, I just spoke. I didn't do an interview. Oh, my bad. I'm sorry. That happened before we got here. I saw these others being interviewed. No, I was doing storytelling. I'm a storyteller. Have you seen, there are some women over here, a woman who is an African historian who has written books about each country for children. That's pretty extraordinary. What are you reading right now? What are you like? What's turning you on right now? For people that are watching and admire you. What am I reading right now? Let's see. All the books I'm reading, you know, they give me books before they come out. So I'm always reading a book that's not out yet. Does the author attract you? If you see, oh, so-and-so wrote that, I better dig into that because I like them. Will you read stuff from an author you never heard of if the first few paragraphs grab you? Absolutely, because anything I haven't heard of is something new. I'm always trying to grow my world. But if I'm on an airplane, I read mysteries. And, oh, you know what I'm reading right now? I'm reading a novel called These Heathens. These Heathens, that's a heck of a title. That's a heck of a title, right? Yeah, yeah. See, there you go. Guys, she is New York Times bestselling author, Tayari Jones. Did I pronounce that right? That's me. All right. And she just got done speaking up here. I thank you again for your time. And I'll ask for my viewers' sake, because you knew I was going to. What is your advice to the young men and women out here that want to put pen or pencil to paper or sit down an old beat-up typewriter and get their message out? Maybe even paint a picture, somebody that's got something in them that wants to get out, but maybe they've got their own internal brakes on. Sometimes we stop ourselves from doing the things we want to do. What's your advice, Ms. Jones? One thing to remember, a page a day is a book in a year. You don't need a lot of time. You just need consistent time. And all the things that's keeping you from writing, like your job, your kids, your work, These things, they make you... keep you from writing because of time, but they're making your life meaningful. The things that make your life meaningful make your work meaningful, and someone out there is waiting for your story. There she is, guys. Tayari Jones, keynote speaker here. I'm very grateful for your time. Thank you so much. My pleasure. Everybody wants to see her, guys. I'm going to let them have her and give her a break from my big self. Two minutes. We'll be right back with more Uncut. Come on back. Thank you again. God bless you. Appreciate you. All right, everybody, the latest speaker, Lindsey Vonn, has stepped down from the stage. It is 11:47, which means lunchtime here at the Pennsylvania Conference for Women. So many women are going to be coming through that door. Tayari Jones, New York Times bestselling author, standing there taking pictures with people. But there's so much going on. And I wanted to take a quick minute to speak with Deb here at the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania. Microphone for you, Deb. Thanks so much. League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, let's start on the ground floor. What do you all do? So we are a non-partisan, non-profit. We are a grassroots organization. We've been around for 106 years. We were founded out of the suffrage movement, and we really focus on empowering voters, giving reliable voter information. We do voter education, we do voter registration, and then we also do advocacy for pro-democratic policies and pro-voter policies. When you say pro-democratic policies, it's pro-democracy, just in case people get confused. Yes, we don't support any specific political party or candidates. We just want people to get out there and use their rights to vote. Thanks for being clear about that. Now, I don't know if any... If what lessons might be learned from a midterm election the likes of which we just had two days ago, I'm sure you all were paying attention. Yes. What's a day like that like for someone who works hard for the League of Women Voters? Were you out at polls? Were you working phones? Were you sitting still? Well, for me personally, I was sitting still trying to be deployed. I was on call to be deployed in case there were any issues at the polls. And thankfully, I was not needed. It worked out well. I didn't hear a single thing. I was not needed. We had a few minor, very, very minor, typical issues that happened, of course, like... Well, there's always a couple of screamers out there, too. Yeah, and there's always, you know, there was a water main break or things that are just things out of our control, normal things. But yeah, the voting was great. We had a big turnout. It was just really great to see people getting out there and really using their right and making sure that we're not taking it for granted. Good stuff. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Where are you all online if anybody wants to check in with you? We are at lwvpa.org. All right, there it is, guys, the Pennsylvania League of Women Voters. Thanks so much. Pleasure to meet you. Moving on down the line, guys, we're just trying to get a sense of what's going on over here with the vendors here at the Pennsylvania Conference for Women, League of Women Voters, of course. But Fly Forward by Operation Warm is here. Who's a-talkin'? I'm Lindsey. Lindsey, how are you? There's a microphone. Pleasure to meet you. Tell me exactly what is Fly Forward by Operation Warm. It looks like a sports bra. It is. Okay. Yes, with Fly Forward, we are a part of Operation Warm. We provide sports bras to middle school and high school-aged girls to help them stay active. In any means that that might be possible. You must have seen a need in there somehow. Tell me how that need, what is that chemistry? What is that that makes a middle school girl maybe not have one of these if she wants one? I don't know. Yeah, candidly, sports bras are extremely expensive and a lot of girls at the middle school level don't know they need one, don't know how to talk about it, are uncomfortable talking about it. A sports bra really is a standard piece of equipment that really, the more we can do to provide the comfort and the confidence to these girls to help them stay active, whether that's sports, gym class, dancing, participating in whatever it might be, that provides the physical health benefits, obviously mental health benefits. Higher graduation rates and everything from there. So it's really a crucial piece of equipment. Well, it's legit, too, because you know the Philadelphia Eagles always do their due diligence before they get behind somebody, and they've been extremely helpful to you all. The Philadelphia Eagles were a founding partner of ours in the Fly Forward program as they were starting girls' flag football here in Philadelphia and the surrounding communities. Good stuff. Lindsay, it's a pleasure to meet you. Flag! Flag. Fly Forward. Where are we online anyway? Folks, check it out. Flyforward.org. Flyforward.org. Lindsay, thank you. Ladies, thanks so much. Enjoy the rest of your conference. Moving on down to something a little bit different before we get to our next break, guys. The Khmer Performing Arts and Culture Center of Cambodia. Guys, how are you? Hello. Sidney, how are you? There is a microphone. Hang on to it, will you? Oh, okay. No, that's all you, Sidney. We are on. Tell us a little bit about the Khmer Performing Arts Culture. Is it Khmer? How do I say that? Khmer. Khmer? Khmer. All right. Well, I've never even tried it that way. Okay, now I know it's Khmer. But, yes, we're KPAC, and we're just, our mission is to, like, help. Guided instruction for anybody who wants to learn about the Cambodian culture through music and... Hold the mic up, Sydney. My producer's like... Oh, oh! For music and dance. And dance. And now you all played the barns for several thousand people. Yes, the barns. It was last Sunday. Hold the mic over to you. So it was last Sunday. Were you on stage dancing and singing? I was playing music. Which is your instrument? I play this one. This one right here. Just a little bit, will you? Oh, I... She tied the sticks together, what kind of stuff is that? Now, is that part of the discipline? You tie the sticks together and see if you can get it? Oh, no, no, no. You just caught us at a bad time. It's going to be dinner. Ah, well done. All right. You're going to have to be our friend this time. Let me ask you, are you familiar with the vibraphone? I'm a big jazz fan. In Western cultures, there's this thing called a xylophone, and there's a vibraphone that has pipes on the bottom, but you would get along really well with people like Lionel Hampton. Oh, okay. Tito Puente. How about that? Sounds good. All right. Well, you all are wonderful. Listen. Oh, thank you so much. Lay us out a little bit about how we can find out more about the Khmer Performing Arts Center. Did I get that right? I messed it up. Khmer. Khmer. All right. I'm sorry. Khmer Performing Arts Center. Where are you all online? And more importantly, how can we come and see you next time? All right. Instagram. Philly KPAC. Follow us. Facebook. You know. We have a website, too. A website, too? Yeah. The Khmer Performing Arts and Culture. If you Google that, you'll get all kinds of good stuff. Yes, sir. All right. Sydney, thank you so much. Ma'am, thank you so much as well. Thank you so much, guys. We're a 501c3 organization. A 501c3 organization. There you go. Nice job. Thanks so much, guys. Pleasure to meet you, and good luck with it. Give me 90 seconds, guys, two minutes, however long the director wants to run a commercial break. And we'll be right back here at the Convention Center to wrap up this excellent show from the Pennsylvania Conference for Women. We'll be right back. All right, everybody, it is about lunchtime here at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Inside the main room here, there are something along the lines of 9,000 women enjoying their lunch, exchanging cards and phone numbers with one another, bright ideas and ways to succeed and enrich themselves. That is what this conference is all about. But here is the Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. But this is Crystal, and she's also repping her business as well. Tell me the relationship between your business, what it is, the waxery, and how it relates back to the chamber. Sure. I own a candle making experience. It's like a paint and sip. You come in, I teach you how to make candles. It's BYOB. I also do waxery on wheels. I go out to corporate events, do team building events. I am a part of the Hispanic Chambers of Philadelphia. I was a part of the Cohort 8, so I did all my business stuff. I did all the back-end work. I learned about finances, networking, all that good stuff through the Hispanic Chambers of Philadelphia. And now, through that, you have a business where I can come and drink wine and learn how to make candles? Sure do. Good. Watch out. Is there a back room? I might just move in. You can come on in. Come on in and have some fun. Thank you, Crystal. Young lady, what's your business? You're back here as well. Pardon me. Can you hand her that microphone? No, don't clip it on. Just hang on to it for a second. We've got to run. Tell me who you are and what your business is. Hi, I'm Josette Adams, and the name of my business is Sequoia and Jalen's Gourmet Foods. I am the first woman in Philadelphia to create her own barbecue sauce that we supply to some local ShopRites. I also bake custom cakes, sweets, decorations. So my Instagram handle is Sequoia and Jalen's Gourmet Foods. So check us out on Instagram and also on Facebook. Yes, ma'am, Miss Sequoia. Crystal, thank you so much, ladies. A pleasure to meet you all. Got less than two minutes left in the show, ladies, so we've got to hustle through it. Introduce yourself real quick. I wanted to get you on because your books are extraordinary. Tell us about them. Thank you. My name is Ada Ari. Hang on to that mic for a second. I'm the author. I created the largest collection of African language board books. You can see them all the way down here as well. I have 45 different African languages. Each one has three books in them, one for animals, body parts, and things at home. And on the back of each book, there are pronunciations so anyone can learn. I think they're beautiful, and I love them. If I wanted to get some and I wasn't here at the Conference of Women, how would I do that? Go to my website. Your website, which is? Ada-ari.com, or you can check me out on Instagram or send me an email. Beautiful stuff, Ada. Thank you so much. Pleasure to meet you. You know me? Yeah. Forgive me, I've got less than a minute left in this show. Tell me as though you're telling this young lady about your wonderful book. Honestly, this is a book to have. Hang on to that, though. It's based on a true-life adventure, my solo drive from London to Lagos, and it inspires the next generation to be brave. This kills me. First of all, how do you drive from London to Lagos? It's very possible. That's why they need to grab the book, absolutely. You would have to drive down to Portugal to get a call there. But what I did, and that's why it's detailed in the book, so it goes from... UK into France, and then France and then Spain into Morocco. I'm out of time, but I have to ask. What's it like to drive in Africa? Make it quick. Honestly, it's amazing. It's one of the best experiences of your life. Everybody needs to go to Africa. It is a continent, so definitely explore it. Lumi, God bless you. Thank you so much. Guys, Pennsylvania Conference for Women. It is only today. Don't even bother trying to get in because they cap tickets at around 9,000, a couple more. Go ahead and reach out to them if you want to be part of it next year. And there will be one online nationwide up soon. Meanwhile, it's almost noon. That means Jen Fred's coming on with the noon show. I'll see you later. Be safe. I'll see you tomorrow.