For our August event, nearly 180 women gathered at BASH in Indianapolis for an evening of fellowship, encouragement, and partnership. We were honored to feature a guest panel consisting of three incredible female leaders representing Sseko Designs, Evereve, and Vera Bradley. We also welcomed Denise Herd, President of Herd Strategies, who shared about how the city of Indianapolis is empowering its female entrepreneurs.

Special thanks to BASH for hosting, and to all of our sponsors: Flourish Indy, Vera Bradley, Thrivent, Stripped Free, First Harvest Boutique, Chick-Fil-A Greenwood, Mister Quik, and Kendra Scott

Evereve

Evereve is an upscale boutique for the fashion-loving mom and was founded by Megan Tamte, who shared more about their work at the event. She was inspired to start the business after having a difficult dressing room experience as a young mother and wanted to create a space where this frequent reality was eliminated. After many years sacrifice and investment, Evereve now has 86 stores and dressing rooms “that only inspire tears of joy.”

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“If you’re growing a company, you have to grow in your leadership too. And sometimes that means starting over.”

— Megan Tamte, Founder & CEO of Evereve

Sseko Designs

Liz Bohannon founded Sseko Designs in 2009 as way to generate income for high potential, talented young women in Uganda to continue on to university. As the company grew, Liz launched The Sseko Fellows Program, which allows women to launch their own impact businesses by selling Sseko and styling their communities. Learn more about Sseko Designs and how to get involved here.

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“Believing in the lie that [working moms] are just slated and fated to constantly be feeling miserable and guilty and like we’re failing in all the areas – I say we can reject that, and we can actually choose something better, then we can encourage other women to do the same.”

— Liz Bohannon, Founder of Sseko Designs

Vera Bradley

We were also joined by Beatrice MacCabe, the Chief Creative Officer of Vera Bradley. She shared about the many career transitions. From Dublin, Ireland to Paris, France to New York City to Dallas, Texas, Beatrice gained a wealth of knowledge and experience working with different designers, brands, and people before landing in Fort Wayne, Indiana where Vera Bradley’s headquarters are located.

Vera Bradley is known for its iconic prints and smart styles, but Beatrice says that it’s the company’s value of authentic relationships that makes it successful.

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“Just because I think this is the way for us all to behave and for us all to interact, it doesn’t work for everybody – and that was a big shift in my thought process.”

— Beatrice MacCabe, Chief Creative Officer at Vera Bradley

Are you and your organization interested in partnering with us for future events? Contact our Events & Experiences Manager, Liz Henderson. Ready to become a mentor or mentee? Apply today.