Event | Guest speaking at the ImpactHER International Women's Day Celebration 2023 in Yaounde

Hi everyone, hope you are doing well. 

Like the title says I was invited to speak at the event organised by ImpactHER in Yaounde on the 11th of March 2023. 

First of all the event took place the day after my birthday! Do I need to tell you that I spent my birthday preparing for this event and stressing out because it was my first public speaking engagement? LOL!

To get myself ready I prepared my presentation and did my hair. I even did my nails - a decision I made while at the saloon. My hairdresser got me when she said she'll do something simple and nice within my budget just to make my nails look nice. After I imagined holding the microphone with rusty nails I fell for it. Lol.

I was so nervous about speaking so to build my confidence I made notes for and practised my presentation, I tried stress relieving techniques like calming deep breaths and going jogging that morning, accepting the worse thing that could happen during the presentation, and accepting and letting the encouragement from my loved ones sink in. 

I finally decided on what to wear on the morning of the event. I won't lie that I have so many clothes in my wardrobe but nothing to wear. I haven't worn most of my clothes in more than four years because of pregnancy and my postpartum body so dressing up is a bit of a challenge for me. But is settled for this dress tailored for a wedding I attended last year. 

I got to the event on time but it took me some time to find the venue. Thankfully I didn't wear my heels from home because my feet would have hurt. The ladies attending are entrepreneurs and some of them showcased their products which were interesting to see.

I was the first speaker of the day and I delivered my talk quite well. I didn't read from my notes as planned and that felt like a big win for me.

I enjoyed speaking at this event because I love empowering women. Women are builders of a lot of businesses today and it is vital to give them the tools to excel. Social media being one of the most popular forms of technology to this day is a great tool for them. That's why this year's theme for the International Women's day feels right. "DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality"

In relation to this, ImpactHER organised this event to celebrate women with the theme; "Beyond the norm: Promoting innovation as a female entrepreneur" to help these women do better in their businesses. 

I also learnt a lot from the stories shared by these women about their journeys and I look forward to more opportunities like this.