2022 Summit: Resilient Leadership
Last week, Ladies Who Launch brought founders, business leaders, and resource partners together for a hybrid summit focused on what resilient leadership looks like in practice.
The experience began on October 5 with an in-person gathering at Bespoke in San Francisco, followed by a virtual summit on October 7. Across both programs, speakers moved past vague advice about “pushing through” and dug into the relationships, systems, and decisions that help businesses navigate change.
The San Francisco gathering opened with a conversation about supporting employees, customers, and the wider community. Michelle Pusateri of Nana Joes Granola joined Janet Lamkin of United Airlines and Ladies Who Launch Co-Founder Sarah Friar to explore what “community before profit” could mean inside a growing business.
“The health of your business is much more than just your financial health,” Pusateri told attendees.
The conversation challenged the assumption that a small business had to reach national scale before working with a major company. Larger organizations increasingly recognized the value of local suppliers, the panel explained, but founders still had to take the meeting, build the relationship, and make the ask.
That thread continued throughout the summit.
In a session on finding and retaining talent, Irene Li of Mei Mei Dumplings and PrepShift, Amy Peterson of Rebel Nell, and Susan Lundy of SCORE examined how growing companies could hire more intentionally. Their advice was refreshingly practical: get clear about who you are, create stronger job descriptions, listen during interviews, and be transparent about what a role can offer.
Retention mattered, but keeping someone forever should not be the goal. As Li explained, the healthier approach was to “work the fit as long as you have it,” help people grow, and give them a thoughtful landing when it was time to move on.
Another conversation turned to customer growth. Tammeca Rochester of Harlem Cycle, Abby Malchow of Amazon Small Business, and LWL Board Member Anna Collins emphasized that founders could not build an effective acquisition strategy without truly understanding their best customers.
Collins offered one of the summit’s stickiest pieces of advice: “Staple yourself to an order.” In other words, experience every step of the customer journey and look closely at what needs to be improved.
The program also examined how founders could build and leverage community during periods of growth and change. Sherice Torres of Circle and Yumeka Rushing of the NAACP discussed organizational culture, authentic networking, peer mentorship, and the importance of finding people who would advocate for you when opportunities arose.
The virtual summit expanded the conversation to business banking and capital. Speakers from United Airlines, First Women’s Bank, and other organizations explored how financial institutions and community networks could better support women-owned businesses.
Throughout both events, one lesson kept resurfacing: relationships mattered.
Build them before you need them. Ask your network for help. Take meetings even when you do not feel completely ready. Support other founders instead of treating every opportunity as a competition.
Or, as Sarah Friar reminded the group, make the ask. The worst-case scenario is that someone says no, leaving you exactly where you started. The best-case scenario could open an entirely new door.