A women's leadership event called Disruptors will come to Chattanooga's Innovation District on Saturday, March 18, featuring women who have "shattered barriers" and "created opportunities for other women."
Speakers at the event include Valoria Armstrong, president of Tennessee American Water, Atlanta-area "serial entrepreneur" Roshawnna Novellus, known as the Wealthy Yogi, and Kelly Fitzgerald, the founder of Chattanooga's first co-working space, Society of Work, which is located in the 10-story Edney Building at the corner of Market and 11th streets - the so-called hub of the Innovation District
"Disruptors is for entrepreneurs, it's for mid-level executives, it's for professionals," said Chester Sharp, founder of Sharp Creative, the creative services agency that's putting on the event. "It's open to men and women."
Another speaker will be Lakweshia Ewing, of Chattanooga, who will give a talk titled "High Jumps and Hurricanes: Balancing the climb, chaos, culture and character."
"The 'high jumps,' of course, are the risks that we take as women in any industry," said Ewing, who said she's often the only African- American woman to take part in meetings with tech professionals. Ewing will talk about such matters as creating a personal mission statement, time management and coming up with tactics or plans to meet goals.
Building a house would be a goal, she said, while laying one brick a day would be a tactic to get the job done.
"Goals are bad,without a plan to reach them," she said. "If you lay one good brick a day, in 30 days, you'll have 30 bricks laid."
Disruptors, with sponsors including Verizon and Coca-Cola, is a two-part event. The first half, an "empowerment session," runs from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Edney Building with a keynote speech by Armstrong, followed by breakout sessions and a panel discussion. Then there's a concert from 7:30 p.m. to midnight at the Camp House cafe at 149 E. M.L. King Blvd. Cost is $30 for either the empowerment session or the concert, or $40 for both.
Sharp said he was inspired to put on the first-ever Disruptors event partly to give back to the community and partly because of his daughter.
"I have a 10-year-old daughter, and I want her to be around some powerful women," Sharp said. "Hopefully, being around these women, she can see the possibilities of what she can be when she grows up."
Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/MeetsForBusiness or on Twitter @meetforbusiness or 423-757-6651.