How the Conference Helps Me Succeed

by Tori Molnar

One day out of every year, professional women all across the state come together in one special place to network, brainstorm, learn and discover new opportunities. Last year was my third year attending the Pennsylvania Conference for Women, and I will always be thankful to this event for some of my greatest successes.

My name is Tori Molnar, and I am a 15-year-old entrepreneur, blogger and speaker. In September of 2011 I founded my company Utoria, which is a direct sales company for teenage girls. Three months later I founded my non-profit called She Can Make Change. Today I travel all over the country speaking about my experience and knowledge as a young entrepreneur.

In the last paragraph I mentioned that I started my company in September of 2011, although this isn’t entirely true. I began developing the idea in September and would do research on weekends and in my spare time. It wasn’t until the Pennsylvania Conference for Women, when I stood in line to meet Tory Johnson, that I finally became serious about my business.

After meeting Tory, we became close and I went on to become the youth speaker for her Spark & Hustle conferences. If I hadn’t attended the Pennsylvania Conference for Women, there is a great possibility that Utoria would not even exist right now.

After meeting Tory Johnson, I decided to make it a point to develop a relationship with one speaker every year. So briefly, here are the four types of people you should make a point to meet at each conference:

1. Compelling speakers

2. Professionals within the same field as you

3. Experts in areas that you are weak in

4. Women who ask questions during sessions (these women are the most serious and committed to networking and benefiting from their experience at the conference)

My mother was chosen to escort 2011 speaker Mel Robbins around the conference and I was so compelled by her enthusiasm, accomplishments, loyalty to her fans, brutal honesty and amazing talent. I followed her around almost all day somewhat shadowing her. I attended her session and watched her as she captivated a room of hundreds of women and sat with her at her book signing while she sat there and offered advice and signed books until they had completely sold out!

Make the most out of your experience at the conference each year. Just take a risk and talk to someone you otherwise wouldn’t. I think being young and fearless is one of my biggest assets as a young entrepreneur. Let’s continue this conversation on Facebook and Twitter. I cannot wait to hear your comments!