I do not have the words to describe the enthusiasm from the young women after participating in the Mentor Forum. I hope to build on the momentum and interests of our young women in the STEM/STEAM career fields. The doors are always open to you at Pearl-Cohn Entertainment Magnet or any place that I am reaching young aspiring leaders. As I said earlier, "Thank you for saying "Yes" to our students."

Dear Ms. Smiley;

Hello! I wanted to sincerely thank you for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime last week in Fort Lauderdale. I can't tell you enough how inspired and optimstic I was after listening to all those amazing women speak, and how valuable my one-on-one mentoring sessions were. My favorite part of the trip was speaking one-on-one with Dr. Sogade, who convinced me I have what it takes to be an OB-Gyn, and even have my own practice someday. I can't wait to use everything I learned and all of the connections I made as I look forward to college and everything after. One day, I hope to come back to the Enterprising Women's Celebration and Conference--but this time, as an award winner!

Thank you so much!

I thoroughly enjoyed the EW event last week and was honored to be among an inspiring group of women. I admit to hesitating attending this event as there is so much going on in business and life – I am very happy that my decision was to attend.

The break out sessions were excellent and engaging, I particularly liked the open forum approach so women could participate in dialogue. Meeting so many young women courageous enough to start business was inspiring, as were those women who have successfully developed large businesses. Many times we feel alone and isolated in this journey of business ownership and this event afforded many of us to share our journey and help one another.

Monica, you are inspirational to those you support through your magazine by providing this valuable format for networking. Please accept my sincere appreciation for your work, your support and your stamina.

Participating in the EW event inspired me to author a letter to our customers. I’ve attached a copy. Just listening to the panels and speaking with other women made me aware of the value of on-going, valuable communication that is meaningful to customers, internal and external. My next step will be to author a white paper that provides the explanation and value add of this business approach further.

This is Emily Chen, and I was given the amazing opportunity to hear your story and advice Sunday, February 28th, 2016 and well as on Monday, February 29th, 2016. Finding a niche and focusing on a growing sector is really an interesting concept that was completely new to me and one that I will now keep in mind in my future endeavors. You brought to light alot of valid points and really left me with a renewed and enlightened mind after our workshops on Sunday! Your advice to also surround ourselves with a tribe of mentors and people who will lift us up in our pursuits is also one that I will seriously adhere to. I really learned alot from you and I was wondering if you would also accept me as your mentee especially as I pursue my passion in computer science in the coming years and create a business from it.

Currently, I am also the Director of Expansion of SecondGen, an entrepreneurial organization that aims to provide its members with the resources to develop their passion into a career. One of the new sections of SecondGen that I am creating is a mentorship between our passionate young women members and women business leaders. I completely understand that our mentors are extremely busy thus mentorship sessions will take place through online calls at your convenience. These mentorship sessions will be for passionate members who are in need of guidance at certain stages in the development of their passion and will not be regular sessions that you have to dedicate time to every week! We currently have expanded from the east coast to the west coast and into Lebanon and Zimbabwe (and are looking at expansion into France and Germany, and I hope into China too!).

I was wondering if being a mentor for secondGen is something you would be interested in? We do not begin the mentorships until next school semester!

After the conference, I found an opportunity to attend a Big Data Conference (this week), which is a field in computer science that I would like to understand and introduce myself to. I really also want to thank your daughter for being an inspiration to girls like me who want to pursue a career in computer science/software in the future, and for introducing me to coursera for classes in Big Data.

Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and really for being an amazing role model for young women like myself who aspire to become women leaders like you!

This is Emily Chen, and I really wanted to express my gratitude and say thank you for creating this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to network and learn from so many influential Women Entrepreneurs and Leaders. I took from the workshops so many pieces of advice that I have already implemented into my role as President/Founder of the Entrepreneurial Club at my school, and into my position as Director of Expansion of SecondGen, an international Entrepreneurial organization.

In addition, I have also reached out to many Women Leaders and am going to a Big Data Conference this week after speaking with Mrs. Fraser over email. The networks that I made in Florida, both with other young Women, and with Women Leaders are priceless, and it really would not have been possible if not for you.

I hope to keep in contact and update you as I continue in my journey towards further developing my passion in computer science.

I cannot thank you enough for the amazing opportunity to attend the conference last week in Miami. While I certainly had high expectations, I didn't dream of hearing from and personally talking with so many successful women who are so dedicated to making a difference for other women. They inspired me as an entrepreneur and as a person, and this experience would certainly not have been possible without you. Thank you again and I hope to stay in touch!

Thank you so much for allowing me to participate in the Young Enterprising Women Mentorship Forum. I found it so empowering to meet and interact with the powerful women attending the conference. In particular, I enjoyed the 20 minute mentoring sessions. I found these personally helpful, and the three women that I talked with gave me a lot of tips/insights. They were welcoming and were more than happy to answer any questions that I had.

I also enjoyed meeting all of the girls who were chosen for this program. It was great to get perspectives on their lives/accomplishments from various parts of the country.

Thank you again for the opportunity to participate in this program. It was a weekend that I will never forget.