As we reach the end of October (2009), Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I'd like to share a story with you that does not involve one specific woman, but women as a community and an entity.

Last week I was given the opportunity not only to be a speaker at the Women's Business Development Conference & Expo, but to experience the event from participants' point of view as well. I have to say, I was very proud to take part in this event; I was proud to be part of the great effort to advance women in the business world. The women business owners' conference left us with a message to the professional world that women are here and we mean business. The Women's Business Development Center, with the help of Office Depot and other corporations, put together a business expo for women business owners, bringing in a great turnout of professional women.

Between meeting exciting, new people, attending my booth, giving a speech, listening to other amazing speakers and even taking part in business match-making sessions, I could barely take in everything that was out there. But as I stopped to take a deep breath and a mental break, I stumbled across a huge realization: This was one of the greatest "wow" moments of my career. I was absolutely inspired by the large and diverse congregation of independent, strong women and even more amazed by the great support we were receiving from executives and top corporations. It felt good, as a woman, to finally receive recognition for women's collective efforts to make women a part of the foundation of the business world. To think of how much society and popular thought has changed just in my lifetime is a bit unbelievable and yet here I was in a beautiful venue, with the latest and greatest technology and some of the most important corporate figures in South Florida, all brought together with great opportunities to follow up with.

It was no accident that the event took place in October, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In this month we remind ourselves of the ongoing collective battle women are having against breast cancer. So as the month comes to an end and the pink ribbons begin to disappear off of store shelves and sides of busses, I would like to leave you with a this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt: "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."