The annual Women Exceed event was hosted on Monday, Aug 14 at the home of Isaac and Jennifer Sitt in Deal, NJ. All who attended the event had their cars valeted and continued to walk down a long and winding driveway. Once they reached their destination, attendees were greeted with a bag filled with free gifts as well as a folder containing information the day’s event and then asked to sign in.

The large gift bag for each and every woman who attended this year was a white canvas tote bag with the saying, “Strong is Beautiful,” written in bold black letters on the front of it. Inside the bag, gifts included a Women Exceed notebook as well as a spinal groove massager, a glass water bottle, and workout gloves. All of the items within the bag were donated by the companies who participated in the event which are run by successful women in our community.

The backyard was littered with lavenders. Large grey tiles lead gradually down to the beach where the panel would be held and speeches would commence. Before the panel began, women who attended the event helped themselves to Black Diamond Coffee which is a successful business started and run by women within our community as well.

The event was also catered by JUS who provided healthy sandwiches and salads to the attendees. JUS is also owned by another successful woman within our community. The women were directed to help themselves until the panel began.

Attendees sat eagerly in their seats waiting for the event to start. Each year, Exceed chooses interesting and inspiring women from our community to get up and share their stories of success. This year the panel was made up of five women: Elisheva Perlman, Founder of @Theanelisgroup, Orly Wahba, Founder of @Lifevestinside, Eve Ellenhorn, Founder of @Flavorful_fit, Elizabeth Sutton, Founder of @Elizabethsuttoncollection, Judi Gabbay, Founder of @Glossipgirl.

Elisheva Perlman was asked when she started in marketing and how she knew this was the career path she wanted to take. She explained that she always had it in her and told a stories of her past which led her to where she is today in her career.

Elisheva shared the secret to her marketing success with the attendees of the event as well when she spoke. Perlman always asks her clients, “If your company was a person standing next to you, what would it be wearing? At a restaurant what would it order? Where would it go on a vacation? Hiking or relaxing? How would it behave at a party?”

According to Perlman, once you truly understand the answers to these questions, you can create the perfect logo and marketing campaign for any company. Perlman stressed that you must know who your company is before you can tell your story.

Judi Gabbay was then asked to share a story of a time in her career where she faced difficulty but pushed through it and came out on top. Gabbay instantly thought of an instance when she once got an interview with a talent agency and went in with her look book in hand and head held high. Having worked on her company for a few years and receiving positive feed back from the community, she felt confident in her work.

To her dismay, the talent scout was less than impressed. The scout made sound effects of shock and disgust as he turned each page. She held in her tears and thanked him for his consideration. Afterwards, Gabbay went to her father's office and cried it out.

It was then that her father asked her bluntly: now what? Instead of beating herself up even more, she decided to take the scout’s criticism to heart and work on herself. She answered her father that by this time next year she would make the same meeting and have something even more professional and impressive to show the scout.

When Judi went to the meeting a year later as promised, the talent scout was very impressed with her new work and asked if they had met before. Judi, having been fueled with determination from this man's harsh words in their last meeting, gritted her teeth and said, “I’m not really sure if we have.”

It is stories like these that inspired all of the women in the crowd at the Women Exceed event. The theme of the day was that these women were just ordinary people at some point in the past who had husbands and children, but also a passion to do more and acted on that passion.

A few of the panelists stated that they could have sat comfortably at their jobs but they all decided that they could make a greater difference if they followed their true passions. With the help of The Exceed Network, the support of their families, and the encouragement from the community, these women were able to make an impact. The overall theme throughout the event was that any woman can make an impact just as these women did, it’s just a matter of putting yourself out there and trying your hardest.

To learn more about the Women Exceed Network and to get involved, please visit their website.

Frieda Schweky

Frieda@sephardic.org

Frieda Schweky is Sephardic.Org's official community events reporter. For inquiries and to get involved with our site, please contact Frieda via email.