Nine years in and still evolving.
There’s a special kind of energy in a room full of women who close deals for a living.
On Monday, September 21, I spent the day at the 9th annual Sistas in Sales Summit in New York, surrounded by women of color who lead teams, build companies, and move markets. This year’s theme was The Evolution, with a message that landed all day: The Evolution Is You. I loved that framing because evolution builds on everything that came before it. Nine years in, this community isn’t a moment. It’s a movement. The room was full of degrees, decades of experience, and revenue, and the conversation kept circling back to one exciting question: what happens when the industry moves from seeing us to truly valuing us?
Visibility has been the conversation for a while now. Panels, spotlights, heritage month campaigns. And visibility matters. But visibility without investment is just a photo op. We are educated, experienced, and drivers of growth. The summit didn’t ask for a seat at the table. It showed exactly what happens to the table when we’re the ones selling.
Here’s what stuck with me.
Influence Is the New Pipeline: Selling the Creator Economy
This session reframed something I’ve felt for a long time. Influence isn’t a soft metric anymore. It’s a pipeline. Curtis Midkiff, Head of Social at Sprout Social, put it plainly:
“Consumers are saying, ‘No, that creator is the reason I bought that.’ … It’s the reason why Crocs has Crocs phone cases, because of social. So we move because the consumers move. … We got social budgets, we got social teams, but now we need a creator function because we have to find a way to monetize more.”
That’s the shift. Brands aren’t just posting anymore. They’re building entire functions around the people who drive the purchase. And women of color have been building communities and driving culture online long before brands had a budget line for it. Now the budget is catching up, and we should be the ones selling it, shaping it, and getting paid from it.
Selling the Game: Sports, the Next Billion-Dollar Frontier
Sports have always been big business, but this conversation made it clear how much of the next wave of growth sits in the spaces women of color are already shaping, from fandom to culture to partnerships. I’ve worked on brand activations at events like NBA All-Star Weekend and the Super Bowl, and I know firsthand the level of skill it takes to execute at that scale. We’re not new to this arena.
My takeaway: the fans are already here, and so is the talent. The opportunity is to make sure the people who understand the culture are the ones in the room when partnership deals are made.
The State of Sistas in Sales: What We Built, What’s Next
This session was a moment to take stock. Look at what this community has built. Look at the careers, promotions, businesses, and network. And then look ahead, because the work isn’t finished. Building something lasting means making sure women of color aren’t just recruited in a good year and forgotten in a tight one.
My takeaway: nine years of receipts is its own business case. The next chapter is about maintaining that momentum when the market gets tight, because that’s when commitment is actually tested.
My Favorite: From Visibility to Revenue: Build a Personal Brand That Sells
This was the one for me. Visibility is the starting point, not the finish line. A personal brand isn’t about being seen. It’s about being known for something specific enough that people pay for it.
As a producer, my job has always been to be invisible. The client owns the stage, and if I do my job right, nobody notices I was there. Sitting in this session, I realized that invisibility has been costing me.
Stacie Selise Shannon’s 4S framework (Support, Strive, Standards, Success) is what made it click. Your brand should be doing some of the selling before you ever walk into the room.
I ran my own profile through it and realized I’d been telling two stories when it’s really one: 14 years on the delivery side of brand marketing, and now selling the media partnerships that fund that work. My experience isn’t just a résumé. It’s proof of value, and I’m learning to tell that story on purpose.
Closing Keynote: Eva Marcille in Conversation with Chantel George
What a way to close. Eva Marcille, actress, entrepreneur, and founder of Sunflower by Eva, got real about what success actually costs. When Chantel asked her about the highest price she’s paid for her career, her answer was one word: loneliness. As Her Agenda reported, she reminded the room that “your comfort isn’t necessarily your destiny.”
But she didn’t leave us there. She brought it back to faith:
“God has what we need. And so when you just sit for one second on your road to what you want… God will take you to what you need.”
Eva Marcille
After a full day of pipeline, AI, and revenue strategy, that was the reminder I didn’t know I needed. We can plan, build, and sell our way forward, but sometimes the next step is trusting the path.
Being seen was never the goal. Being valued is. Value looks like budgets, contracts, promotions, equity, and leadership roles that don’t disappear when the news cycle moves on. And that’s exactly what this summit delivers. Women get jobs. Contracts happen. And most importantly, connections are made. As summit host Dorissa White, journalist, speaker, and moderator, said it plainly: “You definitely leave with something.”
Many thanks and praises to Chantel George and the Sistas in Sales team for building a room where women in sales get seen, and to Stacie Selise Shannon for a framework I put to work right away. Women of color aren’t a moment in sales. We’re the evolution of it. We’ve been driving growth all along, and the Sistas in Sales Summit was a room full of receipts.
Keep up with what SIS is up to next at sistasinsales.com and on Instagram at @sistasinsales.
