What a day in Seattle! Our On the Road event in the Emerald City brought together women leaders for an afternoon of engaging and informative conversations about building businesses, navigating change, and making time to learn from one another. Throughout the program, attendees explored questions so many leaders are facing: Where should they focus their energy? How do they prepare their teams for what’s next? What do they need to approach differently to move their businesses forward?

To start the day, I had the opportunity to interview Sarah Hardy, co-founder of Bobbie, to explore her journey from Airbnb to entrepreneurship. Our conversation focused on challenging conventional wisdom, making difficult tradeoffs, and keeping a company’s mission and culture at the center of its growth.

Those questions extend well beyond entrepreneurship. As organizations grow, leaders have to decide what to preserve, what to change, and when to question an established way of doing things. Sarah’s session offered an opportunity to consider how a company’s purpose can guide those decisions — and how leaders can keep that purpose connected to the everyday experience of their teams.

Julie Averill, CEO and chief impact officer of Gold Thread, addressed another pressing leadership challenge: turning artificial intelligence ambitions into real business impact. Drawing on 30 years in technology leadership, including eight years as CIO of lululemon, Julie explored why AI initiatives stall and the work needed across data, technology, people and processes to move them forward.

With so much pressure to move quickly on AI, the session brought attention to the organizational readiness behind successful execution. For retail leaders, that means considering how teams will use the technology, which business problems it should address, and what needs to be in place to support meaningful results.

The Leading With Impact panel concluded the day, and it featured Mimi Swain, chief marketing officer and commercial growth leader at Amazon Devices & Services; Kim Waldmann, chief commercial officer at REI; and Angie Callaway, vice president and general manager of Global Nike Stores, Nike. The panel, moderated by Amber Jackson, CEO of Hype & Harvest, explored setting priorities, developing talent, and making tough decisions through constant change.

Furthermore, the closing session brought together perspectives from three different businesses around a shared set of leadership responsibilities. How do you determine what deserves your attention when everything feels important? How do you help people develop while meeting the demands of the business? And how do you recognize when it’s time to let something go? These are the kinds of questions that make hearing from peers so valuable.

Beyond the sessions, the event created space to step away from daily responsibilities and connect with women who understand the demands of leadership. That’s why these gatherings matter to us. We want attendees to leave with useful insights and relationships they can continue to build long after an event ends.

Thank you to our speakers for sharing their experiences; our partners Afterpay, ServiceNow, and Klayvio for supporting the program; and everyone who joined us in Seattle!