It's About Doing The Work: Why You Need To Be At Power Up Conference on Women's Equality Day
Kendall Cherry, founder of The Candid Collective, is speaking at Take The Lead’s Power Up Conference 2026 on August 26.
By Kendall Cherry
A few months ago, I found myself sitting in an Uber next to Gloria Feldt.
If you're not familiar with Gloria, she's a legendary women's advocate who led Planned Parenthood through some of its most pivotal years and has spent decades helping women step into positions of power and influence.
She's also 84 years old.
And if you're picturing someone quietly winding down their career, let me stop you right there.
Gloria wears bold colors. Sparkly sneakers. Statement jewelry.
She has more energy than most people I know and possesses that rare combination of wisdom, conviction, and mischief that makes you want to pull your chair a little closer whenever she starts talking.
What we first met, what struck me most wasn't her résumé.
It was her strategy.
Because Gloria isn't interested in yelling from the rooftops.
She's uprooting systems from the inside out.
Sounds like someone else I know... 😉
Even more importantly, she's interested in helping women understand that they have the power to change systems, too.
A few months later, she invited me to speak at Take The Lead's Power Up Conference in Washington, D.C. this August, and the answer was just "yes."
It was HELL, YES.
The conference takes place around Women's Equality Day and features women from across industries who are actively reshaping the spaces they work inside every day.
When I asked Gloria why she felt this conference mattered right now, she shared something that has stayed with me:
Her goal wasn't to create another event where we gather in a room and agree that things should be different.
Then hop back on the plane home and wonder why nothing's changing.
Her goal was to bring together women who are already doing the work, so that we can be living examples of what this type of advocacy work looks like in 2026.
Women in business.
Women in healthcare.
Women in technology.
Women in education.
Women in media.
Because I don't think we need more "ra! ra! Burn your bra!" or f*ck the patriarchy's that fuel more anger, but not tangible progress.
It's about doing the work, in the day-to-day, even if you run your own business.
Which of course got me thinking about advocacy.
Because I think a lot of us assume advocacy belongs to someone else.
The activist.
The politician.
The nonprofit leader.
The person with the microphone.
But what if advocacy also looks like building a business differently?
What if it looks like creating jobs?
Paying women well?
Mentoring someone earlier in their career?
Refusing to participate in practices that harm people?
Ahem, sh*tty bro-y sales practices that feel icky.
Helping more money get back into the hands of women so they can use it to create good in their families, communities, and industries?
That's a huge part of why I care so deeply about writing + teaching about sales.
Not because I think everyone should become a salesperson.
But because I think more women should have the resources, influence, and financial leverage to bring their ideas into the world.
Ideas that actually help people through innovation and intention, not deepening the pockets of the ultra-rich who are more interested in a capitalistic circle jerk.
At the conference, I'll be teaching a brand-new session on how women leaders buy, sell, and make decisions in a rapidly changing world.
It's content I've never taught publicly before, and I've been patiently waiting for the perfect room to come along so that I could give it a spin in.
But more than that, I'm excited to be in a room full of people asking a question that feels increasingly important:
How do I create change from exactly where I am?
If you've been feeling the shift that's happening right now—personally, professionally, culturally—and you're trying to figure out how to contribute in your own corner of the world, I think you'd love this event.
And selfishly?
I'd love to meet you there.
One of the things I've challenged myself to do this year is become more visible beyond the page.
But some conversations deserve to happen in person.
And if nothing else, come meet Gloria.
Trust me on the sparkly sneakers.
Kendall Cherry is an author, founder and executive ghostwriter of The Candid Collective and a strategic storyteller.