Ladies “Know Your Value”

GAYLE KING

Photo Credit: Merle Davis

HARTFORD, CT – The first “Know Your Value” conference lived up to all expectations with the mission to inspire “Women Taking It to the Next Level”. Over 300 women packed the Hartford Marriot for an afternoon of empowerment.

One of the conference highlights (there were many) was the “conversation with Gayle King” and that is exactly what it was. King was bright, bubbly and very real in every aspect of her chat. She clearly has an ability to identify with every woman because that is exactly who she is, albeit a very successful one.

King has plenty of history in Hartford. In her own words, “I got married here, I had kids here, I got a divorce here.” For 18 years she was a familiar face to TV viewers as a news anchor at WFSB. She recalls her time in Hartford fondly and still comes to the area regularly. She stayed connected to many of the same folks she had relationships with early on.

She proudly shared her age with the audience, 59. “I feel great.” she says. “I feel that when you get to whatever age you are and you feel good about yourself, you look good, you should shout it from the rooftop.”

King divulged some advise Maya Angelou gave her about success. “Success is liking who you are, liking what you do and liking how you do it. Also, success is one step closer to women’s liberation.”

Do you want to know what successful women do? According to King, “Put one step in front of the other, do the work, be persistent.” She also gets up at 3:30 in the morning!

Melissa Crawford from Bloomfield was happy to have attended the conference she said, “I have a new position at my job and this is going to empower me to do the things I need to do to go even further.”

Writer’s Note: The “Know Your Value” conference held it’s opening session on the same day as the close of the history making career of Barbara Walters. Walters’ is a television broadcast pioneer who has endured it all. She was the “first” which is never easy. Male co-anchors did not feel woman were capable of delivering the news, some were openly hostile. The way she spoke and the way she looked was the punch line of jokes for decades. She never gave in, she never gave up. Clearly, she “knew her value”.