By Lorraine Ball
For most of my career, I’ve been the only woman in the room. Heating and air conditioning. Oil field supply. Even the agency world where there were women owners, but the leadership tables were still pretty top-heavy male. I learned to hold my own. I learned to speak up. I learned not to wait for permission.
Don’t get me wrong, genuinely value the men I’ve worked with. I have smart, generous, talented male colleagues and friends. But sometimes I just want to be in a room full of women who get it.
Now that I’m podcasting full time, it is a familiar pattern. Conferences and meetups? Boys, boys, boys. Panels? Mostly guys. Networking events with a whole lot of swagger and not always a lot of depth.
Sure, I learn from these spaces and appreciate the people in them. But occasionally, I want to talk shop without explaining why something felt off. I want to swap stories with women who have navigated the same assumptions, interruptions, and quiet doubts that come with building something in a male dominated space.
I was sharing that frustration with two other women podcasters. I thought I was just venting. Turns out, they were feeling the exact same thing.
Conferences had gotten too big. Conversations are mostly surface level. And there’s definitely an overlay of bro attitude that made honest discussion harder.
We could have kept complaining. Instead, we decided to run an experiment.
We invited a small group of local women podcasters, each with at least 50 episodes under their belt to join us for a conversation. Not beginners. Not dabblers. Women who had shown up consistently, figured out the tech, found their voice, and survived the occasional episode that probably should have stayed in draft mode.
Our goal is simple. Keep it small. More meetup than conference. No stage. No keynote. No sponsors lurking nearby. Just smart women in a room sharing ideas.
We capped attendance intentionally and asked everyone to suggest topics for discussion. The afternoon is designed so we can vote on what matters most and dive deep instead of skimming across a long list of surface level conversations.
The event doesn’t happen until mid-March, and already the response has been incredible.
Sign-ups are coming in quickly. The topic list is longer than we can cover in four hours. Monetization, guest management, content repurposing, building real community, navigating sponsorships without feeling salesy. The energy is strong, and we have not even opened the door yet.
That is when it hit me. This is what I have needed all along.
Not another giant conference where I collect business cards and tote bags. A tribe. A group of peers who understand the work, the doubts, the wins, and the weirdness of this industry.
Why you should do this too!
Whether you are a woman business owner, entrepreneur, creative, or podcaster, there is a group of people who belong in your tribe. Your job is to find them or build the tribe yourself.
When you gather with the right people, powerful things happen.
The conversation goes deeper, faster. You move past small talk and get to the real questions. What is working? What flopped? What are you afraid to try? What numbers are you willing to share?
You borrow confidence. On the days when you are doubting yourself, someone across the table reminds you of what you are doing well. That kind of encouragement changes how you show up.
Your perspective expands. In a curated group of peers, everyone is experimenting with different formats, pricing models, and marketing approaches. You see possibilities sooner and avoid mistakes you might have made alone.
Collaboration becomes natural. Guest swaps, joint workshops, referrals, and partnerships emerge organically because trust already exists.
And maybe most important, you feel less alone you share your thoughts, feelings or doubts and someone across the table says, “Yes. Me too.”
As we look ahead to our March gathering, I already know this is not a one and done. The interest is too strong and the need too real. I can see this becoming a regular event, a standing date where we sharpen each other instead of competing.
If you are waiting for someone else to create that space for you, stop.
Look around your market. Who do you want to spend time with? Who do you want to learn from? Who challenges you in a way that makes you better, not smaller? Who feels safe enough that you can admit you do not have it all figured out?
Make a list.
Invite five people to coffee. Or ten to a living room. Keep it small, focused, and honest.
You do not need a ballroom. You need the right table.
Lorraine Ball is an entrepreneur, author, speaker, and the voice behind More than a Few Words a marketing podcast. She brings big ideas down to earth with practical tips, a dash of humor, and a whole lot of real-world experience.
From her days in corporate boardrooms to running her own business, Lorraine has seen what works—and what doesn’t. Her style is smart, approachable, and straight to the point, giving listeners the insight and inspiration they need to take action.
