
Central Florida SCORE Presents
Empower Women In Business
Fourth Annual Symposium
Friday, September 17, 2021
8:00AM - Noon
Catapult Lakeland
502 E Main St, Lakeland FL
Individuals - $40
Our 2019 event was a huge success with over 150 powerful, professional women in business.
Single admission are available now and are projected to sell out quickly! Don't miss your opportunity to attend and Secure Your Spot Today!
Our lineup of insightful and inspiring women speakers will empower you, motivate you, encourage you and enable you to break barriers in your business and career.
Hear first-hand the challenges and successes from powerful women in business leadership roles.
Network with other professional women, building your confidence toward leadership and experience different styles and practices.
Event Registration & Pricing
individual registration
Register yourself to attend the event.
$40
per person

Emily Rogers
Emily Rogers Consulting + Coaching
Meet Your Keynote Speaker
Emily Rogers Emily graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a master’s degree in Reading & Language Arts. She later earned a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from the University of South Florida.
Emily helps businesses and individuals grow and realize their full potential in purposeful and balanced ways. Prior to starting her business in 2013, as President & Chief Growth officer of IEG, (a WPP company) she advised Fortune 100 brands, professional sports teams, entertainment properties and global nonprofits on how to form mutually beneficial strategic alliances. Described by The Ledger as bringing a "fresh face to leadership", Emily authors a column intended to inspire leadership excellence.
Emily’s presentation will be on Women Are Already Empowered, What They Need to Succeed.

Nerissa Lamison
HCC Digital TV, Radio Film & Media Production
Meet Your EMCEE
Nerissa Lamison is the Department Chair and Faculty member of Hillsborough Community College's Digital TV, Radio, Film and Media Production Program. A graduate of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism in New York City, Nerissa spent 16 years in the television news business before teaching at Hillsborough Community College.
Nerissa got her start in the broadcast industry as an intern at CNN Business News in New York. She went on to work as a reporter/anchor for the Sarasota News Network, WFMZ-TV in Allentown, Pennsylvania, WFLA-TV News Channel 8 and WTVT Fox 13 Good Day Tampa Bay in Tampa.
Meet Your Workshop-Entrepreneur

Kate Lake
Owner/Founder, My Office & More
Kate Lake got a bachelor’s degree from Robert Morris University with a double major of accounting and business information systems. That enabled her to start out as a computer programmer and eventually rise up in the small business world as a chief financial officer.
In 2015, she founded My Office & More to help business owners create a physical presence for their businesses without suffering from hefty overhead costs.
Kate’s presentation will be on The Making of An Entrepreneur.
Get To Know Your Panel

Doris Moore Bailey
The Bailey Group
Doris More Bailey is a Polk County trailblazer in talk radio, as executive producer & host of Update, now ‘Our Voices’ for 28 years on WLKF TALK 1430AM and simulcast on 96.7FM, Lakeland. This June, she celebrated her 29th year on air.
On May 10, 2019, she established The African American Chamber of Commerce Polk County, Inc; in February helped establish the African American Historical Museum of Lakeland, spearheading the Polk County Democratic Black Caucus

Sherrita Denson
Chocolate Covered
Sherrita Denson earned her MBA and Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Saint Leo University. She is pursuing a Doctoral degree at Southeastern University, with a focus on Strategic Leadership.
Sherrita is the Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Homeless Coalition of Polk County, and by night, she is an entrepreneur having established Chocolate Covered at Catapult Lakeland.
Also, as the owner of Firm Foundation Consulting, Sherrita knows that with a stable and secure foundation, any goal can be attained.

Stacye Jones
Simply Creative Designing
Stacye Jones achieved her Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design, and another BFA in Fine Arts Drawing from New World School of the Arts — the Fine Arts Division of the University of Florida. Stacye is a talented Creator, Design Mogul, Fine Artist, Children's Book Author + Illustrator, Branding Innovator, Mentor, and Businesswoman who provides simplistic, sophisticated Visual Branding within her industry.
As founder of Simply Creative Designing Inc., she has collaborated with celebrity brands such as Yandy Harris Smith, Cyn Santana, Rapper Future Hendricks, Milano Di Rouge, NFL’s Arron Gordon, Maurkice Pouncey, Greg Jennings, Tracy and Alonzo Mourning’s Honey Shine Inc., Fossil, Budweiser, and more.

Gretchen Suárez-Peña
Playwright at Plays By Gretchen
Gretchen Suárez-Peña is a Puerto Rican engineer and playwright living in Bartow, Florida. She received her Bachelor's in Civil Engineering from USF in 2009 and her Master's in Engineering from UF in 2011. As a playwright, her musical, Melina: A Steampunk Musical Tragedy, was an official selection of the 2020 Atlanta Musical Theatre Festival.
Other successes include winning the writer's grant and best play at the Inaugural Be Original Festival 2019 in Orlando, Florida for her play Trafficked. Also, winning the best full-length play at the 2018 Tampa Bay Theatre Festival for her show Conversations in the Car and first prize for her piece Dry Spell at the 30 by Ninety Theatre 2018 Night of One Acts Competition in Mandeville, Louisiana.
Her short play, The Arithmetic of Memory, has been produced in New York, Illinois, and Florida, and has been selected for publication in the Stonecoast Review, a literary arts journal edited by students and alumni of the University of Southern Maine. Career.

Nicole Ramer
Organized Haven
Nicole Ramer is a Professional Organizer and Certified Senior Move Manager® and the founder of Organized Haven, a full-service moving, downsizing, and estate clearing company. She and her team have been serving the Polk County / Central Florida area since 2013, assisting seniors and their families with the emotional and physical challenges of decluttering, downsizing, and moving, or aging-in-place.
Nicole started her business as a one-woman home and office organizing company. She grew it into a multi-person business and found her niche in managing moves for seniors within 3 years of startup.
Organized Haven is now NASMM A+ Accredited and employs a team of professional organizers, senior move managers, and movers. As fully trained members of the National Association of Senior & Specialty Move Managers (NASMM) and the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO), the team has advanced knowledge of their industry.
Event Schedule
Time | Activity |
---|---|
8:00 AM | Door open for registration, breakfast and networking |
8:30 AM | Opening Remarks & Introductions |
8:45 AM | |
9:15 AM | |
9:30 AM |
Break |
9:45 AM |
The Making of an Entrepreneur |
10:30 AM |
Break |
10:40 AM | |
11:20 AM |
Closing Remarks; Door Prize |
11:30AM |
Networking Opportunity |
12:00 NOON |
Symposium Adjourned. Enjoy Your Day! |
About Central Florida SCORE


SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to helping small businesses get off the ground, grow and achieve their goals through education and mentorship. We have been doing this for more than 50 years.
Because our work is supported by the U.S. Small Business Administration, and thanks to our network of 10,000+ volunteers, we are able to deliver our services at no charge or at a very low cost.
Find out more about our mission, vision and values by clicking here.

Funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.
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