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With a serious, yet humorous tone, Carol Gardner kick-started the conference by sharing her success story of going from a broke, divorcee to a successful and happy card creator, all with the help of her dog Zelda. She told women that when it comes to life, they should be daring, smart and different.
Kathy McClure told Action News, "I know there is light at the end of the tunnel like she said and she just inspired me to keep going and we can all be successful no matter where we come from, no matter how much money we have, no matter where we come from, no matter what we look like."
This year the marked the 25th anniversary of the event, which was started by the late state senator Ken Maddy of Fresno.
CCWC Development & Marketing Director Jan Edwards said, "The mission has always been empowerment of women, information is power."
Besides listening to various speakers women also got the chance to come to Valdez Hall where they got to visit more than 150 booths, socialize and learn important lessons.
"I take away a lot of knowledge from different health, besides the goodies here, I'm more interested in what's out there," Mary Ellen Aguirre said. "This year, I'm looking into social security."
Aguirre says the conference help women realize it is important to take care of themselves - physically and mentally.
"It's just good to hear other women and the struggles they've gone through and to know you are not alone," Aguirre said. "It's that sisterhood of support that I always feel that I get."
