What happens when a room full of accomplished women chooses collaboration over competition?
I had the opportunity to find out firsthand while covering the GTM Women Voices Awards – U.S. Edition in New York City for Warrior Women in Business.
Held at The Knickerbocker Hotel, the event brought together women in business and technology who are making bold decisions, driving growth, leading teams, and helping move the go-to-market community forward.
But while the awards celebrated professional achievement, that wasn’t the only story I took away from the evening.
What stayed with me was the generosity between the women in the room.
The Real Power Was in the Connections
Awards naturally create moments of recognition. Names are announced, accomplishments are celebrated, photographs are taken, and careers are highlighted.
But the conversations happening between those moments can be just as meaningful.
I watched women congratulate one another genuinely. I saw executives exchanging ideas, sharing experiences, and talking about subjects that go far beyond business metrics—including leadership, family, career decisions, personal challenges, and the realities of building a meaningful life while pursuing ambitious goals.
There was no sense that one woman’s success had to come at another woman’s expense.
Instead, there was curiosity.
There was encouragement.
There was room to connect.
That matters because a strong professional network isn’t simply a collection of impressive titles. It is a community of people willing to open doors, share knowledge, make introductions, and encourage one another to keep moving forward.
Celebrating Women Who Create Business Results
The GTM Women Voices Awards also highlighted something that deserves more attention: women are driving measurable business growth.
Revenue leadership requires more than a great idea. It requires strategy, execution, customer understanding, resilience, and the ability to lead people toward a common objective.
The evening at The Knickerbocker Hotel brought together an impressive group of women who are building, leading, making bold decisions, and moving GTM forward.
And, of course, we celebrated the women whose accomplishments earned them this year’s recognition.
🏆 Kathleen Booth, VP of Marketing at Sequel.io
🏆 Cheryl Wolf, Enterprise Marketing & Marketing Engineering at Vercel
🏆 Andrea Kayal, CRO at Help Scout
These women represent the type of leadership that deserves to be visible—not simply because of the positions they hold, but because of the business impact and momentum they are helping create.
A Special Power of the Move Award
One recognition that particularly stood out was the Power of the Move Award, presented by Julia Goelles, Founder of Women of SaaS, to:
🏆 Christine Royston, CMO at Wrike
The award celebrates leaders who make high-impact decisions—decisions that move their companies, their markets, and the people around them.
The women recognized at this event represent that kind of leadership.
They are helping organizations grow. They are influencing markets. They are building teams and relationships. They are creating opportunities and contributing directly to business performance.
And when those achievements are visible, they become more than individual accomplishments.
They become examples.
A woman entering technology, sales, entrepreneurship, or executive leadership can look at another woman succeeding in that space and recognize that the path is possible.
That visibility can change ambition.
Celebrating the People Behind the Evening
An event like this doesn’t happen without people who are willing to bring the vision to life.
A special thank you to our host, Nelly Kalakhan, VP Sales at N.Rich, for leading the evening with such warmth, energy, and enthusiasm.
And thank you to the incredible partners who helped make the U.S. Edition possible:
- Pavilion
- Women of SaaS
- Reachdesk
- Scratch Marketing + Media
Their support helped bring the event together and strengthen the mission behind GTM Women Voices—creating greater visibility for women who are shaping business, technology, revenue, and leadership.
Success Becomes More Powerful When It Is Shared
One of the most meaningful parts of the evening was seeing accomplished women remain genuinely interested in the journeys of others.
I experienced that personally.
As an entrepreneur, media founder, executive branding leader, and artist, I had the opportunity to share parts of my own story with women I had only just met.
They listened.
They asked questions.
They shared their own experiences.
And they encouraged me.
Those interactions reminded me that support doesn’t always require a major gesture.
Sometimes it is a conversation.
Sometimes it is an introduction.
Sometimes it is recommending another woman’s business.
Sometimes it is simply telling someone, “Keep going. I believe in what you’re building.”
Those moments can have an impact long after the event ends.
This Is What Warrior Women in Business Is About
For Warrior Women in Business, stories like this matter because our mission isn’t simply to showcase women who have already achieved success.
We want to explore how women create success—and how they help other women create it too.
Through our media coverage, podcast, events, and community, we have the opportunity to highlight women who are building companies, leading organizations, creating art, developing new ideas, and making their voices heard.
But visibility becomes even more meaningful when it encourages someone else to step forward.
Who are you supporting?
That is a question every leader should consider.
Your impact isn’t limited to the revenue you generate or the title on your business card. It can also be measured by the people you mentor, the opportunities you share, the voices you amplify, and the doors you help someone else walk through.
An Evening Worth Remembering
The Knickerbocker Hotel provided an elegant setting for the celebration, with an atmosphere that made the evening feel special from beginning to end.
But ultimately, the venue wasn’t what made the experience memorable.
The people did.
The conversations.
The congratulations.
The introductions.
The stories.
The encouragement.
And the feeling that everyone in the room had something valuable to contribute.
That is what makes a strong business community powerful.
My Biggest Takeaway
I arrived at the GTM Women Voices Awards prepared to report on accomplished women and their professional achievements.
I left thinking about leadership in a broader way.
The most influential women aren’t only focused on how high they can climb. They’re also thinking about who they can bring with them.
That is the kind of leadership worth celebrating.
Congratulations to the GTM Women Voices Awards U.S. Edition winners and to every woman who contributed to the positive energy in that room.
Keep celebrating one another.
Keep making introductions.
Keep sharing what you’ve learned.
Keep creating space.
Because when women support women, professional success becomes more than an individual achievement—it becomes momentum that can move an entire generation forward.
Continue the Conversation
Who is one woman in your professional community who has helped you grow—and how can you pay that support forward?
Share her story in the comments, tag her if appropriate, and let’s keep the conversation about women supporting women going.
Learn more about Warrior Women in Business: www.warriorwomenbusiness.com
