Women on the Rise International, Inc. August Meeting
Description
🌟 Women on the Rise International, Inc. August 2026 Meeting
Entrepreneurship Showcase: Built With Intention
Behind every business is a story, a vision, and a woman who chose to build with purpose.
This August, we celebrate the power of entrepreneurship and the women who are creating, growing, and sustaining businesses with intention. This is a reflection of what happens when vision meets action and purpose turns into something tangible.
This evening will highlight women who are not just building businesses, but building legacies rooted in clarity, strategy, and authenticity. From early ideas to established brands, each journey represents the courage to start, the discipline to continue, and the intention to build something meaningful.
Together, we will explore what it truly means to create with purpose, move with strategy, and grow in alignment with your values.
📅 Date: Monday, August 24th
⏰ Time: 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
📍 Location: The Conduit, 1001 N Orange Ave, Orlando, FL 32801, USA
🅿️ Parking: Free parking is available at the venue.
Our monthly meetings are a cornerstone of the WOTR community. They are designed to bring women together for meaningful connection, shared learning, and inspiration, while creating space to learn more about our mission and the programs we offer to empower women across Central Florida.
🎟️ Register Today! Non-members and Unity Members can attend with a $39 donation. Visionary and Legacy Members enjoy complimentary access.
Get ready for an evening filled with enriching conversations and genuine connection. We're all about fostering a family-friendly atmosphere, so feel free to bring your children along! A delightful dinner will also be provided to make your experience even more enjoyable.
🚨Reserve Your Spot Now!
Tickets must be purchased online in advance and will not be available at the door. Space is limited, and this event is expected to fill up fast. Secure your ticket today and join us for an unforgettable experience!
Interested in showcasing your business? Select the Meeting Sponsor option during registration to present your services with a 15-minute spotlight to our esteemed members.
Guest Speaker
Sam Ghanem
Fractional CMO & Founder, SG INK | TEDx Speaker Sam Ghanem is a Founder, branding expert, executive strategist, TEDx Speaker, and Stand-up Comedian with 25 years in the printing, branding, marketing, and messaging industries. Her TEDx Talk, "It's Contagious | The Way You Treat Yourself Spreads," explores congruence, brand embodiment, and the human cost of living out of alignment with one's authentic self. Sam specializes in brand embodiment and helping high performers close the gap between external success and internal fulfillment. She holds a Master of International Business Administration (MIBA) and a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), and has worked with brands including Lockheed Martin, Danaher, IBM, Carrier, and Thermo Fisher. In the last year alone, she has appeared on 100+ stages as a keynote speaker, comedian, emcee, and TEDx speaker. Sam is the Founder of SG INK, a printing, branding, and marketing agency, and serves as a Fractional CMO, speaker, and emcee through her personal brand, IASG. A South Florida native, she recently relocated to Orlando to grow her brands.
Entrepreneurship Showcase Lineup
Melyssa Allen
Founder & CEO | Melyssa with a WHY, LLC About Melyssa: Melyssa Allen, MA, NBC-HWC, DipACLM, is a double board-certified lifestyle medicine coach with over 15 years of experience in behavior modification. She received her Bachelors in both Biology and Psychology, along with her Masters in Clinical Psychology from the University of Central Florida (Go Knights, Charge On!). Author and podcast host of Healthy Living Doesn’t Have to SUCK, Melyssa is passionate about guiding individuals, companies, and communities towards lasting positive health habits. Melyssa with a WHY, LLC is a lifestyle medicine coaching, speaking, and wellness brand led by Melyssa Allen — a double board-certified lifestyle medicine coach, keynote speaker, and bestselling author of Healthy Living Doesn't Have to SUCK. Through keynotes, employee health and well-being programs, size inclusive fitness experiences, and her behavior-based coaching community, she helps teams and individuals build health promoting habits that last — through a values-based approach emphasizing empowerment and enjoyment. Because when we change our habits, we can change our lives...and when we change our lives, we can change the world! About Melyssa with a WHY, LLC: Melyssa with a WHY, LLC is a lifestyle medicine coaching, speaking, and wellness brand led by Melyssa Allen — a double board-certified lifestyle medicine coach, keynote speaker, and bestselling author of Healthy Living Doesn't Have to SUCK. Through keynotes, employee health and well-being programs, size inclusive fitness experiences, and her behavior-based coaching community, she helps teams and individuals build health promoting habits that last — through a values-based approach emphasizing empowerment and enjoyment. Because when we change our habits, we can change our lives...and when we change our lives, we can change the world!
Shameka Allen-Lane
Principal Event Scientist | Catalyst Event Coaching About Shameka: Shameka Allen-Lane, CMP, is the Founder and Principal Event Scientist of Catalyst Event Coaching, where she helps organizations transform complex events into strategic, impactful experiences. With more than 15 years of experience managing over 1,200 events, she specializes in event strategy, training, consulting, and management for nonprofits, associations, and growing businesses. She is also the host of the upcoming *Catalyst Event Lounge* podcast, launching this fall, where industry leaders explore the science behind successful events and the impact they create. About Catalyst Event Coaching: Catalyst Event Coaching helps nonprofits, associations, and growing organizations create events with purpose through coaching, consulting, training, and full-service event management. Our signature approach, *The Science of Events*, combines proven systems, strategy, and execution to deliver measurable results and memorable attendee experiences. We're also excited to launch the *Catalyst Event Lounge* podcast this fall, taking a deep dive into the impact of events. We'd love for you to join us at our upcoming podcast launch celebration and connect with our growing community.
Maurita Sutton Brown
Owner & Chandler | Simply Maurita About Maurita: Dr. Maurita Sutton Brown is an accomplished Interior Designer, Life Coach, Author, Speaker, and Entrepreneur whose career spans more than 30 years of helping people transform both their environments and their lives. Holding a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design, an MBA in Global Business, and a PhD in Religious Fine Arts, Maurita has built a unique professional path that bridges the connection between the spaces we inhabit and the lives we live. As the owner of Designs By M, Maurita has designed residential and commercial spaces across multiple states, creating beautiful, functional environments that reflect the needs, lifestyles, and personalities of her clients. Since 2010, she has also coached women around the world, guiding them through life transitions, personal growth, leadership development, and purpose discovery through thought-provoking conversations and faith-centered encouragement. The combination of these two professions inspired Maurita to develop her signature concept, The Psychology of Home, the belief that our surroundings directly influence our emotions, behaviors, relationships, productivity, and overall well-being. Through this work, she helps individuals understand how intentional design can support mental clarity, emotional wellness, peace, and personal transformation. Maurita is also the creator of Simply Maurita, a collection of hand-curated home décor and lifestyle products designed to bring warmth, comfort, and beauty into everyday living. From artisan-inspired décor accents and wood bead collections to hand-poured soy candles and curated gift offerings, each piece reflects her belief that the smallest details can have the greatest impact on how a home feels. Maurita believes that home is more than a place; it is an experience. Whether she is redesigning a room, coaching a woman through a life transition, sharing Simply Maurita products, or speaking to audiences about personal growth, her mission remains the same: to help people create environments that nurture who they are and support who they are becoming. She is also the Founder and Director of HER Scholarship Fund, Inc., supporting young women pursuing higher education in the Arts & Fine Arts. "Her Home. Her Haven. When a woman's environment supports her peace, it empowers her life" ~Dr. Maurita Sutton Brown About Simply Maurita: I serve homes around the world with my home decor items! I hand make the wood bead decor items & hand pour my candle small batch collections! EST 2014. 32 years of Interior Design for homes and offices!
Samí Haiman-Marrero
Author and CEO | Becoming La Jefa About Samí: Samí Haiman-Marrero is a Puerto Rican strategist, entrepreneur, author, and award-winning communications professional with nearly three decades of experience helping organizations transform complex ideas into narratives that inspire action and build trust. Fed up with the unwritten rules that too often require women of color to shrink themselves to succeed, she wrote "Becoming La Jefa: The Angst and Joys of a Latina Carving Her Path in America", a real-life leadership case study on exercising agency, challenging expectations, and building a career on her own terms. As CEO of URBANDER, a strategic communications and consulting firm, and Founder of Verde Luz Ventures, a publishing and multimedia company, she is dedicated to helping organizations engage meaningfully with diverse communities while preserving the stories that deserve to be part of the cultural record. She also serves on nonprofit boards advancing the humanities, entrepreneurship, and opportunities for historically excluded communities. About Becoming La Jefa: In Becoming La Jefa, award-winning entrepreneur, speaker, and storyteller Samí Haiman-Marrero shares the deeply personal journey behind her success, navigating corporate America and entrepreneurship while also confronting identity, belonging, motherhood, and the expectations placed on Latina women. More than a memoir, this is a leadership journey. Through candid stories, hard-earned lessons, and moments of humor and heartbreak, you'll discover how to exercise agency, build trust, set boundaries, and create opportunities instead of waiting for them. Whether you're building a business, advancing your career, redefining your purpose, or simply trying to find your voice, Becoming La Jefa will challenge you to stop shrinking and start wielding your power.
Rose LeJiste
Chief Executive Officer | RL Engineering and Tech Solutions About Rose: Rose LeJiste is a nationally recognized technology and innovation leader, entrepreneur, and founder of RL Engineering and Tech Solutions, where she helps organizations transform operations through data strategy, AI adoption, and digital systems design. A former NASA engineering professional, Rose blends technical expertise with a passion for empowering organizations and communities. She has been honored as a Woman Who Means Business and a Leading Deeva in Tech, and frequently speaks on AI, digital transformation, and inclusive innovation. When she’s not advising clients, Rose enjoys exploring multicultural cuisines, supporting women in business, and building connected, innovative communities. About RL Engineering and Tech Solutions: RL Engineering and Tech Solutions empowers organizations to transform data into decisions and strategy into measurable impact. Our expertise spans artificial intelligence, data analytics, cybersecurity, business intelligence, process improvement, risk and compliance, and organizational performance. We partner with government agencies, nonprofits, healthcare organizations, and businesses to solve complex challenges, improve efficiency, and drive innovation. Through collaborative partnerships and forward-thinking solutions, we help our clients build resilient, high-performing organizations that are prepared for the future.
Lesline Pittman
Founder | The Breath Between Wellness Collective About Lesline: Lesline is a registered nurse with 12 years of healthcare experience, a certified yoga teacher, and the founder of Lesline Wellness LLC, where she helps women build sustainable health habits through her signature 3 P's framework — Pause, Physiology, Presence. Her work has earned her a four-figure corporate yoga contract, an all-expenses-paid opportunity teaching yoga aboard a cruise ship, and speaking engagements at wellness summits nationwide. Through daily content and a 12-week preventative health program, she teaches everyday women how to show up confidently in both their careers and their health — proving the two were never meant to compete. About The Breath Between Wellness Collective: Lesline helps women build sustainable health habits through her signature 3 P's framework — Pause, Physiology, Presence — delivered through yoga instruction and a 12-week preventative health program. She serves everyday women, particularly those balancing a corporate career while chasing their own ambitions of starting a business, who need practical tools to sustain their energy rather than run on empty. Her work has earned a four-figure corporate yoga contract, an all-expenses-paid yoga residency aboard a cruise ship, and speaking engagements at wellness summits nationwide — proof that this framework works in the real world, not just in theory. At its core, her business exists to show women that ambition and wellbeing were never meant to compete.
Ingrid Lamour
Speaker | Author | Cancer Thriver | Founder, Brave Woman Rise About Ingrid: Ingrid Lamour is a speaker, author, entrepreneur, and cancer thriver whose work centers on courage, identity, hope, and rebuilding after a life-changing health crisis. Through speaking and storytelling, Ingrid encourages women to rebuild with courage, reclaim what matters to them, and Do It Brave as they move forward after difficult and unexpected seasons. Business Bio: For the Entrepreneurial Showcase, I will highlight my work as a speaker and entrepreneur, along with products I have created, including Hair Growth by Lamour, which I developed during my own chemo journey, and Kremas by Lamour, a traditional Haitian coconut cream beverage.
Meredith Cook
CEO and Founder | Scentia Global Consulting About Meredith: Supply chain and operations consultant with 15+ years of experience leading strategic transformation across pharmaceuticals, medtech, healthcare, and manufacturing. Executive MBA with expertise in end-to-end supply chain optimization, operational excellence, stakeholder engagement, and delivering data-driven solutions that improve performance, reduce costs, and drive business value. Business Bio: Scentia Global Consulting helps organizations improve operational performance by streamlining processes, reducing costs, and implementing strategic solutions that drive sustainable growth. We partner with businesses to optimize procurement, strengthen project execution, and deliver measurable results through operational excellence, strategic planning, and business transformation.
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