Women In Power, created by Heidi Kuker and Peyton Fullerton, has made a mark in the Denver networking scene for women in various situations. The duo saw the lack of networking events to connect women in business and devised to create their own events to fit the spot.
Kuker, a realtor with Porchlight Group, and Fullerton, a mortgage lender with Fairway Mortgages, found that men specifically had an abundance of networking and speaking events to further business ventures and connect others in business. And even though these events weren’t opposed to having women attend, they very much have an air of a “boys club” and are not the most welcoming to their female counterparts.
Peyton Fullerton and Heidi Kuker. Photo Courtesy of Women in Power.
“I just felt like that space specifically is really lacking. That’s why we did this and why we have such a sophisticated approach to it because we want it to be a place where you can come and focus on yourself and your business and not worry about your outside responsibilities. You’re literally just here to focus on yourself, focus on your business and focus on being able to create the life that you want,” stated Kuker.
This is the second year the Women In Power events have been hosted. The upcoming event will be the third iteration as the events are held every six months. The first event was a more general networking experience with various speakers and multiple vendors. The second event honed in on the financial sector and building the foundations of financial success. This upcoming experience will be focused on money management and wealth creation through avenues of real estate.
Each Women In Power event features female speakers who are successful in their field. Each speaker is given the chance to talk about their personal experience in building their career, advice on how to further build yours and chances to network with attendees.
The best part about attending Women In Power events? You are also raising funds for a great cause. Women In Power has teamed up with Girls Inc. to support the nonprofit’s mission of aiding girls in education, building management skills and breaking the cycles of poverty. With every ticket sold to the networking and speaking events, Women In Power donates a portion of the profits to Girls Inc. Within the last event alone, Women In Power was able to donate around $3,000 to Girls Inc. and send 20 girls on college tours across the state of Colorado.
The ticket price of the Women In Power experience includes a ticket into a raffle prize drawing, a cover for food and drink and a free headshot to up your business game. Attendees are also given the chance to donate themselves directly to the organization throughout the events while also getting more entrances to the raffle.
Following the events, Kuker and Fullerton gather feedback from attendees about their experience, how to improve the events and what they gained from it all. This allows Kuker and Fullerton to continue to tailor Women In Power to the needs of local women, building even better experiences.
Even if you are not a woman, femme or in the LGBTQ+ community, you are welcome to attend. In fact, it is almost encouraged for men to attend and support the Women In Power events.
“We also want to remind people [that this] event is fully inclusive. Anyone who supports women supporting women is welcome at these events,” Kuker explained. “This is a really great event to meet a lot of [different] people and to meet people like life coaches, and [people of] all walks of life, all women who own businesses.”
Fullerton explained how the events bring women together in a unique way and stated, “just growing this diverse network of successful women, whether they’re a very seasoned entrepreneur or someone who’s just trying out and starting in a new industry or a stay-at-home mom who just wants to take more control of her finances, it could be all kinds of things. I think that the web is so important in just growing our overall self-worth and our ability to determine our own choices is just truly empowering. You walk out of these events and you can feel the difference. It’s hard to explain. It’s a very uplifting event and it is just inspiring and motivational.”
As for Women In Power’s future? Kuker and Fullerton want the events to grow in capacity and later hopefully lead to mentorship programs, membership groups and more. Right now the pair aim to spread the message of inclusivity to continue to empower women, build new relationships and have fun.
The upcoming Women In Power event will be held on May 18 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Void Studios, which is located at 1790 S. Bannock St., Denver. Click here to purchase tickets for $15 to $32.
All photography courtesy of Women In Power.