A workshop at InspireCon 2022 has left a big impression on entrepreneur Michelle White.

Ms White, the principal director and owner of Executemps, the immigration consultancy and administration services company, was initially hesitant to attend the event presented by the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation in partnership with New York-based Driven Society.

She said: “To be honest, I wasn’t going to go because I thought it was for the young folk. But then I thought, ‘What have I got to lose? Maybe the young folk can teach me something’.

“I was blown away at the end of the day.”

American entrepreneurs Arianna Rose and Soleil Laurent, founders of The Equality Education, shared their journey of establishing their business to help to transform limiting beliefs into empowering ones.

Ms White said: “I call them the dynamic duo. They finish each other’s sentences; they were slamming.”

She took part in an element of their workshop, standing in front of the audience to state her affirmation into a mirror.

Ms White said: “I actually volunteered not knowing what I was volunteering for. The overall lesson was about transformation and self-affirmation.

“I don’t know if you talk to yourself in a mirror, but I don’t. It was very powerful, and you felt the message.”

Ms White said her message was about “finding time for myself; I am an entrepreneur, and I work from sunrise to sunset.

“The takeaway from that is I am carving out little pieces of time right now until I get to the point where I can structure it.”

InspireCon also featured presentations by Songe LaRon, who left a desk job as a corporate lawyer to create booking software for the United States’ 109,000 barbershops; and entertainment executive Brandon Pankey, founder of Artist Presented Experiences, a new video network dedicated to programming curated for and by music artists.

Afterwards, Ms White said, she connected with all of the presenters on LinkedIn so that she can follow their journey.

She added: “That is how impactful the entire workshop was.”

Jamillah Lodge, communication and development director at the BEDC, said: “The BEDC partnered with Driven Society in 2019 to bring the first InspireCon to Bermuda. This event was received with rave reviews, then Covid happened and as a result we were forced online for two years.

“We were so thrilled to be able to bring InspireCon back to Bermuda in person this year. InspireCon creates opportunities for Bermudian entrepreneurs to network and share with young entrepreneurs from the US to encourage them to think big and dream bigger.”

InspireCon was part of the BEDC’s Global Entrepreneurship Week activities.