BAD ASS BITCHES Was Too Much for the Hotel Sign
Last week at DynamicsCon, we hosted a session called: BAD ASS BITCHES. Well… sort of.
Because apparently the hotel didn’t love the title as much as we did.
So outside the room, the session title was censored on the event screen.
Honestly?
That made the whole thing feel even more fitting.
Because that’s kind of the point, isn’t it?
Women in tech are constantly navigating the line between being respected and being “too much.”
Too loud.
Too ambitious.
Too direct.
Too opinionated.
Too emotional.
Too confident.
Too visible.
So the irony of a session about power, confidence, voice, and owning your space getting partially censored before people even walked into the room?
Incredible.
And maybe a little symbolic.
But the reason the room reacted the way it did had nothing to do with the title.
It was because women are exhausted from pretending they only want polished, professional, surface-level conversations about leadership.
What happened in that room wasn’t corporate empowerment theater.
It was honesty.
Julie Yack talked about growing up believing her role in life was simply to survive. About realizing later that she had choices. About how one person believing in you can completely rewrite the expectations you have for yourself.
Ashley Steiner talked about learning the difference between being loud and being powerful. About carrying defensiveness into your career because the world teaches women early that visibility can be dangerous. About learning how to use your voice to bring people in instead of armor yourself from them.
And I talked about something I think a lot of women quietly experience:
the moment you realize no one is coming to hand you permission.
Not the promotion.
Not the platform.
Not the confidence.
Not the room.
At some point, you have to decide to choose yourself publicly.
And honestly?
That’s where things get uncomfortable.
Because confidence isn’t a personality trait.
It’s usually just a series of decisions people made while scared.
The women who seem fearless?
Most of them are just practiced.
What stayed with me most after the session wasn’t the applause.
It was the line afterward.
Women waiting to talk.
Women sharing stories they hadn’t said out loud before.
Women admitting they felt stuck.
Women admitting they wanted more.
Women asking how to find mentors.
Women trying to figure out how to stop shrinking themselves in rooms they already earned access to.
And I keep thinking: Okay. So what now?
Because I don’t think women in tech need another inspirational LinkedIn graphic telling them to “know their worth.”
I think we need infrastructure.
Real mentorship.
Real community.
Real rooms.
Real access.
Real conversations.
Real advocacy when someone’s name comes up in a room they aren’t in.
We need spaces where women can ask:
How did you negotiate that?
How did you leave that toxic role?
How did you ask for the promotion?
How did you become a speaker?
How did you stop caring if people thought you were “too much”?
How did you rebuild your confidence after getting torn down?
And we need answers that aren’t sanitized.
Because the truth is:
a lot of career growth is messy.
Sometimes ambition costs you relationships.
Sometimes growth means leaving rooms you worked hard to get into.
Sometimes visibility attracts criticism.
Sometimes the thing holding you back isn’t skill — it’s conditioning.
And awareness changes everything.
So now the bigger question becomes:
what does this community actually want from this movement moving forward?
More candid panels?
Mentorship matching?
Executive circles?
Speed networking?
Smaller meetups?
Private online spaces?
Career workshops?
Cross-generational mentoring?
Something else entirely?
Because I don’t think this conversation is over.
I think it’s finally starting.
