As Caitlin Clark continues to push boundaries in professional basketball, women attending a Boston conference Thursday were encouraged to push boundaries in their field.
“Believe you can,” Clark, 22, said, addressing the importance of having confidence in yourself.
Clark, Oprah Winfrey, her best friend and co-host of CBS Mornings, Gayle King, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, Gail Devers and Beverly Johnson were all keynote speakers at the Massachusetts Conference for Women held on Thursday at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. It was the 20th anniversary of the event.
The theme was Power in Unity. Keynote speakers talked about relationship building in the workplace, what it means to be a team, and how their failures led to where they are today.
There were also many sessions from other women leaders in Massachusetts, including topics on work-life balance, supporting caregivers in the workplace, and effectively managing hybrid teams.
Gloria Larson, Massachusetts Conference for Women board president, said she wanted people to leave with new information they can take back to their workplaces and to feel inspired in their careers.
“We want people to have the best experience possible while they’re here,” she said. “I call it a spa day for professional women, because it feels like that for me too.”
Getting Winfrey, Clark and others as keynote speakers for their 20th anniversary was a “home run,” Larson said.
In front of more than 11,000 people, Clark emphasized the importance of pushing boundaries on and off the court.
“Go after the things people say you can’t do because more times than not, you can,” Clark said.
On stage during her conversation with “Good Morning America” co-host and Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer Robin Roberts, she talked about how she always believes in herself. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a bad day but that she continues to know what she’s capable of.
“There’s certainly hard days for every single person,” she said.
But that doesn’t hold her back.
Clark was recently named Time’s athlete of the year. She became the leading all-time scorer in NCAA Division I history and broke audience records. In April, a record 14.2 million people tuned in to watch Iowa’s win over UConn, according to the Associated Press.
Roberts joked that as other women push boundaries in their field, they too could have a “Caitlin Clark effect.”
Clark also talked about some of her mistakes.
She recalled her sophomore year at Iowa when her team unexpectedly lost to a team ranked much lower. But she firmly believes they wouldn’t have made it as far the next couple of years if they hadn’t have lost and found that power.
“The sun comes up the next day,” her mom reminded her after the loss.
And it did, as the team made it to finals both years.
She talked about other times she failed as she often played sports against boys growing up or girls who were older than her. She said it was important that her parents let her fail and that it helped build up her confidence.
She said she sees confidence as the biggest thing young girls struggle with. And it can continue into adulthood.
People would kill to be a professional basketball player, she recognized. But there are people who would kill to have the jobs many in the audience have too, she said. Remind yourself how lucky you are, she encouraged.
“That usually puts a smile on my face,” she said.
