2025 revealed a lot about the state of women’s ambition.
Despite headlines that claim otherwise, women aren't abandoning their drive, they're rejecting outdated definitions of success. They’re finding new paths for pursuing their power, ones with greater purpose and greater autonomy. Their future is no longer contained to a linear corporate ladder — it’s multihyphenate.
If you’re considering new possibilities in 2026, here are six powerful insights we learned from the Chief community last year — both what we discovered through our Beyond the Ladder report with The Harris Poll and what we heard from the inspiring leaders who shared their wisdom with us.
“I had a bigger dream for myself than the world had for me, and I never lost sight of my original dream.”
— Sylvia Acevedo
Trailblazer in Leadership, Innovation, & Impact, Former CEO, Girl Scouts of the USA, ChiefX Power Seat speaker
“You don’t have to be the same leader at 50 that you were at 30.”
— Cindi Leive
CEO and Co-Founder, The Meteor, ChiefX Power Seat speaker
“Purpose is multifaceted and it can show up in very different ways. I have found not just a new part of my career, but a calling.”
— Elaine Welteroth
Journalist and Founder of BirthFUND, Chief Member, The Chief Suite @ SXSW Power Seat speaker
“If I could only do one thing, what would be the biggest lever of change for a single person to execute?”
— Danielle Forward
CEO & Founder, Natives Rising, Native American Heritage Month keynote speaker
“You have to learn to listen to the most important voice, and that’s the quiet one inside of you.”
— Valerie Jarrett
Chief Executive Officer, The Obama Foundation, ChiefX Power Seat speaker
“It was scarier to stay somewhere where I can't grow than it is to take a bet on me and my biggest wildest dream, where I’m putting myself in an opportunity to really thrive”
— Elaine Welteroth
“Usually I don’t know I’m the first. Once I realize it, I feel a sense of responsibility to get it right — because I want to take all the doubt out of anyone’s mind that a woman or a Black woman can do it."
— Cynthia “Cynt” Marshall
President & CEO, Marshalling Resources Consulting, Former CEO, Dallas Mavericks, ChiefX Power Seat speaker
“I built my career by saying yes to things that scared me.”
— Lydia Fenet
Founder & CEO of the Lydia Fenet Agency, Auctioneer, Podcast Host and Author, ChiefX keynote speaker
“If you don’t believe that you deserve a historic exit, you won’t get it. Your mindset will determine your outcome in your life.”
— Monique Rodriguez
CEO, Mielle Organics, ChiefX keynote speaker
“Your unique combination of experiences is your competitive advantage.”
— Americus Reed
Professor of Marketing, The Wharton School, Executive Education partner
“We can reclaim every experience in our lives and realize that each of them got us to where we are today.”
— Mary Cahilly
Mental Health & Wellness Therapist, Canyon Ranch, ChiefX keynote speaker
“How do you take those different experiences and use them to see combinations that others think are kind of crazy?”
— Lori Rosenkopf
Vice Dean of Entrepreneurship, The Wharton School, Executive Education partner
“Work itself is no longer linear. A lot of the things that we were conditioned to want are starting to seem kind of dated and dusty.”
— Laura Brown
Co-Author, All the Cool Girls Get Fired, ChiefX Power Seat speaker
“Your failures are your greatest teachers if you let them be.”
— Jenna Lyons
Creative Entrepreneur, Media Personality, and Designer; Partner at FundamentalCo, ChiefX Power Seat speaker
“No hay mal de que bien no venga. There is no bad from which good cannot come.”
— Maria Hinojosa
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author, professor, and founder of Futuro Media Group, Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month keynote speaker
“What’s important is your reaction to what life throws at you and how much you make of the opportunities, whatever they are, big or small, frequent or sporadic.”
— Padma Lakshmi
New York Times Bestselling Author, Emmy Award-Nominated Host and Executive Producer of Hulu’s "Taste the Nation," Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month keynote speaker
“Everything is right on time.”
— Hoda Kotb
New York Times Bestselling Author, Award-Winning Journalist, and Founder & CEO of Joy 101, ChiefX keynote speaker
“When you’re living your values, you sleep better. When you’re not living your values, you are ruminating and churning your mind.”
— Ellen Pao
CEO and Co-Founder, Project Include, Former CEO, Reddit, ChiefX Power Seat speaker
“Trust your gut, even when everyone else thinks you’re crazy.”
— Jenna Lyons
“In times of change, the leaders who thrive are the ones who can hold uncertainty without needing to resolve it immediately.”
— AJ Hikes
Deputy Executive Director for Strategy & Culture, ACLU, LGBTQIA+ Heritage Month keynote speaker
“We’re operating in a world where the rules are being rewritten in real-time. The leaders who can adapt faster than the environment is changing will succeed.”
— Tina Fordham
Geopolitical Strategist and Co-Founder, Fordham Global, virtual keynote speaker
“I just need to know that the community that I’m surrounded by has my best interests at heart, and that’s always served me well.
— Issa Rae
Writer, Creator, Actress, Producer, CEO, and Founder, The Chief Suite @ Cannes Power Seat speaker
“When you bring powerful women together with intention, the result isn’t just networking, it’s transformation.”
— Alison Moore
Chief CEO
“The best decisions come from diverse perspectives around the table.”
— Mae McDonnell
Associate Professor of Management, The Wharton School, Executive Education partner
“Some of my best friends today are people who protested against me 30 years ago, because I had the humility to listen to them.”
— Valerie Jarrett
“When you’re asking yourself the question, ‘Am I good enough for this?,’ maybe that means you’re not surrounded by the right people to support you to get to that place.”
— Ashley Graham
Supermodel, Entrepreneur, and Author, ChiefX Power Seat speaker
“I’m only as good as the group around me.”
— Angela Ahrendts
Chair of Save the Children International, Former CEO of Burberry, Former SVP of Apple Retail, virtual Power Seat speaker
