Mia Hamm Inspires Women At Business Conference

Olympic soccer star Mia Hamm was given a standing ovation after speaking to about 1,200 women at the 11th annual Northwest Arkansas Business Women’s Conference in Rogers on Sept. 15.

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Hamm, the keynote speaker at the event, said she credits most of her success to her parents, who were always volunteering for their community.

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“My parents were incredible role models,” she said. “They taught us the importance of being responsible to others.”

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Hamm’s last competitive soccer game was in 2004. She now raises her twin girls and runs the Mia Hamm Foundation, which has two missions: to raise funds and awareness for families in need of marrow or cord blood transplants and to further the development of programs and initiatives for young women in sports.

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Hamm spoke about developing a competitive spirit at a young age. When she was young, she said, she was taught to suppress her competitiveness.

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When she started playing soccer with other young women, she realized “it was okay to want to be the best.”

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One of her greatest challenges, Hamm said, was finding a balance between growing her individual potential and using it in the framework of a team.

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While playing on the U.S. National Soccer Team, she said she learned that every decision she made impacted the goal of the team.

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Hamm’s advice to working mothers was to find time to spend with family. Those are the moments you don’t get back, she said.

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Conference attendees also heard from Allyson Lewis, first vice president and financial adviser in the Jonesboro office of Merrill Lynch and author of “The Seven Minute Difference.”

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Lewis talked about prioritizing, simplifying and organizing daily work tasks in order to be more productive.

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Other speakers at the even included Esther Silver-Parker, senior vice president of corporate affairs at Wal-Mart Stores; Elizabeth Bowles, president of Aristotle Inc. in Little Rock; and Cynthia Trudell, senior vice president and chief personnel officer of PepsiCo Inc.