One thing I didn't think much about when I started this self-employment journey was how lonely it can be. As I entered my third month working from home, I began to feel the effects of being alone day after day. So I started actively seeking networking opportunities, inspiration, mentors and support from others.

I'm on the lookout for every small nudge of information – and social media has been a great ally in this. That's how I ended up signing up for the Forbes Power Women's Summit streamed online from New York – as soon as I saw it on Sara Blakely's stories, someone I deeply admire, I signed up straight away.

And I'm grateful that I did.

The event brought many inspiring stories and, to say the least, a ray of hope for humanity. Those women – CEOs, founders, journalists, authors, actresses and so many others – had something in common: the will to do things differently. I could only imagine how wonderful it would be to be in a room with those women. It lit a fire in me that made me feel part of a global community of good change.

Ironically, the day before this event I was working on a PDF that I wasn't sure about. The event was confirmation that I'm on the right track. Listening to those women also confirmed how different female leadership is from male leadership. The difference is not only in style, but also in what is valued – relationships, intuition, generosity. And that's fascinating.

I jotted down some observations from the event (even though I'm not a good note-taker!) and noticed that the most repeated words were: love, leadership, resilience, intuition, trust, leverage, learning, forgiveness, hope, sharing, power, creativity, innovation, change, connection, confidence, growth, vulnerability, alignment and authenticity. What struck me most is that these are not just business words, they are life words. They are what we all want to feel in our personal lives too. This shows how leadership in business and personal life are not separate when a woman is in charge.

That's why it's impressive to see how these women, occupying positions in predominantly male spaces, led with deep respect for their feminine power. Each piece of advice and inspiration was authentically linked to the sensitivity of what it means to be a woman. Many of them showed new ways of doing business and thriving in a world still mostly led by men.

As Sara Blakely pointed out: women have only been more present in business for about 30 years. Think about that for a second. That's just one generation. If so much has changed in that time, I wonder what the next generation will be like if this energy continues to grow. In fact, they also talked about some of the injustices that women still suffer in many countries – such as the financial abuse present in 99% of domestic violence cases and the under-representation of women in sports, especially Formula 1, which I found very interesting.

Another detail I loved seeing in those women was the color and joy they brought to what could have been a traditional black, gray, white and maybe blue event! We women turn everything into something to be celebrated. Cyndi Lauper is right when she says: 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun'. That couldn't be more true – we really do know how to make everything fun.

It also became very clear to me that the power of female leadership lies in generosity, curiosity to try new things and hope for the greater good of humanity. They transform their intuitive sensitivity into a power full of grace.

Some of the phrases that marked the event were:

"Love goes beyond all measure."

"Thoughts become things."

"Life is like a wave."

"Don't accept the status quo."

"Resilience is a muscle we can build."

"Be like a hermit crab. Grow in space."

"Women change the world collectively."

"Be the unicorn instead of the uniform. Truth over trend. Culture over comfort."

"Power is being of service."

"Drive like you stole it."

"Don't ask permission."

The phrase 'women change the world collectively' made me think about how different this is from the individualistic 'hero' model of leadership that so often dominates. The collective approach seems lighter and more lasting.

Another idea widely shared during the event was that destiny is an illusion. There will never be a moment when you achieve complete peace and harmony and feel that you have finished. Some shared stories of how life keeps them in motion, as if there were a greater force pulling them out of their comfort zone by sparking ideas — and how, many times, it is not up to them to choose whether to settle down or not; it is the path itself that chooses them and demands to be walked.

And finally, a big theme was the skills that the future will demand when AI is no longer optional but fully integrated into society – just as cell phones are today, such as: critical thinking, empathetic leadership, active listening, cultural awareness, creativity, conflict resolution, among others. At the same time, they recognized that if these technologies are implemented hastily or carelessly, they could widen social inequality.

All this led me to an excerpt from the book 2030: How Today's Biggest Trends will Collide and Reshape the Future of Everythingwritten by Mauro F. Guillén, which stuck with me:

'Women's hard-won new status in society can potentially lead to a transformation of the power structure and, perhaps, to fewer scandals, less corruption and a decrease in violence, as various studies have shown. Or it could produce a sharp divide, in which only a segment of women enjoy the benefits while the rest are pushed to the margins, resulting in more social conflict rather than less. Regardless of their influence in managerial or governmental positions, however, women will control more wealth and perhaps direct it to areas that concern them, including education and health, in a world with fewer babies and aging populations.' - p. 122-123.

And perhaps that's the point: all these virtues that women embody - love, intuition, connection, vulnerability - are not a distraction, they are the strategy. In a world where despair and division are often louder, and sometimes even encouraged, these women have reminded us that this set of values is not only a powerful form of leadership, but also a source of extraordinary results and innovation.

The event left me deeply inspired and motivated. I can choose to take the values I saw on that stage with me to my own projects and connections. Today, that alone seems like a significant way to contribute to collective change.

With love,