Huffington speaks to packed house at Women’s Summit

KEYNOTE SPEAKER Ariana Huffington spoke to a sold out crowd of 1,000 at Bryant University's 16th annual Women's Summit on Thursday. / COURTESY BRYANT UNIVERSITY
KEYNOTE SPEAKER Ariana Huffington spoke to a sold out crowd of 1,000 at Bryant University's 16th annual Women's Summit on Thursday. / COURTESY BRYANT UNIVERSITY

SMITHFIELD – The key to getting it all done without burning out is knowing what relationships and projects are priority worthy, Arianna Huffington, president and editor-in-chief of Huffington Post Media Group told the 1,000 attendees at Bryant University’s 16th annual Women’s Summit at the school’s Smithfield campus Thursday.

Huffington told the summit’s capacity crowd about her own struggles with taking on too much. She had long desired to learn to speak German and put lessons on her to-do list. But she had to admit to herself that, with everything else she had to do, it just wasn’t going to happen.

“I realized you can complete a project by dropping it,” Huffington said. “Clearing the decks and making space is incredibly important.”

Huffington was the luncheon speaker at the summit, which has since its inception drawn a sold-out crowd to Bryant University for a day of education sessions and networking.

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The media mogul told attendees that in order to have a happy and successful life, they must surround themselves with a “tribe” of support from people who will tell them the truth and stay in their corner whether they are succeeding or failing.

She also urged them to make it a priority to help others, offering that doing so would help them put their own problems into perspective and help enrich their lives.

“I believe the time has come where we can change the world and make it better with more gratitude, more effectiveness, and, yes, more sleep,” she said. “Very often, we focus on what is not working, and we forget to be thankful.”

Huffington also relayed that it’s important to remember that sometimes things come most together after they fall apart. She told the audience how many years ago, she forced herself to move from London to New York City after breaking up with a man who was not interested in the same future she was.

It was once she arrived there that her career and the life she really wanted began to take shape. “Everything happened because a man wouldn’t marry me,” she said.

The summit also featured keynote presentations from Kay Koplovitz, founder of USA Network, and Marshawn Evans, a reinvention strategist.

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