Women’s Leadership Breakfast, ICAC 2025 conference, Miami
Our COO, Aleema Ogeer-Ali shares her key takeaways from the Women’s Leadership Breakfast at the ICAC 2025 conference in Miami last month and it’s truly inspiring…
I had the privilege of attending the Women’s Leadership Breakfast at the ICAC 2025 conference in Miami – and it left a mark. The kind that sits with you, challenges you, and quietly dares you to do better. Our keynote speaker, Krystal Tomlinson, delivered a message that was bold, personal, and unforgettable. It wasn’t just about leadership – it was about the cost of it. About the cages women live in silently, and the keys we already hold to break free and to help others do the same.
We are what we say. We are how we behave.
And if we truly believe in honoring the work we do – in our professions, our companies, our craft, then we have to ask: Are we honouring each other just as much?
We give our jobs everything.
We pour in the hours. We meet the deadlines. We stretch ourselves to serve the mission.
And that’s good.
It’s good to honor your profession, to respect your gift, and to use your talent fully.
But do we take even a fraction of that energy to honor our allies?
- How are we speaking to and about other women?
- What kinds of conversations are we having behind closed doors?
- How are we showing up in community?
- Are our behaviors aligned with what we say we believe?
Because integrity isn’t just what we post online or say from a stage.
It’s how our values show up in our actions.
At the ICAC 2025 Women’s Leadership Breakfast, what we heard was beautiful.
Krystal Tomlinson didn’t just deliver a keynote. She gave us truth, strategy, and permission to shift.
She asked us to name the cages we live in: invisible systems of overwork, emotional labor, gendered expectations, silence.
And then she handed us keys:
- Wage transparency
- Mental health care without shame
- Financial and legal independence
- Mentorship that lifts, not limits
- Community over competition
- Integrity in how we treat each other
“Nobody is coming. You have to save yourself. And if you can, save someone else.”
Empowerment isn’t abstract – it’s deeply personal and radically practical. We don’t need to wait for systems to shift. We are the shift.
Let’s hold space for each other. Let’s pass the keys.
Let’s stay in alignment, not just in words, but in what we do next.
Learn more about our COO, Aleema here or chat with us at info@aegistt.com
