Last Friday afternoon, Members of the BRA Network gathered for our sixth annual Cocktails & Conversation event in the beautiful Encino, California backyard of BRA Founder, Carrie Murray. This is one of our signature in-person events that we look forward to each and every year!
This gathering is an opportunity for our community and other prominent, professional women to not only network in an intimate setting, but also to learn from an inspirational author or entrepreneur. Every year we explore different themes and journeys to success, and we soak up the lessons learned along the way.
As a lifelong educator, it’s important to our Founder that a key feature of any BRA event is that we’re able to apply the valuable tips and advice we receive to our own lives and businesses!
The Theme
The theme for 2024 was Power, Purpose, and Profit: Female Entrepreneurs Redefining Impact and we were absolutely blown away by our powerhouse panel of speakers featuring Meymuna Hussein-Cattan, Pocket Sun, Ellen Chen, and Diipa Büller-Khosla.
Our impactful panel and moderators from left to right: Carrie Murray, Ellen Chen, Meymuna Hussein – Cattan, Diipa Büller-Khosla, Pocket Sun, and Toni Purry.
The Sponsors
Attendees were greeted warmly by BRA Member, Haley Henry, and ushered through the house to the backyard where delicious food from Mendocino Farms, perfectly chilled rosé from Generational Wealth Wines, and gorgeous tables and florals designed by Soirée LA awaited.
Currently craving that perfect Rosecrans Rosé as I type this recap!!
Delicious sandwiches and salads from Mendocino Farms.
We always make time for networking and connection!
The Speakers
For our 6th annual Cocktails & Conversation, we curated a truly impressive speaker panel containing FOUR inspirational entrepreneurs.
We were honored to welcome Meymuna Hussein-Cattan, Founder of The Tiyya Foundation and Flavors From Afar, Pocket Sun, Co-Founder of SoGal Ventures, Ellen Chen, Co-Founder of Mendocino Farms and Teach AAPI and last, but not least, Diipa Büller-Khosla, founder of Indē Wild and Co-Founder of Post for Change. Learn more about these incredible entrepreneurs below…
Meymuna Hussein-Cattan
Born in an Ethiopian refugee camp in Somalia, Meymuna turned her early life challenges into a force for change. In 2010, she and her mother started Tiyya, which means love in their native Oromo language. The nonprofit provides critical resources to refugees, immigrants, and low-income immigrants in Southern California, helping them find housing, livable wages, and connections to their new community. Meymuna also founded Flavors From Afar, a refugee-run social enterprise restaurant. It hosts Tiyya’s culinary program featuring refugee cooks and celebrates cultural exchange through food. She has said “All refugees are alchemists and transform a sense of loss into something beautiful.” Meymuna has been named a L’Oréal Paris Woman of Worth in 2024 and a Top 10 CNN Hero in 2022. Follow her on Instagram or connect on LinkedIn.
Pocket Sun
Pocket is Co-founder and Managing Partner at SoGal Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm backing world-class women and diverse entrepreneurs to solve the deeply rooted inequity in VC. Since 2015, Pocket and co-founder Elizabeth have invested in 150+ startups worldwide, managed $45M LP capital, and built a track record of picking five $1B+ unicorns from the earliest stage. One of the youngest to be on the cover of Forbes, Pocket is frequently invited for keynotes and panels by Fortune 500 companies and high-profile conferences including the Microsoft CEO Summit. She has been recognized with awards and features including Entrepreneur Magazine 100 Most Powerful Women, Forbes Under 30 in VC. Follow her on Instagram or connect on LinkedIn.
Ellen Chen
Ellen is the force behind Mendocino Farms, a premium fast casual gourmet sandwich and salad concept she co-founded in 2005. Now Ellen uses her twenty years of experience growing food brands to help early-stage female and minority founders understand their purpose, operationalize their values, get the resources they need, and avoid some of the mistakes she made. Ellen continues to offer the restaurant group a big business perspective with an entrepreneur’s passion. Named one of the 50 most influential women in foodservice by Nation’s Restaurant News, Ellen sits on the Board of Directors of Mendocino Farms and Sugared + Bronzed as well as Advisor to Zitti, Curbit, Womaness and Vibrant Funds. She is also a Founding Board Member of Teach AAPI and AAPI LA. Follow her on Instagram or connect on LinkedIn.
Diipa Büller-Khosla
Born and raised in a small town in India, Diipa is breaking down barriers across multiple industries. In 2021, Diipa co-founded Ayurvedistry beauty brand Indē Wild to transform the skincare industry with a conscious beauty ecosystem that combines Ayurvedic rituals with revolutionary modern day technology and conscious chemistry. Across her social career, Diipa has been featured on fifty plus magazine covers and has been an ambassador for global brands. She’s also represented India on multiple red carpets at Cannes and Venice Film Festivals. Diipa continues to be a source of influence—igniting social change and movements to empower women—and representing South Asian women around the world. Follow her on Instagram or connect on LinkedIn.
The Conversation
Each of these women shared their impressive and motivational stories of how they got started, the hurdles they faced, the experience of encountering hundreds of “nos” before getting to that one “yes”, and not letting anything stand in their way.
The panel was moderated by Carrie Murray and Toni Purry, who both asked provocative questions including one of the most important questions every experienced entrepreneur faces: “What advice would you give to someone starting out?”
Our brilliant panelists had this to say:
Don’t doubt yourself. There is never the right time, so just do it! – Ellen Chen
Perfectionism is fake, you’re not going to have all your ducks in a row before starting. The best time to start was yesterday. – Meymuna Hussein-Cattan
Getting nos and getting rejected is going to help you fine-tune your ideas, don’t take it as a stop, but rather a redirection. – Diipa Büller-Khosla
I would encourage everyone who is a leader to learn how to become the leader you want to be, a leader that leads with love, with trust, with intuition, that leads with good intentions for the world, instead of the previous paradigm that we were brought into…the next twenty years belongs to women, women our age, so women in their middle ages are the force… in the next two decades… so take advantage of this time and do things that make you happy and make your soul sing. – Pocket Sun
The inspirational panel of women whose stories help us remember that it’s all worth it!
This conversation was a reminder that the struggles and hurdles entrepreneurs face are very much a shared experience, but that perseverance, intuition, deep belief and determination carry us through the challenges.
The intimacy of the event facilitated genuine discovery and connection. Every attendee left with a rejuvenated feeling and excitement that was stoked by the impact of our panelist’s stories.
Thanks to Diipa’s reminder that getting a no should be one of your biggest motivators, I think we all left thinking,“Just TRY and doubt me and my goals, I DARE you!”
We are so grateful for the poignant storytelling and entreprenurial wisdom shared by our panelists.
The Photography
Thanks to BRA Member Rachael B Photography for capturing the event and, as always, taking SO many gorgeous pictures! We are thrilled to share some sneak peeks into Cocktails & Conversation below. (View the entire album online HERE.)
It was a beautiful afternoon filled with connection, moving stories and conversations, and yes, a little wind to boot. We all left looking like Beyoncé with our windswept hair, and feeling like her, too! Ready to take on ANYTHING!
Who Run the World? (Girls!)
What’s Next?
If you’re interested in joining a professional community that hosts incredible events like Cocktails & Conversation plus other opportunities for authentic networking and collaboration, sign up for the next Fitting Room, a free virtual orientation all about BRA. You’ll discover how we can support you and your business, get to know our Founder, Carrie Murray, and connect with some BRA Members!