Tolleson Hosts Entrepreneur and 101Media’s Lily KT Smith in Honor of Women’s History Month

Women Leaders of Tolleson, an internal employee group that meets regularly on women-led topics, hosted Co-Founder/CEO of 101Media Lily KT Smith in honor of Women’s History Month in March. The event, with more than 60 attendees, included a conversation about leadership, entrepreneurship, and lessons learned along the way. 

“You cannot do everything in life, so sit down and decide what is important to you and go from there,” Lily said to the group in her conversation. She also elaborated on the importance of getting involved and growing your network: “Putting yourself out there, especially early on, is something I’ve seen a return on.”

Lily’s enthusiasm for building businesses was evident through her entrepreneurial journey, as she shared about how her passions for content creation, finance, and operations and how those core elements became essential in evolving 101Media: a female-run media group based in Dallas with 30 employees and the brand behind the well-known Dallasites101 platform. Her drive and resilience in building a business is not uncommon with many young women leaders. 

“Young women are especially ambitious,” reported the latest Women in Workplace study in summarizing key trends with a birds-eye view of women in corporate America. More than ever before, young women want to excel and earn high-level roles.

At Tolleson, empowering development and investing in its rising leaders are critical to how the culture instills excellence in values. Employees are encouraged to learn new skills and feed their curiosity as they serve clients with creative financial solutions.

When Women Leaders of Tolleson was launched in 2021, it started simply with a few women meeting over lunch to share stories of encouragement and resources. It has now organically grown into a group of more than 100 women meeting regularly to hear various perspectives about leadership and cultivating a successful career in finance. Its members bond over meaningful content and shared best practices for successful career development. It continues to be an initiative the Tolleson team is proud to support.