We’re seeking confident, experienced women business owners, coaches, and thought leaders to join our live panel discussion “The Ask: Turning Gentle Requests into Powerful Results” at HER Connected, a two-day women-in-business event taking place December 4–5, 2025, at Lakeview Pavilion in Foxborough, MA. This panel will explore how women can stop minimizing their asks and start owning their value in business, sales, and leadership. We’ll dive into how to make bold, direct asks without feeling pushy — and how to reframe “asking for help” as a form of strength, collaboration, and clarity. We’re looking for speakers who can share: Real experiences around learning to ask confidently (in business, sales, or leadership) Mindset and communication shifts that lead to better results Practical advice or scripts for negotiation, delegation, or pitching Stories of what happened when they finally made the ask — and how it changed everything Requirements: Must be a woman entrepreneur, business coach, or leader with relevant experience within driving (or train) distance to Foxboro, MA Comfortable speaking in front of an audience of women in business Available to join in-person at the event (or for a virtual pre-panel interview if local participation isn’t possible) Please reply with: A short bio (100–150 words) A brief note on why you’re passionate about this topic Any relevant speaking experience or clips (if available)

I am the Marketing Director and Operations Director for AutoStar Heavy Duty, a specialized OEM Cummins parts logistics company based in Dallas, Texas, with a national operational scope. My expertise lies in translating the necessity of operational certainty into non-negotiable financial and logistical requests. My experience involves leading high-stakes vendor negotiations and enforcing zero-error fulfillment protocols, where ambiguity in any "ask" means immediate financial risk. I can join the panel virtually. I am passionate about this topic because in the high-stakes world of heavy duty trucks commerce, a weak ask is perceived as a critical operational flaw that compromises the entire transaction. I learned that the most powerful form of confidence is not personal; it is technical confidence—the verifiable belief that your request is backed by the objective truth of your asset. The mindset shift I enforce is simple: The ask is not a request; it is a mandatory, logical step in the operational process that guarantees the ultimate success of the mission. A real experience that changed everything was when I stopped asking a logistics partner for "better service" and made a direct, quantified demand: "You must guarantee zero transit damage for our high-value Turbocharger assemblies, or we immediately shift the account." This specific, financial ask, backed by auditable data, changed the dynamic instantly, forcing the partner to meet our non-negotiable standard. The ultimate lesson is: You secure powerful results by eliminating all emotional language and framing every "ask" as an objective necessity for financial and operational survival.