The Women of Troutman Sanders hosted a cocktail reception and book signing with the authors of the New York Times‘ best seller Womenomics, Claire Shipman (ABC News Good Morning America Senior National Correspondent) & Katty Kay (BBC News Correspondent) tonight. Thanks to my friend Christina H. Bost Seaton, I was fortunate enough to attend.

The quick overview of their book, if I understood their summary correctly, is:

• We women have a lot more power than we think we do
• The kinds of work arrangements we want (flexible!) are not only good for us, but are also good for our male coworkers and our companies’ bottom lines
• All we have to do is ask!

I saw Katty Kay on Bill Maher a few weeks ago and thought she was fantastic. I should also add, entirely superficially, that both ladies are fantastically radiant in a “Please let me look that good someday!” kind of way. I’m very excited to curl up with this book.

Finally, always a sucker for the sound of my own voice, I asked the authors a question during the brief Q&A: If you were starting your career all over again today, what would you do the same or differently? Both gave pause before they gave an answer, which makes me think they’d never been asked that before (!).

Claire, who is 46 and has a four year old and a seven year old, said she wished she’d thought about life a bit more strategically and a bit earlier, in terms of having a family as well as a career. “I would have thought more strategically about family and my career a little earlier. It’s hard to keep up with a four year old at my age!”

Katty, who became a mom at 29, echoed Claire’s sentiment. “When I was in college, I just thought I’d have a great job and be president of some organization and have a good-looking husband who made me great meals and maybe a couple of kids in there — but I didn’t really think about the kids part too much.” She, too, thinks she’d be a bit more thoughtful earlier on with respect to how her career might play out.  Katty even signed my book with a “Thanks for the great question” !

Attending this event made me even more assured in my decision to re-start DinnerGrrls.org. It’s so important that we all share our stories, our challenges, our concerns, and our experiences with one another. When you’re sitting around the table with women from their twenties to their seventies, you simply can’t walk away from that experience without having grown at least a smidgen richer.

Thanks to Troutman Sanders, the authors, and the great women that I met during this event.  A special shout-out to Christina for the invitation.

Click here to buy Katty Kay and Claire Shipman’s Womenomics at Amazon.com.