A Letter from the CEO: A Spring Rooted in Hope
by Mercedes Leahy
Lately, like most of you, I have found myself waking up and bracing for the news.
The scroll. The headline. The feeling that something else has shifted overnight. Another comment questioning women’s worth and autonomy. Another moment that makes you pause and think, really? Again?
It has been a strange season to be a human operating a business.
A strange season to host gatherings centered on women, to talk about community over competition, to hold space for ambition and connection in a world that still seems unsettled by women taking up space. I receive messages that remind me that even creating spaces for women can feel political. That even joy and connection can be misunderstood.
And yet, here we are.
Still running businesses. Still showing up for our communities. Still balancing motherhood, relationships, responsibilities, and dreams while carrying the heaviness of the world alongside the desire to build meaningful lives and work.
This spring does not feel like a clean slate. It feels layered. Complicated. Uncertain.
But what I see, over and over again, is women carrying on.
I see women having hard conversations and then returning to their work. I see founders navigating financial stress while still cheering for others. I see mothers answering emails after bedtime and business owners carving out time for connection even when our capacity feels thin. I see women continuing to create spaces for each other, even when the world feels unpredictable.
There is power in refusing to disappear. Refusing to shrink ambition. Refusing to believe uncertainty means we stop building or connecting.
None of us know what the next few years will hold. Some days, it feels easier to pull back. But community is where I remember why continuing matters.
This season, I keep coming back to the idea that hope is staying engaged with the life you are building, even when the backdrop feels uncertain.
Hope looks like hosting the gathering anyway. Starting the business anyway. Grabbing coffee with a friend. Investing in relationships even when the ground feels unsteady beneath your feet. And maybe most importantly, hope looks like allowing yourself to be both tired and determined at the same time.
If this season has felt heavy, you are not alone. So many women are carrying similar questions beneath the surface.
As we move further into spring, my hope is that you feel steady in your decision to continue. That you remember that your voice, your work, and your presence in this community matter. That you find moments of connection that remind you we are stronger, braver, and more capable together than we often realize.
We may not have control over the headlines. But we do have agency in how we show up for each other. In the spaces we create. In the support we offer. In the belief that women deserve community, opportunity, autonomy, and joy.
Wherever this season finds you, I am really glad you are here.
Forever hopeful,
Mercedes Leahy
CEO + Creative Director, Vested
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