Two powerful women joined for a life-changing public discussion on Monday, Sept. 21 at Atlanta’s Crowne Plaza Perimeter at Ravinia. The Power Networking Event was hosted by none other than judge, lawyer, and former “The View” co-host Star Jones, who shared an intimate conversation with entrepreneur Sabrina Peterson.
The electrifying evening came together under Jones’ networking organization of female business professionals, the National Association of Professional Women. She informed attendees that she invited Peterson to the discussion because of her inspiring story of transforming from being an inmate to making a “tremendous impact on the community.”
Peterson formerly owned a beauty shop, Glambar, which was popular for it’s high-profile clientele. She is now the founder of Glam University, a program that guides women through their journey of becoming successful business owners, and hosts the fun networking event, The GirlPower Sleepover. But before she got back on her feet following the closing of her shop, she hit rock bottom.
The businesswoman went to prison in 2013, reportedly for assault. She was released over a year ago, but Peterson says that while locked up, she realized that something wasn’t right in her life.
“Most times, we don’t know we’re not okay until hindsight be in 20/20, and your actions tell you, ‘oh, s—, I’m not okay,'” she told Jones before a group of professionals. That’s what landed me in prison — a false sense of being okay.”
Peterson said the defining moment that turned her life around was thinking about leaving her son — whose father was also in prison — all alone.
“To pass off my 8-month-old at that gate was a feeling you won’t forget,” she explained. “[I was] on that top bunk in that cold room rocking myself to sleep, and putting that pillow by me as if that was my son.”
She said she also came up with the idea for Glam University in prison while she was talking to her cellmate, Sweet.
“And I was like, ‘Sweet, I gotta figure this out. I gotta make a way for young girls to make a lot of money without the choices I made to make a lot of money.’ So then that’s when I came up with my flip.”
By the end of the discussion, Jones blown away by Peterson’s story and how she had come out of a tough situation victorious.
“Sabrina, I’m just so proud of you,” Jones told Peterson. “I’m proud of everything you’ve done, everything you’ve accomplished, and more importantly, I’m proud that you are standing in this space God has created for you.”
The event was a great success, as those who attended were motivated and empowered by the evening’s stories of triumph.
View pictures from the night of sisterhood below.
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