Meet Carla Bell
Founder, Say YES Conference · Alexandria, VA
This year’s Women’s History Month Series is built around one principle: women’s stories, in their own words. Sometimes that means a crafted profile. Sometimes it means a direct Q&A. Sometimes it means a conversation, transcribed exactly as it happened. However a woman wants to share, we show up to meet her there.
Today’s spotlight is Carla Bell, and you are about to hear from her directly.
But first: her signature event is happening this Saturday, March 14, 2026, at the Hilton Alexandria Old Town, and a precious few tickets remain. The Say YES Conference is an activation movement for women ready to move from hesitation to action.
Secure your seat at CarlaBellInspires.com/Say-Yes-Conference before the room fills.
Now, meet Carla in her own words.
Where is your favorite place in the world, and what draws you there?
My favorite place in the world isn’t a city. It’s wherever my siblings are.
As one of thirteen, I didn’t grow up with just a family. I grew up inside a built-in community. Being with them activates a deep sense of belonging and safety. It’s the one space where titles don’t matter. I am simply sister.
I’m one of the older siblings, and I carry influence in our dynamic. I’m often the planner, the convener, the one coordinating flights, schedules, and group chats to make sure we stay connected. And yes, I’ve rearranged commitments, spent money I didn’t really want to spend, and boarded last-minute flights just to be present. Because presence matters.
Family has a way of remembering who you used to be. Sometimes they reflect an older version of you back to you. That’s why I’m intentional about showing up. Growth isn’t just personal. It’s relational. I want the people who knew me then to see who I am becoming now.
Wherever they are, that’s my favorite place. Because that’s where I am most grounded and most real.
Describe a moment when you chose courage over comfort. What happened, and what did it cost you to make that choice?
One of the clearest moments I chose courage over comfort was when I decided to launch the Say YES Conference before I felt fully qualified to lead at that scale.
When I shared the vision of gathering 150 women in one room, I heard the caution.
“Events are difficult.”
“Don’t be surprised if you don’t get the support you want.”
“150 women is ambitious.”
None of it was harsh. But it planted doubt.
Comfort would have been shrinking the vision. Lowering the number. Hosting something smaller so I could guarantee success.
Instead, I invested thousands of dollars into an inaugural event with no social proof and no guarantees. I announced it publicly before I had proof it would work.
When ticket sales moved slower than expected, I lost sleep. I ran numbers in my head at night. I questioned myself. I wrestled with the quiet thought, “What if they were right?”
But courage rarely feels like certainty. It feels like exposure.
Here’s what I’ve learned: Even if 150 women don’t walk into the room this year, they will one day. Vision does not expire because timing stretches.
And if 50 women show up? That is still 50 lives impacted. Fifty decisions shifted. Fifty moments of activation.
Choosing courage cost me comfort, predictability, and private failure. But it gave me resilience, strategic clarity, and a deeper understanding that ambition is not about ego. It’s about obedience to the assignment.
I would rather build boldly and adjust than wait safely and wonder.
What does a day in your life look like and what makes it enjoyable?
A typical day in my life is full. I work a traditional 9 to 5 in the federal government, where I manage high-level responsibilities and deliverables. When that workday ends, my second shift begins. I pour into building my business, executing conference plans, reviewing contracts, coordinating speakers, refining marketing strategy, and meeting deadlines.
In between, I’m present in my community. I’m active in my sorority. I show up for family. I make time for friendships. Some evenings are meetings. Some are events. Many weekends involve travel. My calendar stays full.
It can be demanding. There are nights I don’t get as much sleep as I should because I’m balancing two callings.
But what makes it enjoyable is this: everything I’m building aligns with who I am becoming.
I enjoy the stretch. I enjoy the discipline. I enjoy watching an idea move from concept to execution. I enjoy the duality of working within an institution by day and building a movement by night.
It’s busy. But it’s purposeful.
And purpose makes even the long days meaningful.
What is one belief you hold about women and leadership that the world isn’t quite ready to hear yet?
One belief I hold about women and leadership that the world may not be ready to hear is this: women, particularly Black women and women of color, do not lack leadership capacity. Often, the environments around them lack the capacity to recognize and receive their authority.
I have watched brilliant women enter rooms fully prepared, fully qualified, and still be subtly undermined. Ideas are questioned differently. Confidence is interpreted differently. Assertiveness is labeled differently.
Over time, many women respond by shrinking their vision to fit the room. They soften their voice. They dilute their ambition. They over-explain to be taken seriously. But the issue is not competence. It is recognition.
And until we address the way systems respond to women’s leadership, especially leadership from women of color, we will continue mistaking adaptation for inadequacy.
The world doesn’t need women to shrink their vision to be palatable. It needs to expand its capacity to honor their authority.
What is the one thing you keep coming back to, personally or professionally, that grounds you when everything feels uncertain?
When everything feels uncertain, I lean on my faith.
As a woman of faith, I regularly pray for my steps to be ordered and for my life to align with God’s perfect will, not just what is permissible. That distinction grounds me. Just because something is possible does not mean it is assigned.
In seasons when numbers fluctuate, when outcomes are unclear, or when I feel stretched between responsibilities, I pause and ask for alignment over ambition. I don’t just ask for success. I ask for positioning.
Personally and professionally, that practice centers me. It reminds me that I am not building alone, and I am not building for ego. I am building in obedience.
Faith gives me the courage to move when clarity is incomplete. It steadies me when timing stretches. And it reminds me that delay is not denial, and slow growth is still growth.
When I know I am aligned, uncertainty loses its power.
Tell us about a failure that had a surprisingly positive impact on your life.
One of the most pivotal failures in my life happened early in my federal career.
Within my first year of government service, I got into an altercation with a colleague. It escalated, and I was ultimately terminated. At the time, I believed the outcome was unjust, and I pursued a formal legal challenge. The matter was resolved in my favor, and I was reinstated.
While I cannot share the specifics due to confidentiality agreements, I can share what mattered most.
Winning the case did not mean I had nothing to learn.
When I reflect on that season, I recognize that I was talented and capable but not yet refined. My quick wit could become reactive. My confidence could escalate rather than de-escalate. I had to confront the reality that leadership requires emotional discipline, not just intelligence.
That experience humbled me.
Years later, I was promoted into leadership, and the same colleague became part of my team. Before accepting the role, I called her into my office. I informed her of my promotion and asked whether she would feel comfortable reporting to me or whether reassignment would be more appropriate. I wanted to ensure there would be no unresolved tension.
We had an honest conversation. She chose to stay.
She went on to become one of my strongest employees.
That moment confirmed something powerful: growth is measurable in how you handle the people connected to your past mistakes.
What once felt like a career-ending failure became a refining moment. I learned to be slow to speak and quick to listen. I learned that influence is built through restraint. And I learned that leadership is not about winning conflicts. It is about stewarding people well.
That failure did not define me. It developed me.
What is the piece of advice you needed ten years ago that you’d now give to a woman just starting out?
The piece of advice I needed ten years ago is this:
You can be powerful without being reactive.
Earlier in my career, I believed that being strong meant being quick.
Quick to respond.
Quick to defend.
Quick to prove I belonged in the room.
What I’ve learned is that true leadership is measured in restraint.
I would tell a woman just starting out: your talent will open doors, but your emotional discipline will keep them open.
Not every comment requires a response. Not every disagreement requires escalation. Sometimes the most powerful move is composure.
I would also tell her not to shrink her vision to fit someone else’s comfort.
You do not need to be smaller to be accepted. But you do need to be strategic.
Be bold, but be wise.
Be confident, but be teachable.
Be ambitious, but be anchored.
And most importantly, do not wait to feel fully ready before you move.
Growth does not happen before action. It happens because of it.
Connect With Carla
At MogulMoxie® Mindset, we champion the women who build rooms that start with purpose and faith. Carla Bell is one of these women.
Every woman who walks through the door of the Say YES Conference walks through something built in obedience and rooted in faith.
Click here to follow Carla on LinkedIn.
Follow the Say YES Conference on Instagram at @SayYesCon.
Stay connected on their website at CarlaBellInspires.com/Say-Yes-Conference.
Follow along, watch her build, and if it resonates, join the Say YES movement.
We are spotlighting one phenomenal woman every day this month. Come along for the journey and support on social media.
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One phenomenal woman a day. #WomensHistoryMonth #March2026
