Seven months ago I went to an Alley to the Valley event at the invitation of my friend and inspiration Anat Baron. Anat actually deserves her own Inspirational Connection post, which I will write one day soon since we have something very interesting cooking together. So stay tuned for that!

But tonight, I'm going to write about my serendipitous connection with Mona Sabet. We show up to Alley to the Valley and quickly uncover that we're both Canadian (as is Anat, which again is why I was there -- do you see a theme here?). Those that know me know that "I am Canadian" is the conversation starter that never stops.

No sooner than I met Mona did we put dinner and drinks on the calendar. And no sooner after that, was she helping me with an Innovation Immersion trip I was organizing for a couple of my corporate clients (we killed it by the way!). And no sooner than that were we talking about copious amounts of sun and wine together on a beach somewhere.

But as much fun as the wine has been with Mona, the reason why we connected so famously is because of her "can do" and "how can I help" attitude. With all that she has started, launched, supported, grown and continues to create ... no one would ever believe she's marred with children - because how could someone be all that AND have a life. But she does. And she does it artfully.

And tonight I had the pleasure of yet another dinner (and of course wine) w/ Mona and 4 other massively amazing women. All accomplished. All humble. All strong. All visionaries. And all women that know how to create excitement around an idea, but know the importance of execution. I'm BEYOND grateful to have met Mona. We are going to be lifetime colleagues, friends and business partners. Because from the very beginning Mona said something incredibly important to me ... she said, "don't worry - I got your back". And you know what, she totally has.