The inaugural Empowering Women in Business Expo on Thursday drew dozens of women to the Obici House to hear inspiring guest speakers and visit vendors.

Robin Richards of Empowering Women in Business said the event was about encouraging women to find their purpose.

“The point is to empower them to fulfill their destiny,” Richards said. “It’s about being in alignment for the assignment.”

Richards said women sometimes get so busy doing everything for others — their husband, their children, their employer, their friends — that it’s like they are scraping the bottom of a dry well.

“We’re always giving and pouring into others, but if we don’t have someone pouring into us, it can lead to resentment and bitterness,” Richards said. “But we can empower one another. That’s really what it’s about.”

She said women also should be encouraged to learn the difference between busy and productive and let go of those things that are simply making them busy.

Sandra Goode, an amateur bodybuilder and motivational speaker, was one of five featured speakers. She gave a memorable object lesson that featured different types of chairs — a child’s Disney chair, a beach chair, a backless chair and an invisible “chair of faith” — and compared them to real-life situations.

“What chair do you sit in?” she asked the women. “Is it time to switch seats?”

Other guest speakers included City Manager Selena Cuffee-Glenn, Pastor Rodica Lambert of Christian Embassy International Church, Sweetwater Cuisine owner Jodi Moore, and personal coach Rachel Sherburne.

Richards said the Empowering Women in Business group isn’t a typical business networking group, which exists mostly to make business connections, but rather seeks just to lift up women.

The group meets every other Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. at the Obici House, 4700 Sleepy Hole Road. Its next meeting is Nov. 11.

For more information, contact Richards at 672-6672 or email rrichards@shepherdsguide.com.