LEAGUE CITY, Texas — Brand behavior strategist, author and speaker Phyllis Williams-Strawder opened the League City Regional Chamber of Commerce Women’s Speaker Series on September 15, 2026, with Lead Like a Woman: Character Over Cosmetics at Grand Living at Tuscan Lakes.

The series opener was sponsored by DK’s Dustbusters, a Greater Clear Lake cleaning company locally owned and operated by women. Owner/operator Kari Norlander attended the program and later shared how the keynote’s examination of comparison resonated with her own experience.

Behind the official title was the keynote’s unofficial room hook: Tits on the Table.

Williams-Strawder used the familiar experience of a woman removing her bra at the end of a long day to examine what happens when something that once provided support becomes a source of containment, discomfort or performance.

The bra was more than a punchline. It became a metaphor for the roles, expectations, beliefs and ways of operating women continue carrying long after those things stop nourishing who they are becoming.

“Women don’t just lead businesses, teams, households and communities. We lead transitions,” Williams-Strawder told the audience.

The keynote explored transparency, acceptance and maturity as leadership behaviors. Williams-Strawder challenged women to tell the truth about what no longer fits, accept the receipts from their own choices and determine whether they need temporary grace or the deeper nourishment required to rise and move forward.

Drawing from her own resets—including becoming a mother at 42, entering full-time entrepreneurship at 45, publishing her first book at 52 and rebuilding her life and business through multiple moves. Williams-Strawder rejected the idea that women must follow a comparable timeline to lead successfully.

The message at the center of the keynote was clear: Your character is not comparable.

Rather than presenting vulnerability as public exposure for applause, Williams-Strawder framed Tits on the Table as a willingness to stop making the truth more attractive, acceptable or comfortable for everyone else.

“Leading like a woman means showing up with enough character to stop making the truth pretty,” she said.

The conversation continued after the final slide. Attendees asked to take photographs with Williams-Strawder, exchanged contact information with her and shared deeply personal experiences involving comparison, grief, relationships, survival and rebuilding. More than one woman said she recognized herself in Williams-Strawder’s stories about resetting her life.

The keynote also produced direct interest in Williams-Strawder’s books. She gifted two copies of Balance Is Bullshit and two copies of That Damn Girl Stuff, including two signed copies, while additional attendees expressed interest in purchasing books of their own.

The complete keynote was captured on video.