We called them Girl Power Pow Wows. Sherri Ross Walters and I would meet with some of our best gal pals at a Birmingham-area restaurant and chat about our goals and personal projects.

During one of these meetings Sherri shared an idea she had to start an organization for women, an organization meant to help women achieve lofty aspirations like the ones we had been sharing with one another over black bean burgers and fries.

The Birmingham Girls Club was born.

“The club was started as a safe haven of sisterhood for women to share their ideas and get help if needed,” Sherri says. “I hope the members form amazing new friendships, connections, and get what they need from the club. That will be different for each woman. I can see relationships starting already and women are getting together privately outside of the club. They are getting what they need from each other and that’s exactly what the club is about.”

The Birmingham Girls Club officially launched in May 2013 after a casual informational meetup earlier in the spring. The club hosts monthly socials and regular philanthropic events. For example, in September the group volunteered at the Magic City AIDS Walk.

“Birmingham Girls Club was created to network, but also grow our minds, bodies, and souls while also giving back to the community, to help round out all aspects and grow the best of Birmingham,” Sherri says.

On October 19 Sherri will host the first Birmingham Girls Club Conference.

“I wanted a chance to showcase our members and their talents, and also give the public a chance to see what we are about and how they can get involved,” Sherri says of the conference, set to be held at REV Birmingham’s Social Venture. “We wanted to put on a day of fun that was atypical of normal conference tracks. We are trying hard to keep this informative and interactive – no projectors and slideshows.”

Instead, Sherri says, attendees can expect sessions that “reflect exactly what the Birmingham Girls Club stands for — growing your mind, body, and soul. We will have creative tracks like photography and art, intellectual tracks like goal setting and personal branding, physical tracks like running and stress-management exercises, and growing tracks like telling your story and healthy eating.”

Sherri wants the women who attend the conference to feel comfortable being themselves and letting loose, and not just at the after party.

“To emphasize how comfortable I want attendees to feel: I am a big girl and will be in leggings, sweating like a fiend, doing yoga as best as I can — which isn’t very well — and will be happy doing it in a safe place among friends and open-minded women who aren’t judging me for the way I am dressed or look doing it,” Sherri says. “We are sisters on October 19th. And what happens at the conference stays at the conference. And the party after!”

Sherri has said she wants the Birmingham Girls Club Conference to be the city’s biggest feminist celebration. Anyone uncomfortable with the f-word needs to understand how Sherri defines feminism.

“To me, feminism is recognizing, sharing, and growing the qualities that make us powerful women,” Sherri says. “We all have that power, whether we know it or not and whether we choose to use it or not. I know not everyone is keen on the feminist train, but women have worked so hard over the years to prove that we are just as powerful as our counter parts. In Birmingham Girls Club I want to help keep women’s progress going by giving Birmingham women the tools they need to make the mark they want to make, whatever that may be. I think the bond that women form with each other is so special and strong. To be part of a sisterhood like Birmingham Girls Club that’s nothing but strong, intelligent women is a recipe for success.”

The Birmingham Girls Club Conference will be held Saturday, Oct. 19 at REV Birmingham’s Social Venture, 5529 1st Avenue South. Tickets are $99, but See Jane Write Magazine readers can get $20 off by using the code SJW20.

Also, at the conference, See Jane Write Magazine Founding Editor Javacia Harris Bowser will be leading a session on how women can share their stories and why they should. Please leave your questions about writing, blogging, and storytelling in the comments section.

For information on joining the Birmingham Girls Club and to sign up for the Oct. 19 conference, visit birminghamgirlsclub.com.