It was an inspiring and thought-provoking morning at the Business Journal’s Women’s Council and Awards event downtown. Speakers, panelists, nominees and honorees from a range of industries filled a huge ballroom at the JW Marriott hotel at LA Live to share stories, bond over experiences and dish up advice about how to win at business and at life. No spoilers about this year’s winners — our July 1 issue will take care of that — but we can provide a sneak peek at some of the more memorable moments. Stefanie Lipson, a partner at Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger, spoke for many in the crowd when she confessed, “I wish I knew my mother would be right about so many things.” Stephanie Wiggins, the first female African American chief executive at Metrolink, remembered learning early in her career that, “My skin spoke before I did, and I had to develop a way to make sure that got eliminated.” Taryn Rose, chief executive and co-founder of Enrico Cuini and ALIA Technology, who fled Vietnam as a child, said the secret to her success was that “I feared regret more than I feared failure.” And Lise Luttgens, chief executive for the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles, may have said it best with the simple mantra, “When girls succeed, so does society.”

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Boy Scouts of America knows a thing or two about bringing sons and fathers together, so it makes sense that the organization’s Greater Los Angeles Area Council would jointly honor Christopher Rising and Nelson Rising at their 12th Annual Business Leaders Breakfast. At downtown’s Millennium Biltmore Los Angeles hotel, son Christopher, co-founder and chief executive of Rising Realty Partners and a former Boy Scout, was named 2019 Business Leader of the Year. His dad, Nelson, co-founder and chairman of Rising Realty Partners, was feted with a special tribute at the same event.