WTF Summit Recap: Women Leaders Tap Their Inner Lioness

At 6:30 a.m. on a crisp Napa morning, over 30 of America’s most powerful women broke into teams to extract a target balancing precariously inside a minefield. The target was an 80-pound punching bag; the mines were a mix of cones, mats, mace bars and superbands strewn throughout a field to create an obstacle course.

The women—a mix of CEOs, founders, vice presidents, managing directors and other roles typical of senior leadership—were in town for The Information’s 2024 Women in Tech, Media and Finance Summit. Soon they would head to the main stage, where Chelsea Clinton would kick off a day packed with networking and panel discussions. But first, these industry pioneers were channeling their inner Joe McNamara, the hard-nosed director of a secret CIA program in Paramount+’s original series Lioness.

The series follows Joe (played by Zoe Saldaña) as she navigates the challenges of balancing her personal and professional life as the head of an underground CIA operation called The Lioness Program. This program deploys undercover female operatives to infiltrate and dismantle terrorist groups from within. A fan of the series, Almond admitted to binging the first season in two days. As an industry leader, a mother of four kids and an active-duty firefighter, trainer Jacqi Almond said she identified with the conflicts Joe faced. “I understand that sense of feeling like you have a bigger purpose to help others, but then the guilt of having a family and children at home,” she acknowledged.

To evoke the spirit of the series, Almond borrowed exercises from the show and sprinkled in circuits typical of military training, including army crawls, “gun” lunges (participants used a weighted bar in place of a firearm) and ladder drills. Per the special ops theme, participants were broken into teams, each with a designated military name (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie).

Though designed to build strength and endurance, the exercises had the added benefit of fostering a sense of community among the participants.

“I was definitely sleepy [when we started],” admitted one of the participants, “but being around a lot of powerful women was pretty intense and pretty cool.”

Almond said the women in the Lioness boot camp never wavered despite the early morning hour and the intensity of the drills.

“They pushed themselves from the minute we started to the minute we finished.”

During the target extraction exercise at the end of the session, the participants’ senior leadership bonafides were evident. Almond said most of those in attendance analyzed the minefield before diving in, proactively devising a game plan strategy to ensure they completed their mission as a team—just as a seasoned leader would do.

And just as in a true military session, the women forged bonds throughout the boot camp. During the gun squat drill, one team built such a rapport that they asked Almond if they could face each other while completing the circuit to continue a conversation they’d started earlier.

“I think there’s this misconception that female leaders can be unfriendly or harsh, and that wasn’t the case at all,” said Almond, who recalled how the participants cheered each other on, sometimes jogging alongside their teammates while they completed army crawls, offering words of encouragement.

Almond said she sees a parallel between the type of collaboration she witnessed in the boot camp and the mission of The Information’s WTF Summit. Both reflect a desire for women to push each other to be the best possible versions of themselves.

“Fitness isn’t just about pushing our bodies; it’s about pushing our minds, and demonstrating what we’re capable of, both in our everyday lives and our jobs,” said Almond. “In that sense, I think the workout set everyone up well for the rest of the conference.”

Instilling that level of confidence, she said, is what being a lioness is all about.

“It’s powerful, empowered women who are out there working with other powerful, empowered women. In that sense, the workout and summit really encapsulated the show,” said Almond. “It showed that these women are willing to work hard but also be a partner to the person next to them.”

Click here for more information and to stream the new season of Lioness.