General Admission for Two
$899 total for two attendees
Want to bring your spouse, best friend or bestie? Enjoy the complete two-day VELVET experience together with this limited two-ticket package.
Purchase Two General Admission Tickets ↗FOR WOMEN READY TO RESTORE, RECONNECT & RISE
For the woman who gives so much.
This is your time.
VELVET is for women balancing careers, businesses, families and big visions—yet longing for space to breathe, reconnect with themselves and move forward with renewed clarity, confidence and community.
YOUR SPACE TO BE SEENRestore • Connect • Grow
APRIL 26–28, 2027DOUBLETREE • ONTARIO, CALIFORNIA250 WOMEN • ONE TRANSFORMATIVE EXPERIENCE
2027 conference pricing
Book your spot
before it sells out.
Only 10 Early Bird tickets are available at this price—until sold out. Every conference ticket includes breakfast and lunch so you can stay present, connected and energized throughout the experience.
Klarna Payment Plans AvailableFlexible payment plans are available through Klarna for all ticket purchases at checkout.
VIP Experience for Two
$998 total for two attendees
Bring your spouse, best friend or bestie and share the premium VELVET experience, including reserved seating, speaker meet-and-greet opportunities and VIP Lounge access.
Purchase Two VIP Tickets ↗Early Bird
$349 per attendee
- Full two-day conference access
- Monday welcome reception
- Keynotes, wellness sessions & play shops
- Breakfast and lunch provided
General Admission
$499 per attendee
- Full two-day conference access
- Monday welcome reception
- Keynotes, wellness sessions & play shops
- Breakfast and lunch provided
VIP Experience
$599 per attendee
- Full two-day conference access
- Reserved seating at the front
- Meet-and-greet with the speakers
- Speaker photo opportunities
- Access to the VIP Experience Lounge
- Breakfast and lunch provided
Vendor
$375 one representative
- Vendor marketplace space
- Connect with 250 conference attendees
- Conference access for one representative
- Breakfast and lunch provided
Vendor for Two
$425 two representatives
- Vendor marketplace space
- Connect with 250 conference attendees
- Conference access for two representatives
- Breakfast and lunch provided
Partner with VELVET
Invest in women.
Amplify your impact.
Position your organization before an engaged audience of 250 women while supporting wellness, leadership, empowerment and meaningful connection.
Presenting Partner
$10,000
- Top-level logo placement
- Premier digital, print, event and website recognition
- Two full-page BWA Magazine advertisements
- Main-stage recognition throughout the conference
- Optional featured presentation and premier vendor table
- Post-conference recognition
Leadership Partner
$5,000
- Second-level sponsor-display logo placement
- Prominent website and conference marketing recognition
- One full-page BWA Magazine advertisement
- Main-stage recognition
- Optional featured presentation and vendor table
- Post-conference acknowledgment
Empowerment Partner
$2,500
- Third-level sponsor-display logo placement
- Website and conference marketing recognition
- Logo placement across all digital media
- Main-stage acknowledgment
- Optional featured presentation and vendor table
- Post-conference acknowledgment
Attendance is optional. Partners who do not attend still receive their applicable marketing, publication, digital and conference recognition.
Become a Corporate Sponsor ↗Presented by & sponsor logo placement
Your logoYour logo
Stay close to the experience
DoubleTree by Hilton
Ontario Airport
Stay where the VELVET experience is happening at 222 North Vineyard Avenue in Ontario, California. Enjoy a special VELVET room-block rate of $179 per night, plus applicable taxes.
VELVET room-block rate
$205.85per night, including 15% bed tax
- Guestroom rate
- $179.00
- 15% bed tax
- $26.85
- Overnight parking
- $21.75 nightly
Overnight parking includes the $20 parking fee and $1.75 city tax. Room plus overnight parking is $227.60 per night. Day-use parking is complimentary.
Included & on site
- Complimentary shuttle to and from Ontario International Airport, approximately 2 miles away
- Complimentary guestroom internet
- Vineyard Bar in the lobby
- Misty’s Lounge with a live band and evening entertainment
- Citrus West, open for breakfast and lunch
- Porter’s Prime Steakhouse, open for dinner
- Starbucks coffee on site
- Local shopping at Victoria Gardens
Relax between sessions
Guestrooms & Pool
Enjoy spacious accommodations, balcony views and the resort-style outdoor pool during your VELVET stay.
Everything within reach
Hotel Amenities
Unwind in the lounge, stay active in the fitness center or take care of business without leaving the hotel.
Tuesday evening
Karaoke Night at Misty’s Lounge
Join us after the conference program for music, karaoke and more opportunities to connect.
Monday · 6:00 PM
Outdoor Meet & Greet
Network under the elegant white tent in the hotel courtyard as the VELVET experience begins.
The VELVET Conference
An Elegant Main Room
Gather in a polished ballroom designed for inspiring keynotes, meaningful conversations and memorable connections.
Shop · Discover · Connect
VELVET Vendor Marketplace
Explore a spacious indoor marketplace featuring authors, entrepreneurs, wellness brands and creative businesses throughout the conference.
Reserve a vendor space ↓
Dining on site
Enjoy prime steaks, seafood and chops in an elegant setting without leaving the hotel.
Pick up freshly brewed Starbucks coffee, pastries and convenient grab-and-go selections.
Official National Airline Partner
Exclusive VELVET Attendee Travel Offer
Save on Your Flight to VELVET
Southwest Airlines is pleased to offer VELVET Women's Conference attendees discounted fares. To utilize the discount, book via SWABIZ® using this link. Discount valid for travel 4/23/2027 to 5/1/2027.
Book Discounted Travel ↗Travel window: April 23–May 1, 2027
Complimentary travel perkFree airport shuttle to and from Ontario International Airport
The hotel is approximately 1.5 miles from ONT, making arrival and departure simple for conference guests.
01Conference hotelDoubleTree by Hilton Ontario Airport
02Convenient locationAdjacent to the Ontario Convention Center
03Complimentary shuttleAvailable between the hotel and ONT
Be first to know
Tickets. Speakers.
Travel. All in one place.
Join the VELVET email list for early-bird access, sponsor announcements, hotel details and important conference updates.
More than a conference
This is your invitation to pause, pour back into yourself, and rise.
VELVET brings women together across generations, professions and life experiences for a powerful celebration of whole-person wellness. Literature is part of our story—but our purpose reaches far beyond the page.
Meet the founder
Paulette R. Henson,
M.Ed
Founder & CEO, VELVET Women’s Conference
Paulette R. Henson created VELVET as a powerful space where women can prioritize their wellness, strengthen their voices, embrace their vision and build meaningful connections. As an educator, entrepreneur and Founder and CEO of BWA Magazine and Publishing LLC, she is committed to helping women move forward with confidence, clarity and purpose.
“VELVET is where women come to restore, reconnect and rise.”
What awaits you
A space to breathe.
A place to become.
From movement and mindfulness to heart health, love, leadership and meaningful connection, every moment is curated with the whole woman in mind.
Mind, Body & Spirit
Yoga, meditation and restorative practices designed to help you slow down, reconnect and return renewed.
Purpose & Empowerment
Honest conversations and practical tools to strengthen your voice, confidence, vision and personal power.
Love & Well-Being
Explore self-love, relationships, heart health and the daily choices that support a full and vibrant life.
Leadership & Legacy
Learn to lead with clarity, build a meaningful brand and create impact in your career, community and beyond.
Meet the voices
Leaders who live
what they share.
Our growing lineup brings together transformational voices from entertainment, wellness, education, medicine, media and global leadership.
More speakers & full bios coming soon
Featured SpeakerTerrah Bennett Smith
Being Bigger, Badder, Bolder, Better
Terrah Bennett Smith is an award-winning filmmaker, actress, producer, writer, director, Broadway veteran and creative entrepreneur whose career spans Broadway, a Billboard Top 40 recording career, television, film and entertainment leadership. Through her philosophy, Being Bigger, Badder, Bolder, Better, she inspires people to stop shrinking themselves, embrace the full value of their experience and create opportunities on their own terms. Today, Terrah continues to act, write, direct, produce, mentor creatives and develop original ventures—demonstrating how reinvention, courage and creativity can build an entire creative ecosystem.
Featured SpeakerTess Cacciatore
Reveal to Heal: Transforming Trauma into Purpose
Tess Cacciatore is an award-winning producer, filmmaker, bestselling author, keynote speaker and social entrepreneur who uses storytelling to advance healing and social change. As founder and CEO of the Global Women’s Empowerment Network, she creates programs that help people transform trauma into purpose through film, music, media, education and the arts. An internationally recognized human-rights advocate and United Nations speaker, Tess leads GWEN’s Reveal to Heal movement, championing compassion, resilience and the belief that every story can change a life.
Featured SpeakerRemington Bennett
The New Ladder: Creating Your Own Path to Success
Remington Bennett has been building her own ladder since age 15, when she transformed her passion for storytelling into opportunities to interview prominent figures and celebrities. A graduate of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, she later held influential roles at the Oprah Winfrey Network and The New York Times. Today, as a certified international career coach and founder of The New Ladder, Remington helps high school and college students turn their passions into meaningful careers. Her professional impact earned her recognition as a 2026 winner of the 16th Top 50 Professional & Career Women Global Awards.
Financial Empowerment KeynoteTyrone Jackson
Stock Trading and Building Residual Income
Tyrone Jackson, known as The Wealthy Investor, is a trusted stock market trader, bestselling Amazon author and wealth-building coach recognized for making investing easier to understand. A mentor to professionals in Silicon Valley and Hollywood, he teaches that lasting financial change begins by transforming limiting beliefs about money and gaining the financial education many people never received in school. Tyrone is also a frequent radio and television guest whose expertise has been featured by prominent news and financial media outlets.Explore Tyrone’s keynote ↗
Featured SpeakerStephanie Bailey
Self-Love Changes Everything
Stephanie Bailey is a Certified Master Life, Love & Relationship Coach and founder of Miss-Adventures Coaching. With more than 26 years of experience, she empowers women to strengthen self-love, recognize their worth, trust themselves and break unhealthy relationship patterns. Her philosophy is simple: when a woman chooses herself and honors her worth, she creates the foundation for greater confidence, healthier love, meaningful relationships and a life she genuinely loves.
Education & Youth Empowerment KeynoteAkiya Maston, Ed.S.
Building Resilience and Confidence in the Next Generation
Akiya Maston, Ed.S., is a K–8 school principal, award-winning author and Middle School Development Specialist with more than two decades of experience in education. As founder of Girls Pursuing Success, she bridges the gap between home and school, equipping families and educators with practical strategies while inspiring young people to build resilience, embrace personal leadership and move confidently toward a successful future.
Featured SpeakerTish Barnhardt
The Power of One Yes
Tish Barnhardt is a three-time award-winning and bestselling author, transformational speaker and Book & Author Strategist who helps aspiring authors and women entrepreneurs turn their stories and expertise into powerful books. As founder of Unmute Your Story Academy, she equips authors to build authority, increase visibility, attract opportunities and create new revenue streams—while reminding them that their voices matter and their stories are necessary: write it anyway.
Featured SpeakerRadiance Taylor
How Will We Flourish Inside What We Build?
Radiance Taylor is a touring musician, entrepreneur, storyteller, mother and creative strategist whose life’s work explores what happens when dreams become systems. Drawing from decades at the intersection of creativity, innovation and human experience, she now leads Human Architecture Design, challenging leaders and communities to reimagine the systems they build around one essential question: How will we flourish inside what we create?
Founder’s KeynotePaulette Henson, M.Ed
The Entrepreneur in You
Paulette Henson, M.Ed, is the CEO and founder of Black Women Authors Magazine & Publishing and the VELVET Conference. Through her international multimedia platform, she amplifies authors, entrepreneurs and thought leaders while creating opportunities for visibility, brand development and meaningful connection. A publisher, educator, entrepreneur and community builder, Paulette champions diverse voices and believes every story has the power to educate, inspire and create lasting change.
Menopause & Healthy Aging KeynoteTafiq Akhir
Navigating Menopause and Aging with Confidence
Tafiq Akhir is a Certified Menopause & Healthy Aging Strategist with more than 20 years of experience in women’s health. Named the 2024 Menopause Specialist of the Year, featured in Who’s Who in America 2025 and a member of The Menopause Society, he has dedicated his career to becoming the trusted resource his mother never had. Inspired by witnessing her struggle through an unexplained hot flash, Tafiq now equips women with the knowledge, strategies and support they need to navigate menopause and age with confidence.Your VELVET journey
Connect deeply.
Live fully.
Lead boldly.
Monday
Welcome Reception
Arrive, exhale and begin building meaningful connections.
Tuesday
Wellness & Empowerment
Movement, keynotes, play shops and shared experiences.
Wednesday
Vision & Activation
Turn inspiration into intention and leave ready to rise.
Your next chapter is calling
There is a seat
with your name on it.
Join 250 women for a restorative, energizing and unforgettable experience designed to honor every part of who you are becoming.
Book your spot before it sells out ↗Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Autem dolore, alias, numquam enim ab voluptate id quam harum ducimus cupiditate similique quisquam et deserunt, recusandae.
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