LIVERPOOL, NY -- Hundreds of women gathered at the Holiday Inn in Liverpool today for the Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (WISE) Symposium.

The event is held to encourage women who are starting a business and to help those who have already started.

Glorius Williams attended the conference. She says, now that her four children are all grown up, she wants to start a business for herself. She says she'd like to have a business that helps children with nutrition, and the conference is a good first step.

"It's like a dream come true," says Williams. "All of us women, looking for the same thing. We can help each other, energize each other."

Susan Reed has been running her business, Sweet Fortunes, for about six years. She was at today's event picking up some new strategies and offering some advice herself.

"Follow your dreams. Follow your passion, and if you do have the passion, you have to make a commitment toward it," says Reed. "You can't just want it. You have to do it."

The conference offered seminars in everything from accounting to social media. The keynote speaker was Bobbi Brown, the founder of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics. She told entrepreneurs anything is possible, and now is a great time to follow your dreams.

"When the economy is struggling, I think it's the best time to reinvent yourself," says Brown. "To really stop and think and press the reset button and say, 'What is it that I really want to do?'"

If you're thinking about starting a business and didn't make it to the conference, you're in luck. The WISE center on South Salina St. in Syracuse is open throughout the year.