Economic Alliance hosts Women in Business Seminar: ‘Surround yourself with people who want to see you succeed’

Founder of Clarity Consulting firm and Centralia Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston opened her keynote address of the Economic Alliance of Lewis County’s annual Women in Business Seminar with a description of the series of setbacks that had happened so far that day, which many women in attendance found relatable.

“We’re going to do our best together, and I know you all will be kind,” Smith Johnston said.

That comradery and relatability between working women was a key focus of the Women in Business Seminar, which, now in its third year, aims to bring women together to learn from each others’ experiences and network with each other.

“I think (the Economic Alliance of Lewis County) are doing some really great things in our community, and this is a good example,” Smith Johnston said.
This year’s event included a keynote address from Smith Johnston and a Q&A panel of four prominent businesswomen in Lewis County: Chehalis Foundation Executive Director Jenny Collins, Country Financial VonMoos Insurance Group Owner Stephanie VonMoos, Paula Burrows of the eXp Realty Paula Burrows Team, and Evexia NW Medical Director Jennifer Brown.

The women each shared examples of the challenges they faced when starting down their current career paths, support they received from female mentors, and advice for other working women.

In her keynote address, Smith Johnston shared a list of four principles that she operates her own business off of “as a way to ground us in what it means to be a woman in business,” she said.

“I have thought a lot about being a woman in business and … I think a lot of our rules nowadays are very similar to men. I don’t know that there’s a huge gap. There are some differences,” Smith Johnston said.

The four principles she presented are:

• Forming and maintaining quality relationships. “Relationships are primary in everything that we do. Relationships are more important to me than financials, and the quality of the relationship will determine the health of my client and the engagement,” Smith Johnston said.

• Making money matters. “As women in business, when we make money, we can provide for ourselves, we can provide for our families. We also get a seat at the table,” Smith Johnston said. “Money is power, and we get to use money to live out our values. We need to be more open and honest and supportive about how we make money and supporting each other in making that money.”

• Moments of breakage are moments of strength. “The times where we absolutely break are the times where we want to hide and where we want to cover that up and not show that part to the world, and it’s those times where we could lean in and have a lot of power,” Smith Johnston said, relaying an anecdote about a client who spoke about his recent stress- and mental health-related problems at a team meeting and how that vulnerability strengthened his relationship with his team. “That was his biggest weakness in that moment, and he turned that into a strength to talk about how we can struggle and still be strong leaders,” Smith Johnston said. She referred to the philosophy as “kintsugi leadership,” in reference to the Japanese artform of repairing broken pottery with gold lacquer. “I encourage you to practice that in your own life and let people in a little,” Smith Johnston said.

• Perseverance. “Perseverance is almost trite, but I have to talk about it, because we have to keep going when we’re women in business, and sometimes keeping on … is one of the hardest things that we can do,” Smith Johnston said, talking about a difficult time she had over the last six months with professional challenges and adjusting to her kids being in college as an example. “Every single one of you, whether it’s right now or at a different time in your live, you’ve gone through things like this, and what you have to do is keep going,” Smith Johnston said. “ … Forward progress matters, and it might be slow and it might be messy, but it matters.”

The four panelists who spoke during the Q&A section of the seminar echoed several of Smith Johnston’s points when describing their own unique experiences in the workforce.

As part of the panel discussion, each panelist was asked to give three pieces of advice to women going into professional careers.

“Surround yourself with people who want to see you succeed. Surrounding yourself with positive people is the number one,” VonMoos said. “I would not be where I am today without the positive people in my life, and the negative people — it’s kind of funny, they’ve all just disappeared. And I’m not sad about it.”

VonMoos also encouraged women to “stay gritty” and “don’t be afraid to jump.”
For her advice, Burrows said, “I would say to be genuine … authentic and lead by example, because people are watching you always. You don’t think they are, but whether it’s social media, whether it’s in life, whether it’s personal business or whatever, people look up to you if you’re leaning the right way.”

She also encouraged working women to “always respect your reputation, even if you have to go the extra mile,” and to “go out and volunteer in your community and be a shining light and let people follow your example and want to give back.”

Said Collins: “I think you have to adapt, right? The world’s ever changing, Politics are changing, our community is growing by leaps and bounds, so be ready to adapt. Build a network.”

She added that it’s important not just to have a business network, but a personal network that can support you after a bad day.

“All those things come together, and at the end of the day, don’t forget who you are — and that’s really important, because … every day is not a success when you go to work, right? But if you know who you are at the end of the day, and you capitalize on that, and you’re surrounding yourself (with family) at home or with your friends, your church, your community, those are the things that make you feel good on those bad days,” Collins said.

“I’m kind of going to go with the rest of you ladies because I would say surround yourself with positive people. Don’t be afraid to ask questions,” Brown said. “ … Being authentic, I think, is really important, as well as just really treating others the way you want to be treated.”

Brown also encouraged women to not devalue themselves.

“Always know that you are valuable, and don’t expect others to see that. You have to show them how valuable you are.”

The seminar was sponsored by The Silver Agency, The Chronicle, Providence Swedish, Puget Sound Energy, Clarity Consulting and Edward Jones — Julia Gaul.

Learn more at https://lewiscountyalliance.org.