By Caylie Moore, Features Editor
On Sept. 17, the City of Gadsden and Regions Bank presented Advancing Women to the Top — an annual professional development conference hosted in partnership with the Etowah, Calhoun, Cherokee and Marshall County Chambers of Commerce — at The Venue at Coosa Landing. By its scheduled 9 a.m. start, the conference had already welcomed hundreds of attendees looking forward to a day full of interactive and dynamic speeches focused on career advancement; networking with other women striving to get ahead in their fields; and wining and dining, courtesy of local restaurants and businesses.
The number of attendees only continued to grow as those arriving settled in at their assigned tables and served themselves breakfast, a range of catered foods that included breakfast sandwiches; chicken and waffles; and Three Crow Coffee. Early attendees also found some time to browse and shop at the booths in the Vendor Village, which was made up of many businesses owned by and created for women, like Victory Cheer & Tumble and A Golden Lady Boutique.
Farah Hayes — former Dean of Academic Programs and Services at Gadsden State Community College and current Executive Director of Challenger Learning Center of Northeast Alabama — officially opened the event at 9:25 a.m. with a short welcoming speech, in which she thanked the Etowah Chamber of Commerce for allowing her to host again this year and Heather Brothers New for creating the Advancing Women to the Top conference 11 years ago.
“Look how big [this conference] is!” Hayes said once she spotted Brothers New among the attendees, gesturing around the packed venue with a smile. “We’re so excited that you’re here. We’re thankful for your vision, and hopefully this is what you wanted it to be.”
The conference — “designed with the woman in mind,” as stated on the Etowah Chamber of Commerce website — also featured speeches from community leader Angela McKenzie; keynote speaker Cierra Cottman; true crime experts Scott Wright, Katy Givens and Kelly Turner; and author and comedian Ellen Skermetti.
After Hayes’ opening, McKenzie — a 32-year Regions veteran who has held leadership roles inside and outside the bank, including board positions at Alabama State University and Birmingham Civil Rights Institute — took the stage and kicked off the series of talks for the day.
McKenzie’s portion of the conference focused on recognizing that everyone is responsible for their own career — a statement which included every woman in the room. “I want to key in on intentionality: don’t leave [what happens in your career] to chance,” she cautioned at the beginning of her speech. “Be certain that you are owning your career with a level of intentionality.”
“We have to recognize that it is important for us to build our own board of directors. Those people show up differently for us,” McKenzie stated, before going on to explain who that board should consist of and what role they play in someone’s career.
“The mentor is the person who talks to you: you get frustrated, you go to them for advice, they give you guidance…The sponsor is who talks about you: they talk about you in a positive way. [However, the most important is] the advocate. [They’re] the person who stands up for you and speaks for you at those times when decisions are being made and opportunities are being discussed — they’re going to put your name forward as someone who is able to fulfill that role.”
McKenzie delved into how the roles of the mentor, sponsor and advocate worked by listing out examples from her own life, and she added that oftentimes the opportunities her “board of directors” would put in front of her were opportunities that she did not know existed. Building that circle — both for herself and for others — was the key to moving forward in her career.
In addition to centering “intentionality” in one’s career and building one’s “board of directors,” McKenzie offered a variety of other career tips to the audience during her speech, including — but not limited to — knowing one’s own strengths and weaknesses; being confident enough to speak up for oneself; asking for what one wants instead of remaining silent; and remaining open to new or unexpected opportunities.
To conclude her speech, McKenzie once again emphasized making meaningful connections with other people — especially other women who may need that mentor, sponsor or advocate themselves.
“As [you] are striving to reach for the top, whose name are you saying in the room when they are not there? Someone said yours. We want to be sure we are putting ourselves in a position to be supportive of the next lady.”
Keynote speaker Cierra Cottman — a workforce strategist and speaker with over two decades of experience in workforce development and executive leadership — echoed many of the same sentiments as McKenzie. Her speech, however, was centered mostly around the topic of building one’s own confidence, stressing that it was just as important to support oneself as it was to support other women.
“Women learn very early how to recognize what it feels like to be in a room and still not be seen,” Cottman stated. “We make up nearly half of entry-level corporate America positions, but only 29% of women are in the C-suite. For women of color, that number in 7%.” She continued to read out statistics illustrating the disparity between men and women’s achievements in the workplace, adding that there were a variety of reasons that women did not reach the same ceilings as men — and it had very little to do with capability.
“Being underestimated may have shaped us — but it does not have to define us,” Cottman emphasized, before sharing tips on how to build self-confidence with the acronym EXCEL (Empower, Excellence, Cultivate, Elevate, Lead).
She encouraged attendants to empower their own voices; embrace mistakes to reach excellence; cultivate relationships that feed the; elevate themselves by putting down others’ expectation of them; and lead before they are given the title and, more importantly, before they are given permission.
Additionally, four women — one each from Cherokee, Calhoun, Etowah and Marshall County — received Fierce Woman Awards, which recognize local female leaders, professionals, and community changemakers for their achievements. Rachel Taylor of Emblem Credit Union won the Fierce Woman Award for Etowah County and gave a short speech thanking those in attendance and expressing gratitude for being able to serve the community in her role.
The second half of the event took place after lunch was served, in which Scott Wright, Katy Givens, Kelly Turner, and Ellen Skermetti spoke about various subjects, such as the true crime case of Judith Ann Neelley. Buffalo Rock also hosted a “wine down” in which wine was served to the attendees. The conference concluded at 3:30 p.m. with a short closing speech.
