On Wednesday, November 13, nearly 450 women gathered at the inaugural Professional Women’s Conference hosted by Northwest Indiana Influential Women Association (NWIIWA). The day-long event full of keynote speakers, meeting vendors and breakout sessions took place at the Blue Chip Casino.
Andrea Pearman, the executive director of NWIIWA, had the idea less than a year ago to bring professional, career-driven women together to have open conversations and hear speakers talk about career development.
“There is little to zero professional development and career development for women here in Northwest Indiana, and that aggravates me,” Pearman said. “Why? It is because it takes a lot to put this together. We have a great association and a great committee. We all decided that we would work together and put this on.”
Pearman credited ArcelorMittal and its global research and development sector for helping the idea get launched in less than a year. She’s thankful the company believed in her and NWIIWA from the start.
The Professional Women’s Conference provided resources and camaraderie for those in attendance. Nearly 30 vendors from many different industries were positioned around the space to be visited at any point. Attendees were able to hear from four keynote speakers tackling success, personal vision, joy in a career and unlocking full potential. There were also nine breakout sessions to choose from. Each attendee could personalize their three breakout sessions towards their career needs.
“What's really unique and what we really try to do is to have every attendee pick a breakout for wherever they are in their career,” Pearman said. “You may be looking for something different than I'm looking for. We really wanted to make it so you can choose a topic that appeals to you, not just this overall one that you have to listen to.”
Christine Sandman-Stone, the keynote speaker in the morning, gave an hour-long motivational workshop about how to succeed in today’s workspace. One of the stories she shared was about a leadership retreat where a team-building exercise with balloons highlighted the importance of focusing on the most critical tasks.
“Once you know what the most important thing is, you behave differently and will move your life forward,” Sandman-Stone said. “There’s always more than we have the capacity for. The kicker is figuring out what we let drop. The truth is, we need to let things drop in order to get the most important things done.”
Although Sandman-Stone’s workshop was focused on enhancing leadership and management skills, there was something for everyone to take from it. She gave the attendees pointers, encouraged them to take notes and presented future scenarios to imagine what they would do.
The conference is Pearman’s gift to the community, especially the women. Attendees were encouraged to meet someone new between sessions, whether that meant taking a photo together at the photo booth or scheduling to meet up at a later date. The goal was for the women present to obtain key lessons while building their career and network. Pearman hopes the conference becomes a legacy more women can take part in.
“If you take away one thing that you can implement tomorrow, or the conference inspires you to say, ‘I can do it,’ it’s a huge success,” Pearman said. “You can be brave and meet new people. Follow up and expand your tribe. Expand your network of women because it's hard, and there are women here that will help. You have people here to meet and network. You have speakers to inspire you and help you with being brave to ask for a raise or working well with your teammates.”
To learn more about Northwest Indiana Influential Women Association, visit www.professionalwomensconference.com.