ASHLAND — Amy Daubenspeck, the president of Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce, knew she wanted to implement a new event for women this year.
Each April, the Chamber hosts an event to celebrate women in the workplace, and it’s always a hit, Daubenspeck said. Last year it hosted a luncheon for women in male-dominated workplaces that set the bar high.
So this year, Daubenspeck knew she had to aim for the fences.
She started brainstorming in February with the idea of a charcuterie board workshop, but wanted something bigger. Eventually, the Chamber decided to host its first-ever women’s conference.
Daubenspeck said the event came together around Sue Ramsey, a retired Ashland University women’s basketball coach. The Chamber booked her to be a keynote speaker, and then everything else fell into place. It took six months of planning.
The event, titled “Ignite: Mind, Body, Soul,” aimed to develop “the whole person,” Daubenspeck said. As of Sept. 27, the conference had 127 registrants.
“I think a lot of times women just don’t give themselves the grace that they need to,” Daubenspeck said. “So, I feel like this is one of those things where we can say, ‘We see each other, we see you, and you are enough and you are doing a good job and you are special.’”
The conference offered a keynote speech from Ramsey, Heather Suerdieck, the owner of Inside Out Coaching LLC, and breakout sessions on topics like healthy eating, leading with emotional intelligence and a working moms panel.
All the events took place Friday in the newly-renovated Ashland Theatre.
Keynote speakers
Suerdieck, the morning’s keynote speaker, owns Inside Out Coaching LLC. The business operates out of Darke County, where Suerdieck acts as a certified personal coach.
Her speech at Friday’s event focused on everyday tips and tricks to bring feelings of empowerment into peoples’ day-to-day lives.
She began with having women “toot their own horns” by getting into small groups and sharing things they were proud of in their lives. Then, she shared everyday items and the reminders she took from them.
Suerdieck put on giant sunglasses and told people that she used to think everybody approached problems from the same lens as her, until she realized that wasn’t the case. She encouraged the audience to be curious about each other’s lenses.
She gave similar speeches about an array of items, making analogies about how to improve one’s life through things like duct tape, sponges and a Monopoly game board.
Suerdieck’s speech ended with an invitation for the audience to share reflections about which item and analogy resonated with them most.
Ramsey took the baton, giving a keynote address after lunch and a breakout session, too.
She coached Ashland University’s basketball team for its championship run in 2013, and was named the NCAA Division II Coach of the Year that year. Now that she’s retired, she shares her experiences.
Her speech’s focus was on the components of being a good teammate.
Ramsey broke it down into five parts:
- Knowing your why
- Embracing your role
- Having and being a mentor
- Communication
- Positive attitude
She shared personal anecdotes about how each of those components made a difference in her life, whether it was with coaching her team to a national championship or her P.E. teachers’ mentorship before Title IX was enacted.
Ramsey began and ended her speech with everyone playing rock-paper-scissors. When they played at the beginning, everyone did so as an individual. But at the end, Ramsey had the women cheer on the person who beat them to demonstrate the power of having a team behind you.
“Always cheer on your teammate,” Ramsey said. “If you want to see your team excel, that’s how it happens.”
Breakout sessions
The event also offered breakout sessions after both keynote speakers.
For the first breakout session, women had a choice between presentations on meditation and music assisted meditation, healthy eating for women on-the-go and leading with emotional intelligence.
Attendees were divided fairly evenly among the sessions in the morning.
Kathleen Chandler, an employee at Charles River Laboratories, said the healthy eating breakout session was a highlight for her.
She said she wants to take some of the lessons she learned home to her husband and 12-year-old daughter.
The second breakout session offered a workshop on building a personal brand, a working moms panel and a presentation on time management.
The workshop and panel offered interactive options. In the building of a personal brand workshop, women filled out a worksheet detailing their strengths and values.
The working moms panel opened the door to conversations, too.
Women were emotional as they shared their stories of balancing work and raising their children. Many discussed challenges with finding childcare and the importance of having employers who allow flexibility with bringing children to work.
“Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Make a village,” said Sandra Tunnell, one of the women on the panel and the executive director of Ashland Main Street.
The ‘best event’
The women who attended the event had nothing but positive feedback to share.
A group from Brethren Care Village attended because their human resources director and chief executive officer asked them.
Becca Schreiber, one of the Brethren Care employees, said the entire day was a great experience.
“It’s definitely the best event I’ve been to so far,” Schreiber said.
Melanie Fitch, one of Schreiber’s co-workers, agreed. Fitch said her favorite part of the day was the coach’s keynote speech.
Jen Washock, the director of social services at Ashland’s Kroc Center, said she asked to do the conference as a team building event for her social services staff. She said she’d bring them back again next year.
Washock said the morning keynote was her favorite part of the day. She said the tangible props and ideas of how to transform thoughts was helpful.
“Everyone needs to have community and that tribe and a shoulder to cry on,” Washock said.
Even though the weeks leading up to the event came with some anxiety, Daubenspeck said the day was successful.
“Everything went off flawlessly,” Daubenspeck said.
