Empowering Women in Print
At the third annual Women in Print Alliance Breakfast, held Thursday morning, a sold-out crowd greeted the lineup of speakers. This year’s keynote speaker was teenage fashion designer Ariel Swedroe, along with Adrienne Palmer, editor-in-chief, Screen Printing and Big Picture magazines. She was followed by Kristin Lanzarone-Scribner, owner-operator, WrapStar Pro; Michelle White, technical market manager, Vycom Plastics (Booth 7644); Tiffany Rader Spitzer, operations and technical product manager, Roeder Industries, and owner/operator RedHeaded Step Shirt Consulting Co.; and Heather Roden, strategic account manager, Zünd America (Booth 7827).
The event was packed with tips for the women — and men — in the room for getting ahead in their careers and making their voices heard. A few of those include:
Make time for yourself. The speakers all stressed that it is important to know who you are, and to take the time to be content with yourself. You can’t succeed in a professional capacity, or expect anyone else to believe in you, if you don’t first believe in yourself.
Set goals, and then work to achieve them. It doesn’t matter if they are weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual, or even five-year goals. Don’t be afraid to set a bar so high it makes you a little nervous, and then go for it anyway.
Speak with confidence. You are good at what you do, and while it is tempting to fall back into a common habit many women have fallen into, stop apologizing for having an opinion, stop qualifying your statements, and stop discounting what you have to say before you even say it.
Get out of your own way. Too often, women allow a voice in their own head to tell them they aren’t good enough, or worth enough, or valuable enough to achieve their goals. Stop allowing that voice to dominate your mental conversation.
Don’t be afraid to fail. Every stumble is a chance to learn something that can be applied to the next situation. Don’t let a crisis or setback define you — use them to make yourself stronger, and to make you even more determined to reach your goals.
