'Women in Print' Share Experiences That Defined Them
To recognize the trailblazing efforts of women in the printing industry, Big Picture magazine created the Women in Print Awards last year and honored six accomplished industry women. Yesterday afternoon, two of those 2016 winners joined three 2017 winners for a panel discussion about the role of women in today’s print industry.
Moderated by Fawn Germer, work life balance speaker, the discussion delved into the traits and experiences that have brought these exemplary women into the limelight. On the panel were:
- Mary Smith, CEO, ImageSmith Communications
- Kelly Taylor, founder/CEO, Metropolitan West
- Michelle Gobert, president/ owner, Image360 Central
- Lynn Krinsky, president, Stella Color
- Elaine Scrima, VP, operations, GSP
Germer asked each to talk about their “defining moment” in life. Krinsky revealed that it came after a friend died of cancer and in her grief she decided to stop putting off her dream trip to Nepal. The experience was a “pivotal point” in her life and motivated her to move from Boston to Seattle and start her own business.
Smith talked about the courage it took to quit her teaching job in the early ’80s to buy and run a Minuteman Press franchise.
Gobert noted a similar change in career direction when she stepped away from accounting in 1990 to help run the sign business her husband started. Her defining moment came when her children, now grown, told her they were inspired by her years of hard work and wanted to be entrepreneurs like her.
Asked by Germer to detail a lesson they learned in their careers, two honorees said that early on they were too lenient in extending credit to customers.
“Don’t be afraid to ask for your money up front,” Gobert said. “You’re not a bank.” She also learned to take a hard line on defending her prices and not negotiate them.
Germer wrapped up by sharing her strategy: “Accept, cope and adapt.” The faster you do that, she said, the faster you can get on with life.
