Last week NAED held the largest association conference of the season, its annual Women in Industry conference, which was held in Houston and reportedly attracted about 1100 people with about 50% being first time attendees. According to conversations I had with some women that attended, the event has become so popular, and valued, within some companies that the companies now have application and/or lottery processes to select attendees … and these companies still have 50+ attendees (and Sonepar reportedly had over 100!

And every attendee I spoke with, and LinkedIn posting I saw, spoke very highly about the speakers.

A few women offered to share their input. Desiree Grace, whom I’ve known for 10+ years, was the first to share her input.

Women in Industry … Powerful and Electric

“Talk about powerful! This year’s Women in Industry Forum, held in Houston, was electric.

Wes Smith, NAED ‘s President and CEO, joined incoming NAED Chairman John Eggleton, also President and CEO of Kirby-Risk, to kick off the forum, continuing the trend started by Wes and Paul Kennedy, outgoing chair, of showing up and visibly supporting the event. Over 1000 women were in attendance, and almost 500 were first-time attendees. As the forum has been in existence for almost 20 years, the growth is impressive, as is the support of current NAED leadership. Companies are investing in their high-potential early career female talent, and it shows.

Was this event a good investment? Absolutely. The committee that hired external speakers outdid themselves. Day one started out with the dynamic Cassandra Worthy, who spoke about managing change and learning how to embrace change as an opportunity. While she provided many pearls of wisdom, one quote stood out: “You can get bitter, or better. The skillsets shared didn’t stop with managing yourself in the face of change, best practices on how to mitigate resistance to change within your teams.

Elaine Lin Hering, a communications expert, spoke on “Unlearning Silence: How to Find and Use Your Voice.” This was essentially an excellent sharing of best practices in effective communication. One of her best teachings was viewing resistance as engagement, and seeking to understand the resistors perspective and what might be driving the resistance.

Vanessa Van Edwards, a behavioral researcher, shared “The Surprising Secrets of High Performers: How the Most Successful People Use Effective Communication to be More Productive.” This was an enlightening session covering Executive Prescence, aka Charisma, and how communications, verbal and written, can impact your interactions. My favorite quote from Vanessa was “It’s not about being positive all the time—it’s about being purposeful.”

The closing keynote was dynamic. Michelle Poler shared how to “Fear Less and Do More.” She shared how she chose growth over comfort and inspired her audience to do the same. This motivating speaker challenged the attendees to tap into their full potential, and even including audience interaction and networking. She shared that “growth is a choice,” and that “fear is an opportunity.” Ask yourself, “What’s the best that can happen?”

One of the best learning opportunities was a panel moderated by Leslie Malloy, WESCO, featuring Kaylee Cymbal, ABB, Chastity DeVito, Crawford Electric Supply, Beth Donaldson, Mars Electric, Toni Kilbrew, Rexel, and Cora Walker, Omni Cable. “Moving from Expert to Executive” highlighted best practices and lessons learned as one moves through one’s career and transitions from individual contributor to leader. The panel was open and transparent, even sharing mistakes made and lessons learned.

Participants also had the opportunity to attend various break-out sessions, offered by industry leaders. Topics ranged from Bridging Generational Differences, Customer Experience Process Improvement, Crucial Conversations, Navigating the Data Center Surge, Supply Chain Efficiency, Cyber Security and Leadership verses Management. A variety of industry women graciously shared their time and expertise with the attendees.

Morning fitness offerings included a 3k, or 5k walk or run, 2 yoga classes, a HIT class and even a 90s dance class. Body and soul were nurtured last week.

Women in Industry Gives Back

One of the most satisfying outcomes was “NAED Women in Industry Gives Back.” Every year local charities benefit from fundraisers held at the event, but this year was a record breaker. $50,000 was raised to support Houstonian women fighting breast cancer without insurance. Handbags, gently used, were also donated to the local affiliate of Dress for Success. The groundswell of support for charities benefitting other women was this year’s theme in action: Power You, Power the Future. From the volunteers who power this event, the speakers who share their wisdom, and the individual women sharing with those who need help, this year’s forum was indeed Powerful.”

Desiree Grace is a senior leader in the electrical distribution and manufacturing sectors, with over 30 years’ experience. Desiree leads Sales and Customer Care for the Americas for Mersen and supports River Heights Consulting with special projects. A frequent contributor to industry publications and co-host of the DistribuTED with tED magazine podcast, she is a strong advocate for the electrical industry. Desiree was the 2017 NAED Women in Industry Trailblazer. Find her on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/desireecgrace.

Thank you, Desiree. Based upon your feedback, those of us who only attend the regionals and national are surely jealous of the great schedule