January 30, 2024 • 55 mins
Have you ever walked into a room and felt the physical energy of unity and purpose? That's the essence of what transpired when I talked with the dynamic board members of the Women in Leadership Society. April Lebo(President), Kim Rowland(Vice-President), Amber Sportsman(Treasurer), Adrianna England(Secretary), and Danielle McGeary(AAMI) joined me for an enlivening discussion on navigating the complex terrain of women in leadership within the HTM field. We dissected what it means to lead with passion and work ethic, and how these powerful women are creating inroads for mentorship and shattering gender barriers.
The heart of our conversation illuminated the society's adept use of platforms like LinkedIn to cultivate a robust network that's become integral in supporting and propelling women's careers. With personal stories that spark encouragement and a profound sense of connection, we discovered the transformational impact of storytelling and personal relationships. The spotlight glowed bright on the significance of such networks for recruitment, retention, and inspiring the upcoming group of female leaders. We also reveled in the anticipation of the Women in Leadership reception at AAMI Exchange2024, an event symbolic of our collective efforts to foster inclusivity and to challenge the gendered status quo.
As our dialogue ended, we celebrated the positive effects the Women in Leadership Society is having on its members and the broader HTM community. The personal stories shared by our panel served as a testament to the power of collaboration and mutual upliftment. Looking ahead, we discussed the excitement surrounding the society's expansion, including the potential formation of local chapters and inviting international members to join in their efforts. This episode is a tribute to the influence and action of leadership, a rally cry for unity, and a reminder that when fearless women unite, the impact is boundless and the future is bright. Join us on this journey of empowerment and see firsthand the difference a dedicated community can make.
This podcast is sponsored by The College of Biomedical Equipment Technology. You can find out more information about this outstanding institution at CBET.EDU.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Bryant Hawkins (00:06):
Welcome to HTM on the Line, the podcast that's
for HTM by HTM.
I'm your host, bryant Hawkins,senior.
Today, we have the pleasure offeaturing the dynamic board
members of the Women inLeadership Society.
Joining us are April Lieber,the President, kim Rowland, the
(00:29):
Vice President, amber Sportsman,the Treasurer, adriana Inglon,
the Secretary, and De'YaleMcHary from Ailey.
In this episode, we'll divedeep into the mission and goals
of the Women in LeadershipSociety, exploring their
impactful journey and futureaspirations.
Stay tuned for an inspiring andinsightful conversation.
(00:54):
How are you, ladies, doing thisevening?
Danielle McGeary (01:01):
Good, Wonderful.
Thank you Great great.
Bryant Hawkins (01:05):
I'm just so glad we finally was able to get
together.
It started with four, now I seewe have five, which is great,
and let's jump right into it.
First question I'm going to askand I'm going to direct this
toward you, danielle Can youshare the inspiration behind the
creation of the Women inLeadership Group?
What motivated each of you tojoin this movement?
(01:27):
Are you for that instance?
Danielle McGeary (01:29):
Absolutely.
And first and foremost, bryant,thank you so much for having us
on your podcast.
I love being on this show.
So it's such an honor to beback here today and talking
about the Women in LeadershipSociety.
To answer your question aboutthe inspiration, about the
creation, this was all April andjust really seeing a need for
(01:50):
connection among women leadersin the HTM field.
And she reached out to me aboutthis group and how could I not
be part of this or not want tojoin?
It's just such a great missionand I was so elated when she
reached out because I also agreethat there's such a need for
connection among women leadersand women in general in the HTM
(02:13):
field.
So, those of you who don't knowmy background, I started off in
an all male dominated 40 personself-op HTM department and I
was the only woman that workedin that department the whole
time.
I was there for seven years andluckily, my experiences were
all positive.
(02:35):
But it really shows the need forcommunity for each female is
just so necessary becausethere's so many unique
challenges about the, about justbeing a female in a male
dominated field, and that canalso just become isolating if
you don't have good connectionpoints.
And also once I learned aboutthe group, I obviously wanted to
(02:59):
be an individual contributorbecause I'm just so passionate
about the mission, as we all are, but I also knew that Amy would
want to help as well, and as anorganization we are so excited
about this initiative and Amy isalso happy to support this
initiative 100%, and I thinkreally what it really comes down
(03:19):
to is that we're just allstronger together.
Bryant Hawkins (03:23):
Great points, danielle.
I'm curious to hear what, adri,you have to say about this.
What's your thoughts on this,adri?
Adrianna England (03:34):
So I, as well as Danielle, is extremely
excited to be part of this.
For me, it was the fact thatall of our visions were aligning
.
So, april, myself, kim, we allhave the same visions, but we
were holding it all internally.
So, partnering together,joining a group of strong,
(03:54):
dedicated, passionate and, whatI'm going to say, fearless women
, is exactly what I feel thisHTM community needs.
So I'm just blessed to joinsome fearless women, and that's
what's inspiring me to actuallybe on the board.
If something new coming to thefield Great.
Bryant Hawkins (04:12):
Now, I was looking over your mission
statement and in the statementit mentions the importance of
bringing together a diverse mixof successful leaders.
How do you define success inleadership, especially in the
context of empowering women?
Let's see April.
Can you take that one for us?
April Lebo (04:31):
I sure can.
So for me, putting the missionstatement together and thinking
about getting a diverse mix ofwomen I took that in a lot of
different contexts because thereare so many different avenues
in our industry that you can go.
We've got people that areworking in straight healthcare,
(04:52):
We've got people that areworking in HTM, we have people
like us Amber, Adri, Kim, myselfthat are working in more of the
retail wholesale market.
So there's just so many avenuesthat the women can come from and
be a part of this group andbring their experiences and
(05:12):
their stories and theirleadership and their passion
about what we do to the group.
So that was first and foremost.
But then, in terms of reallydefining the success in
leadership, and what I feel isimportant is not necessarily
always the title, but peoplethat are just really passionate
(05:36):
about what they do, have thatsense of positivity and their
work ethic and want to sharethat every day with others,
whether that's coming into theiroffice every day and being that
light and that positivity tohelp encourage and motivate and
inspire others wanted to bringthat into the women in
(06:01):
leadership society so that wecan stand behind each other,
learn from each other and justshare in each other's success,
especially for a lot of thewomen that are just joining the
industry, being able to bementors and show them that it is
possible to be able to reallybe passionate about what you do
(06:23):
and grow whichever direction youwant to grow in.
We're here to help.
Bryant Hawkins (06:30):
That is so great .
I'm so proud of you, ladies.
I mean, this is somethingthat's dearly needed because, as
Danielle mentioned earlier,it's a male dominated industry,
and to hear the effort you putin into making this transition
for the new young ladies in theindustry is completely awesome
to me.
Now, danielle, earlier youmentioned about it being a male
(06:51):
dominated industry and you,being a leader within Amy, put
you in a unique position toanswer this question.
Could you possibly share someinsight on the main challenges
women encounter in leadershiproles and explain how your
organization is working totackle these challenges?
Danielle McGeary (07:12):
Yeah, absolutely, and you know, you
know I want to preface thisanswer.
You know that this is.
Some of these examples are myexperience, and obviously
everyone has a unique journey inthis field and everyone's and
because everyone's journey isdifferent, you know, we have
that, that diversity, right outof the gate.
(07:32):
You know, the more diverse weare, the more diverse our
conversations, and when we allcome together, sharing our
different stories, I thinkthat's where we really can, can
make change and really helpothers, and in that's one way
that this group really so nicelyaddresses these challenges that
I'm going to speak about.
You know, I think one, onechallenge that I've always seen
(07:55):
is people in the hospital notexpecting you to to be a female.
I'll never forget that I got acall in the OR and I had gone up
to look at the medical devicethat was broken and the chief of
the OR said to me oh, you know,sweetie, we don't need another
nurse, we're waiting for theengineer.
And I remember saying, well, Iam the engineer, I have an
(08:16):
engineering degree.
And and he just looked at meand said, oh, you don't look
like an engineer.
And I just said, well, what doengineers look like?
You know, and and I think it'skind of those types of
stereotypes people being caughtoff guard, especially if you're
young and also being female andanother challenge also is not
(08:40):
having women connection pointsreally easily.
In 2022, and you did an HTMdemographic survey and we
surveyed close to 8000 folks inthe field and only 10% of those
folks that answered the surveywere female, showing that 10% of
the field is female, showingthat that that we're not very
diverse and in regards to genderat all.
(09:02):
Because you don't have readilyaccessible connection points
with other females, it can behard in this group.
What's so great about it is,through the LinkedIn group and
in in as we grow, women now knowthe other women in the field.
It brings people together, itallows people away to ask
(09:26):
questions.
You know commiserate onchallenges and I think the final
challenge that that I have feltas being a female in the field
is since I became a working momand had my daughters.
I think it's sometimes very hardto ask for what you need when
your children are home sick.
(09:48):
You know obviously as much aswe're, you know, working female,
and that still falls on you alot and, and you know, I always
had this fear of saying you knowmy daughter's home sick, I you
know I need to take the day off,and a lot of that to me was
very self imposed and I thinkjust letting other people know
you know it's okay to ask forher what you need.
(10:09):
One of my favorite things inthis field is being able to
mentor.
I have always loved all welleveryone that that I've worked
with, but I've always tried totake a very vested role in
mentoring those who have workedfor me along the way, and I feel
as though you know, throughthis network that you know this
(10:30):
group has created, we reallyhave, our boundaries are
unlimited as to who we canconnect with and who we can
mentor and who we can help andwho we can empower, and that's
why I think this group is sogreat and you know, that's just
one of the many ways that we canhelp address this challenge.
Bryant Hawkins (10:49):
Collaboration and networking.
They're vital in any leadershiprole.
Now, how does women inleadership facilitate networking
and connection among itsmembers?
Adri, could you help us outwith that answer?
Adrianna England (11:03):
Of course, I am 100% in networking.
That is what I do.
That is how I started my career.
What we're doing is we focusedon LinkedIn.
We feel like in our HTMcommunity, that's a strong
social media platform.
We started our group in October.
We have 85 current members.
(11:24):
It's a private group, so thatis where we're focusing is
LinkedIn.
We also are looking for word ofmouth, so anybody that we're
connected with, we are invitingthem to the group.
We are sharing the group.
The HTM shows.
We just came back from Amy, Kimand I and instantly we're like
let's take a photo so we put itup.
We're high-fiving other womenin leadership, ladies that are
(11:49):
in the group as well, Peoplelike you, Bryant, like we're
hoping to get you on board tohelp spread the word.
Our newest thing is using Amyas another networking platform
to help us spread the word andget more women into our group.
Bryant Hawkins (12:03):
Adri gave a great answer there.
Anyone else have any thoughts?
April Lebo (12:08):
Through getting to know and hearing the stories and
seeing the other people in thegroup.
My hope is it's going to makeother women feel comfortable
being able to reach out to maybesomebody that they wouldn't
have ever known before, wouldn'thave ever thought to talk to.
But now we've got thisenvironment that really focuses
(12:29):
on those connections and thatnetworking and giving everybody
an opportunity, whether it'sthrough LinkedIn or finding them
through their work or personalemails, whatever it might be but
being able to just have thataccessibility to reach out and
just say I would love to talk toyou about your journey.
(12:51):
Can you tell me a little bitmore?
Here's what I'm facing.
How would you handle it?
And possibly being able to meetup at one of the Biomed shows
or Amy or one of the othernetworking events that are out
there, and just being able tohelp with those connections and,
again, having an environmentthat really promotes that
(13:16):
accessibility to talk to otherwomen in the group.
Kim Rowland (13:19):
Yeah, I agree, I'm going to jump in on this April.
I agree with that.
And I just want to add this wassort of your baby, your idea,
and you put this together andyou built a really great team.
But the biggest value that I'vegotten out of it is I've done
this a very long time but Idon't know that I've gotten the
one on one and really gettinginto the stories of it and sort
(13:44):
of humanizing it.
You see people in certain roleswith certain titles, the length
of time they've been in theindustry, and it can be a little
intimidating whether you're newin the industry or you're just
not.
Maybe you're a little more shy.
You know, sometimes those tradeshows can be a little bit
overwhelming, but then you sortof break it down.
We have a common goal and youbring us all together like this.
(14:05):
It really brings it down to alittle bit more manageable idea
and it makes it easier toconnect.
Danielle McGeary (14:12):
And just to piggyback off of that, this is
also a great mechanism forrecruitment retention and
succession planning as well.
We all know, combined with notbeing very diverse, we have an
aging workforce.
Over 60% of the field is overthe age of 60.
And I think it's so importantto succession plans for the
(14:37):
future.
And by having these kinds ofnetworking events and
connections, we're more apt tokeep females in the field, help
them grow their careers and moveup in a positive trajectory in
the field.
The last thing we'd want to dois lose female leaders or
females that have just enteredthe field because they feel
(14:59):
alone or unsupported or don'tknow who to turn to.
And if you take that one stepforward when we talk about
creating a pipeline into thefield, we all know that people
don't believe they can be whatthey cannot see, and females
seeing other females and havinga support system and seeing us
(15:19):
out there will help.
People want to come into thefield as well and it opens doors
.
I know whenever I see otherfemales in the field, I
automatically feel like they'remy best friends.
Up here in Boston there's a lotwell, I wouldn't say a lot,
probably still 10% but all thewomen that I've met up here
throughout my jobs at HartfordHospital, the VA, aira, mart,
(15:43):
have become my friends and youknow, because there's not many
of us and we band together.
And I think when we take that astep further, looking at you
know, when we do that outreachto high schools, to colleges and
females see other females,people more like them, it is
(16:03):
very appealing to draw people inand we are in desperate need of
people to grow this field forthe future, to ensure we have a
strong future going forward.
Bryant Hawkins (16:14):
Great answers, ladies.
Now I have a question for allof you.
Well, not a question, but moreof a favorite to ask.
Like I speak to a lot of highschool kids and, as Danielle
mentioned, not many of them theyoung ladies, don't see females
come and speak.
If I was to go to one of thesehigh schools and I set up a Zoom
meeting, would any of y'all beopen to remoting in and just
(16:39):
expressing from a femaleperspective of the industry if I
was able to set that up?
Danielle McGeary (16:45):
Yes, of course , okay, absolutely.
Bryant Hawkins (16:49):
Absolutely Great , great, great, Of course
absolutely.
Cause that be the and you have avery diverse group.
So that would be great.
I'm just thinking why you guysare talking and a lot of females
be in the audience, but theyjust it would be great if they
saw someone like you said.
Look like them.
So keep that thought in theback of your head.
(17:09):
I'll definitely tap into all ofy'all, if not one of y'all.
Now I'm looking at your missionstatement and it mentions that
education is one of your corecomponents.
What types of educationalresources and programs do you
offer to support women in theirleadership development?
Kim Rowland (17:31):
So I'll jump in on this one.
Bryant, I've got this is Kim.
I've got a long history in theeducational space as far as my
job and my career, but I thinkeducation has a lot of different
meanings.
We can talk about technicaleducation, but I also think
educating the females and thenew people getting into the
(17:52):
space, just about theopportunities, about connecting
with people.
It's always kind of been mypassion to connect with the.
Like Danielle was saying, whenyou see a new face in your area,
when you go to a trade show, Ijust like making people feel
comfortable.
When I got into this industryit was about 20 years ago and
(18:14):
10% is now, but back then it waseven less and the females that
were just easily welcomed meinto the space and introducing
me around.
I'm just very excited to beable to pay that forward.
We're pretty new as a group but,being connectors to the
(18:35):
different associations, thestate groups at trade shows, our
main goal is to get the wordout, find times that we can have
a specific meeting, have anetworking event, something like
that at the symposiums or thetrade shows, maybe even at
quarterly meetings.
We'd really love to see whatthe interest is and hopefully it
spreads and we can normalizethe rules and normalize the
(19:01):
education at all levels, whetherit's the technical level, the
manager level.
You're just getting intocustomer service, as you
mentioned too, brian, thatthere's a variety of us on this
panel.
I don't think any one of us.
We got a little bit of anoverlap, but there's a lot to
pull from and I'm learning evenfrom being in this group, and
then the mentorship.
Of that, I'm excited to be ableto offer that, even being
(19:25):
mentored from these ladies thatI get to be with on this board,
and also that I'm going to bemeeting in the field, that we're
going to be meeting in thefield.
Bryant Hawkins (19:36):
Yeah, since you touched on mentorship mentoring
I'm going to ask you this do thewomen in the leadership group
have any plans for mentoring orhaving a mentorship initiative
within your society?
Kim Rowland (19:50):
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely, and mentorship is
really what the foundation hasbeen built on.
April really had a strongpassion for that.
She's got a lot of stories thatshe could share, but the
mentorship part of it.
What I found interesting, and Ialluded to earlier that the Amy
website has a lot of resourcesand there's a lot of things that
(20:13):
we don't have to rebuild.
We don't have to recreate thewheel.
We can point in directions, butonce you saw, it's kind of shine
a light and you really you knowyou go into these areas that
people are interested in and youconnect with them on a personal
level, it becomes a little bitmore real.
I've heard all those things butwe're busy, all of us are busy.
You don't always have time totake the time.
(20:34):
Let's go to the website, take alook at this, but hey, I
connect with Danielle and shegives some fantastic stats, but
they've already built so manythings, so many programs, and
have bridges that can connectyou to the things that.
Mentorship is one of those thatare already in progress and
that's definitely something thatwe want to continue to really
(20:56):
build and to be able to connectwith on an individual level.
Bryant Hawkins (21:01):
Thank you for that April.
So they say you the brain trustbehind this great society here.
I know it may be early, but isthere a way you can maybe share
some inspiring success storiesor examples of women who have
benefited from being a part ofthis group already?
April Lebo (21:22):
Sure, I know for me personally I have seen such a
change in myself, even though ithas been just a few months that
we put this together Just forme.
Again in my own work life I havefound inspiration and
(21:43):
encouragement just through thesegirls, through this group, to
have some really hardconversations that I don't think
I would have been able to havea year ago and would have been
very uncomfortable for me.
But knowing that we have thisgroup and the mission behind the
group is to help encouragewomen to be more vocal and to do
(22:06):
some things that might makethem feel out of their comfort
zone and really gave me thedetermination to do some things
and have again conversation thatI might not have been
comfortable doing before.
So just some personal successstories that I've found from
(22:27):
being in the group.
But also one of our members isgoing to be speaking at a state
society show next month and waspretty nervous about it and
reached out to the group askingfor advice, for some tips, and a
lot of people were able to jumpin and help her out and
hopefully that is giving her alittle more confidence in terms
(22:49):
of the talk that she's going tobe doing and utilizing the group
I know Danielle is going to bespeaking at the same show and
really us rallying behind tohelp promote, not only within
the group but even on our ownpersonal social media pages, to
get that out there, to helpsupport Danielle, to help
(23:10):
support Rihanna and to getpeople to go and attend and be a
part of that we can all rallybehind and just support.
So my hope is that it willcontinue to grow.
More women will speak out inthe group and ask for advice,
ask for help, and we cancontinue to build on some
(23:31):
success stories that way.
Bryant Hawkins (23:32):
Oh, that's great and I would gladly promote
anyone also.
Feel free to shoot me, shout meout.
I'll do what I can to help also.
Now, this next question is forDanielle.
This is for Amber, and thereason I'm picking Amber is
because she's one of the mostactionable people at the shows.
I mean, I may not know her name, but I know her color and we
(23:55):
all know that.
And so, amber, everyone knowsdream.
So I want to ask you what aresome actionable strategies or
advice you offer to womenlooking to take on leadership
roles or advance in theircareers?
Amber Sportsman (24:12):
It's a mindset.
As we've discussed at greatlength, mentorship is huge.
It was huge in my career.
I mean recognizing someone thatyou admire, that you can learn
from, that you can strive to belike, really helped me look
(24:36):
forward and understand.
This is what I want to do aswell.
So learn from those that youcan learn from and, at the same
time as you're growing, be thatrock for everyone else as well.
Don't make it about you.
You can't.
When you're trying to grow intoa leadership role, you have to
(25:00):
set your pride aside.
You have to be willing to helpothers.
You have to be a mentor, asyou're being mentored for sure.
It seems to be the commondenominator with all of us
mentorship.
And, just like Danielle saidshe talked about empowerment and
(25:22):
you do, and once you reach thatleadership role, you have to
empower those people that dowork for you but you're still
working for others.
So it's not particularly astrategy, bryant, it's a mindset
.
I can do this, and I think ifyou're listening to this podcast
(25:46):
, really you should check outour war stories, because I said
in mine that you don't ever sayI can't do that or it's not my
job.
Take it on and if you don'tknow how to do it, then you
learn how to do it, and that'show you get ahead.
So don't let yourself doubtever get in the way, because you
(26:07):
can do it.
We've all done it, we'veaccomplished it.
Be true to yourself, so thatwould be my advice.
Bryant Hawkins (26:14):
Amber, I just want to tell you there's a great
answer and, despite what yousaid, you gave some actionable
actions there.
You said you need to be a rockto someone, you need to be a
servitude leader, you need toempower.
You shouldn't doubt yourself.
Those are some great strategiesand those are some actionable
items.
So you didn't think you weregiving them, but you trust me,
(26:37):
you was giving them and I'mwriting them down as you're
talking.
So trust me, they were veryimpressionable.
A great answer.
Now, along with thosestrategies there, that also ties
in with motivation and readingonce again from your mission.
You guys want to build amotivating culture.
That's one of your goals.
Can you elaborate on whatculture looks like and how it
(27:01):
contributes to the women'sgrowth and achievement within
your society?
Adrianna England (27:07):
Yeah, this is Adri.
I'll take that one.
Culture is something that Ihold near and dear to my heart.
In my current profession, I amthe director, but I also am a
leader for our engagement teamand learning and building what I
feel culture is, I've realized.
For culture there is no bestdefinition for that.
(27:29):
It's our beliefs that we'regoing to build, it's our general
culture of shared beliefs andit's setting patterns of just
human activity and how we shouldtreat each other in a community
or a social group setting.
So for me, we wanted to create asafe place for women, for young
(27:49):
adults, for professionals.
We want to have an open forum,so April's created this LinkedIn
group that we marked as privatebecause we are not too sure
who's going to share theirstories, who's going to share
their journeys, and we want tomake sure we have a safe place
for them to be open and feelsafe.
(28:10):
The biggest thing that I'mbuilding off of this culture
right now is we are givingencouragement by experience, and
to me that is invaluable.
We are a true testimony of whatit takes to start at the bottom
and work our way up, and that'sthe culture that we're bringing
.
We are bringing hard work,dedication with a safe
(28:32):
environment for all of us.
And I've said it before andI'll say it again I truly
believe together we can achievemore, and that's what April has
provided with this Women inLeadership group.
Bryant Hawkins (28:44):
I'm going to pose this question to Danielle
and Kim.
How does Women in Leadershipensure inclusivity and support
for women of all backgrounds andidentities?
How does Women in Leadershipensure this?
Danielle McGeary (28:58):
Yeah, absolutely so.
Just before I give an answer,I'll give a couple more
statistics about the HTM fieldas a whole.
When we talk about inclusionand different backgrounds, when
we did the diversity survey,only 8.5% of the HTM field now
this is the whole field, notjust female.
(29:20):
So this number would be evensmaller if we were just looking
at the female population.
But as a whole, only 8.5% ofthe HTM field identifies as
African American or Black andonly 7.3% of the field
identifies as Hispanic or Latinx.
So beyond just having a genderdiversity issue, we also have a
(29:44):
racial and ethnicity lack ofdiversity as well.
But one positive statistic, justso it doesn't seem all looming
gloom, because we're here tomake that better, be positive
and empower one another Of the10% females, 14% of HTM managers
(30:07):
are female, which is prettyremarkable, because the 10%
denominator, as we figure outthat that statistic, is the
field as a whole.
Then if you separate up themanagers, which is even a
smaller subset, you would thinkthat percentage would go down.
But it actually increased by 4%.
So that shows that the women inthe HTM field are succeeding in
(30:31):
moving up in the field, whichis very positive.
And just the comment onensuring inclusivity.
Obviously, this is a welcominggroup of every background and
because of the LinkedIn group,the world isn't so large anymore
.
Anyone can join and with Amybeing involved, we are an
(30:54):
international association and wedo do a lot of work with the
international HTM associationsas well, and we can help promote
this group not onlydomestically but internationally
.
Kim Rowland (31:08):
I love listening to all the stats.
We talk about these things butreally showing the depth in that
and sort of that gap that weare improving on and hopefully
we'll be a big part of that.
But I've not been a part ofmany industries.
I've been in this one about 20years but inclusion and
(31:30):
relationships and theco-operative portion of that
I've always valued that.
I talk to people that aresuccessful or in different roles
in other industries and it'svery hard to get your head
around the co-operative but whenI'm out there we're all in it
to do well in our jobs, to grow.
We're all out there to pay ourbills and to eat and to be
(31:52):
successful.
But I just feel like there's abigger section of us, male and
female, that are willing to getout there and to help people.
I think it's a people helpingpeople industry and when I'm at
a show I see new people or newerpeople.
I want to help introduce themaround and the inclusion part of
that has nothing to do withskin color.
(32:16):
Gender is something we'retrying to focus on.
I think this is not as muchabout gender, except we've got
to put some emphasis on that andreally normalize that.
That's my word for tonight isto normalize that for the female
side of it and for the youngergroup, but inclusion of all and
welcoming people into the space.
Bryant Hawkins (32:35):
Right, I mean, danielle has an engineering hat
on with the stats.
I'm giving the inclusion part Ican detest to all five of you
ladies.
I think I'm a pretty outgoingperson, but when I met each of
you, every single one of you waslike greeting me with open arms
(32:56):
as if we've been friends foryears.
So y'all have that talent andskill set to bring individuals
into your fold and I think it'sgoing to be a great thing you
guys have going on here.
Now, what about upcoming events?
Y'all mentioned a lot of showsand things like that.
Do y'all have any type of womenin leadership projects, events,
(33:18):
initiatives coming up?
Let's see, adri, can you takethat one?
Adrianna England (33:23):
Of course, I am the secretary, so I'm making
notes and I'm making meetings.
So luckily we partnered withDanielle just in time.
The Amy Exchange is coming upin June, located in Phoenix, and
if you're attending or if youcan get a day pass, amy is
donating a room for us on Sunday, june 16th.
(33:44):
It's going to be a one hourmeet and greet.
So it is our very first womenin leadership women in
leadership reception, 430 to 530.
You can meet the ladies on thepanel, join the team.
So that is our very first eventcoming up.
Some projects and again, ryan,you should feel special.
(34:05):
Our very first project wasbuilding this and spreading the
word and talking about who weare and what we represent.
So doing this podcast was onour list of projects to do,
because we can't spread the wordwithout the following.
So thank you again for allowingus to talk about who we are and
what we represent.
Bryant Hawkins (34:25):
I will be an Amy also, and I know it's a female
only event, but I do photographyand if you would need a media
guy to come in and take picturesof y'all event, I'll offer that
to you guys as a love offering.
But I know it's female only soI might not be the guy for it,
but that's something y'all canutilize if y'all like.
Now I was Brian.
Adrianna England (34:48):
let me stop you there for one second.
This is Adri.
I'm glad that you said that,because as we started this group
, we started to talk about isthis women only who can be in
the group?
And we're building it as women.
We're taking on the role tostart this group, but eventually
, down the road whether it's sixmonths, nine months or maybe
(35:09):
even a year we want to mentorand give advice to our entire
community, not just women, butus women leaders are taking on
the role of getting this startedbefore we reach out to
everybody in our community.
Bryant Hawkins (35:25):
Now, you mentioned about using my podcast
to get the word out and we havesome female listeners that's
probably listening in.
How can they get involved?
Well, what could you tell thoselisteners, how they can get
involved or support your mission?
What opportunities areavailable for individuals, as
(35:45):
well as organizations, to engagewith women in leadership?
April Lebo (35:51):
I'll jump in on that one.
So, first and foremost,obviously we're trying to just
grow the group.
So, whether that's word ofmouth, totally appreciating your
helping to spread the word.
But the more women we can getinvolved in the group, the more
we can brainstorm ideas on whatwe can do and what the needs are
(36:14):
of the women in the industryout there.
But joining the LinkedIncommunity and, if you are a
member of the group, invitingother women, you know, sharing
the link, sharing what we do,talking up just some of the
different initiatives that wehave going on, the more people
(36:36):
we can get in, obviously, themore we're going to be able to
do.
But always looking for likeAdriana mentioned doing the
networking event at Amy anybodythat would be willing to sponsor
.
That you know.
The hope is, as we grow, as weget bigger, to do more
networking events, you know, atthe different society meetings,
(36:56):
and we're always going to belooking for sponsors If we do
need, you know, help getting aroom or help with anything that
we might be doing.
So if somebody is interested inwanting to participate or
engage at all with the women inleadership, we are more than
open to having thoseconversations.
But I think right now, out ofthe gate, it's just a matter of
(37:20):
spreading the word and makingsure that the women in the
industry know that we're hereand would love for them to be a
part of it and to hear theirstories and have them just
contribute and help again,mentor and do what they can to
encourage the other women in theindustry.
Kim Rowland (37:40):
Can I add also, april, you mentioned that the
there's we need to invite andask the other ladies to invite.
You cannot, because it's aprivate group, brian, that you
cannot search for it.
So it's not like we're tryingto exclude anybody, but we're
trying to keep it private,trying to really cultivate our
mission, and if you see anybodyon their talk to anybody on this
(38:02):
podcast, you can reach out toany one of us on LinkedIn and we
can get an invite sent out toyou.
Bryant Hawkins (38:07):
OK, that's great .
That's great information there.
Amber, I want to pose thisquestion toward you, being your
leader in this industry what aresome common misconceptions or
stereotypes about women inleadership you may have seen and
, if so, how would the women inleadership group address these
(38:30):
type of challenges in yourmission?
Amber Sportsman (38:34):
You know I've been in this industry for 34
years.
Believe it or not.
I have.
Yes, I have experienced someamazing people, both men and
women, and that have lifted meup and praised me.
You know I can only speak of mypersonal experience, so also
(39:03):
those of you that know me knowthat I'm a very petite woman.
I am five feet tall.
I was not blessed with height,so a common misconception in my
own personal experience is thatI couldn't possibly be a leader
because I look and sound like alittle girl, right, but I'm
(39:26):
almost 60 years old, so I'vebeen doing this for a long time.
So I think one of the biggestmisconceptions is that women
serve in support roles asopposed to those leadership
roles.
It did take me, like Adri said.
(39:46):
You know, we, most of us haveworked our way up from the
bottom.
I didn't start out at the top,and so you do have those people
that just make the assumptionthat because you are a woman,
you couldn't possibly be aleader.
(40:06):
I have a great example.
Just the other day I answeredthe phone at the office and they
were asking to speak to one ofmy employees, who happens to be
a male, and he wasn't available.
And, um, they want to leave amessage and you have to.
I find that, I don't want toput it out there.
(40:32):
Oh well, he reports to me.
I don't want to be just brazenand sound because you come
across as being forceful orarrogant, as opposed to if a man
were to say, well, he reportsto me, I can help you.
And I think that misconceptionis just because you are a woman,
you are in a support role, youare not in a leadership role.
(40:54):
So that's one of the thingsthat, again, going back to that
mentorship, we want to sharewith those women that are
entering this industry.
We want to share with them ourstories and what we did, how we
reached the level of successthat we have reached.
(41:18):
And so again, again, mentorship, it's a big thing.
That would be how we're goingto address it.
I would say but show yourconfidence, ladies.
It's not arrogance, it's justconfidence, and don't let anyone
(41:38):
ever get you down on it.
There's a lot of jealousy aswell, and, women, you support
the other women.
That is something that I havewitnessed in my 34 years Women
being jealous of other women'ssuccess.
We have to turn that around.
You need to support one anotherso that.
Bryant Hawkins (42:00):
Great answer.
I want to ask you this questionalso, amber, since you wanted
to find the members of thiswomen in leadership society.
You've been a leader in thisindustry for many years and it's
been a short period, but whatare some of the most rewarding
moments you would say you'veexperienced or lessons you've
learned from this journey withwomen in leadership, as you've
(42:23):
been with this short period oftime?
What are some rewarding momentsyou can pick from it?
Amber Sportsman (42:31):
You know what, brian?
I love this question.
I can say it's been bondingwith these women.
We have all been friends formany years.
We all work in the industry.
We've you know, we say hello,we'll excuse me, we'll be social
(42:51):
with one another at the showsor wherever we're getting
together.
But I have gotten to know eachof them on a much more personal
level and finding out that ourstories are so similar that we
share the same fears, we sharethe same motivations, it's
(43:11):
really just given me a newperspective on my own journey.
I felt a little bit like maybeI was the only one feeling the
way I was feeling.
You know, again going back towhat I just answered previously,
don't have that fear, show yourconfidence and don't be afraid
to show it.
(43:31):
And so they've really lifted meup and April spoke on it too,
with her confidence in beingable to say some things and
meetings that she didn't thinkbefore we had done this that she
had been able to do.
So I think it's just thatcamaraderie that we've got with
one another and I'm just sograteful that we're starting
(43:52):
this group and hopefully we canshare that with other women in
our industry.
Bryant Hawkins (43:57):
I love it.
Is there anybody else want toshare some thoughts on this
question?
Kim Rowland (44:01):
Well, I love this question too, mainly because
it's exciting to know how muchlike-mindedness there is out
there.
You know the generosity ofthese ladies on the panel and
just that, the outpouring thatwe're starting to get of people
that are in the same boat, thatwant to think I mean that think
the same way, but they want toget on board and find ways to
(44:23):
help other people.
April Lebo (44:25):
And it's exciting.
I'm going to jump into, if youdon't mind, real quick.
One of the things that has beenso unbelievably rewarding for
me is the fact that Danielle waswilling to join this, and just
the support that Amy has givenus.
And then, brian, yourwillingness to do a podcast with
(44:48):
us, and I thought of this andcalled the other ladies asking
them if they would be interestedin doing this with me.
Never in a million years did Ithink we would be here today
already.
You know that Bryant would wantto interview us on his podcast,
that Amy would be willing togive us a room to do a
(45:09):
networking event, and it hasabsolutely left me speechless,
and so to me, just theoutpouring of support has been
so unbelievably rewarding.
Adrianna England (45:22):
Brian, this is Adri.
I just want to chime in onsomething that actually happened
today.
It was a very rewarding moment.
I had shared one of our WarStory Wednesdays with my team
currently and one of the girlsreached out to me.
She hadn't accepted ourinvitation yet and said like hey
(45:44):
, adri, is it okay that I chimein?
Because I'm not a leader, I'mjust a tech.
And I said well, you know what,join our group and you will be
the best tech we've ever seen.
And just knowing that you don'tneed a title to be a leader is
exactly the reward and thebenefits that I'm getting by
being on this panel.
Bryant Hawkins (46:03):
Definitely y'all .
May Y'all answers are great.
Looking ahead, what are somelong term goals and aspirations
for the Women in LeadershipSociety?
How do you envision thatevolving into the future?
April?
April Lebo (46:19):
So for me I mean obviously long term, it's just
recruitment and having hundredsand hundreds of women join and
be apart.
And every day we're learningmore and hearing more from all
of the women in the industry andbecoming such a draw and, I
might say, fun society that itencourages more women to want to
(46:44):
join.
You know, the more we can getthe word out, the more people
hear about us.
You talk about going to highschools.
You know, if people know thatsomething like this exists, they
might say that is an industrythat I want to be a part of if
they've got this kind of groupthat I can join.
So to me I look forward todoing that.
(47:04):
And also, maybe we get to thepoint where we've got different
chapters.
You know, you guys were just inCalifornia at that society show
and it's like would there be awomen in leadership chapter that
can meet in California, inGeorgia, in Florida, in Ohio?
And we just continue to growand have more and more
(47:28):
opportunities for women to beable to network and get together
.
Kim Rowland (47:34):
Exactly, and I want Danielle's statistics to be a
lot bigger too.
When we have this call again inone year, maybe Danielle will
be able to report and do acomparison.
I would love to see that.
Bryant Hawkins (47:48):
Anyone else want to chime in?
Amber Sportsman (47:50):
Yeah, actually I want to make a point as well.
I don't know that we've reallyaddressed this.
Even though our group is calledWomen in Leadership, it's not
only for leaders, it's for womenthat want to be leaders, that
are looking for that in theirfuture.
(48:13):
So I would like to just maybestress that.
So, if anyone is interested,like Kim I think it was you that
said it Search one of us out onLinkedIn and just ask and we'll
send you the invite to get inthe group.
So I just wanted to make thatpoint.
Bryant Hawkins (48:30):
Yes, that's a great point because, honestly,
leaders are not only inleadership roles.
You could be a technician, asmentioned, and you can be a
leader because I learned fromtechnicians.
I learned from anybody.
Anybody can be a lead.
You could be a leader by howyou perform your activities, how
you do your duties every day.
(48:50):
So that's a great point there.
Now I want to throw a littleshameless plug in here that my
podcast has listeners in sixcontinents, 63 countries and
over 639 cities worldwide.
Will the Women in LeadershipSociety be open to women all
over the world, or is it just aUnited States name?
Kim Rowland (49:15):
Well, I think that goes without saying.
We would love to be able tofind ways to branch that out.
And congratulations to you,brian, on your podcast.
You do a fantastic job.
I don't know how you do it asoften as you do the preparation
that you put into it.
I mean the content that youprovide.
You really take the time tocare about your person that
(49:36):
you're talking to or your groupthat you're talking to.
It's exciting to see how muchyou've grown.
I know you've got many, manyyears behind you in this
industry and other industriesand as far as broadcasting and
kudos to you you're doing afantastic job.
But we would absolutely love tofind ways to build those
bridges and to connect with allof the leaders the women leaders
(50:01):
, the women leaders andleadership roles with our group.
Bryant Hawkins (50:08):
I love to see people trying to bring attention
to this industry, so thatmotivates me.
So you're not only motivatingthe women in this industry,
you're motivating the men too,and I'm one of them, which is
why I pushed so hard to have youall on my podcast, because I
know the hard work you'reputting in.
So if I could play a small part, I feel like it's a blessing.
(50:30):
So, in the end, here we'regoing to wrap this up I would
love to give each of you sometime to maybe give some going
away parts that you could sharewith the listeners, some
encouraging words or anythingyou would like to share, and
we'll start it off with Amber.
Amber Sportsman (50:53):
Oh, my goodness , encouraging words.
Follow your dreams.
Don't take no for an answer,because you can do this.
If we've done this, you can dothis, so stick with it.
Bryant Hawkins (51:07):
April.
April Lebo (51:10):
To me I'd say set your goals and work hard every
day, Be passionate and utilizeall of your resources around you
to get where you want to go.
Just because your woman doesn'tmean that you can excel and
exceed and be the best that youcan be and hit every one of
those goals that you set foryourself.
Bryant Hawkins (51:32):
Let's just stay in the A's Adri.
Adrianna England (51:35):
I knew I was next For me.
I'm going to go ahead andrepeat what I said earlier you
do not need a title to be aleader.
You just need to be someonethat someone needs to follow and
wants to follow.
So I, if you look at me myappearance, I do not look like a
director of inside sales.
I have colored hair and tattoos, which is not your typical
(51:56):
director position.
However, I want the young womenand just different women coming
into the industry that has theknowledge, that has the drive to
be in this position, to knowit's okay.
Leaders come in all differentshapes and sizes.
Bryant Hawkins (52:12):
Right, danielle.
Adrianna England (52:13):
Yeah.
Danielle McGeary (52:13):
I think if I had any knowledge to impart is
you know kind of what I saidearlier we're all stronger
together and I also think youknow part of this bringing
everyone together is knowingthat every day is not always
going to be easy.
But when you look back on thetrajectory of your career, you
don't focus on those bad days,you focus on all the good and
(52:37):
you look back and hopefully youcan look back with a smile and
you know really a found a careerand you know I couldn't imagine
doing anything else and I thinkit's important to always
remember that we meet, we've upto this day in time, we have
always made it through 100% ofour hardest days and we can all
do hard things and we can dothem together.
Bryant Hawkins (52:59):
Right, kim, you can close it up.
Kim Rowland (53:03):
I'm going to close it out very simply.
Thank you, brian.
I have always lived by this,but you should always leave
people and things better thanyou find them.
Bryant Hawkins (53:13):
Wow, that's great.
Now I have one more questionfor April.
I just I know all the ladieswas mentioning how this is your
brain child, so you kind oftouched on it earlier.
But it has to feel kind of, Iguess, outside, outside body
moment to see that you thoughtof it and then and I don't know
how many months it's been, maybeyou can tell us that it's you
(53:36):
mentioned.
It's moving so fast.
I just want you to know.
It's probably going to pick upeven more now, but how do you
feel, knowing that you boughtsomething in life that's going
to make a difference, I promiseyou.
I want to know your thoughts.
April Lebo (53:51):
It's.
It's hard to even put intowords because it has already
exceeded anything that I thoughtit would ever be.
You know, I'm I'm so honoredthat the ladies wanted to be a
part of it and agreed to jointhe board.
I'm just again.
(54:11):
It leaves you speechless tojust see where it's gone in such
a short amount of time and thesupport that we've gotten.
But to me it's exciting becauseif we've been able to bring it
here in just a few months, Ican't imagine where we're going
to be at this time next year andthe thought of knowing that
(54:33):
we're going to be able to reachand help, encourage and support.
Bryant Hawkins (54:57):
I don't know how you assemble this team, but you
picked a team of women that arehigh energy.
I know a lot of people veryoutgoing.
I mean you picked a great team.
I don't know if it wassystematically done or
organically, but you got a greatteam on your hands and that's
(55:18):
probably why it's growing asfast as it's growing.
So kudos to all of you guys andanything I can do to be of
assistance, you know it's noproblem.
Please reach out to me.
I'll do it I can to help, and Ijust want to thank you guys
once again for coming on.
Htm on the line and you'rewelcome to any time you want to
come back.
Thank you, ladies.
April Lebo (55:40):
Thank you so much, Bryant.
Thank you, Bryant.
Welcome to HTM on the Line, the podcast that's
for HTM by HTM.
I'm your host, bryant Hawkins,senior.
Today, we have the pleasure offeaturing the dynamic board
members of the Women inLeadership Society.
Joining us are April Lieber,the President, kim Rowland, the
(00:29):
Vice President, amber Sportsman,the Treasurer, adriana Inglon,
the Secretary, and De'YaleMcHary from Ailey.
In this episode, we'll divedeep into the mission and goals
of the Women in LeadershipSociety, exploring their
impactful journey and futureaspirations.
Stay tuned for an inspiring andinsightful conversation.
(00:54):
How are you, ladies, doing thisevening?
Danielle McGeary (01:01):
Good, Wonderful.
Thank you Great great.
Bryant Hawkins (01:05):
I'm just so glad we finally was able to get
together.
It started with four, now I seewe have five, which is great,
and let's jump right into it.
First question I'm going to askand I'm going to direct this
toward you, danielle Can youshare the inspiration behind the
creation of the Women inLeadership Group?
What motivated each of you tojoin this movement?
(01:27):
Are you for that instance?
Danielle McGeary (01:29):
Absolutely.
And first and foremost, bryant,thank you so much for having us
on your podcast.
I love being on this show.
So it's such an honor to beback here today and talking
about the Women in LeadershipSociety.
To answer your question aboutthe inspiration, about the
creation, this was all April andjust really seeing a need for
(01:50):
connection among women leadersin the HTM field.
And she reached out to me aboutthis group and how could I not
be part of this or not want tojoin?
It's just such a great missionand I was so elated when she
reached out because I also agreethat there's such a need for
connection among women leadersand women in general in the HTM
(02:13):
field.
So, those of you who don't knowmy background, I started off in
an all male dominated 40 personself-op HTM department and I
was the only woman that workedin that department the whole
time.
I was there for seven years andluckily, my experiences were
all positive.
(02:35):
But it really shows the need forcommunity for each female is
just so necessary becausethere's so many unique
challenges about the, about justbeing a female in a male
dominated field, and that canalso just become isolating if
you don't have good connectionpoints.
And also once I learned aboutthe group, I obviously wanted to
(02:59):
be an individual contributorbecause I'm just so passionate
about the mission, as we all are, but I also knew that Amy would
want to help as well, and as anorganization we are so excited
about this initiative and Amy isalso happy to support this
initiative 100%, and I thinkreally what it really comes down
(03:19):
to is that we're just allstronger together.
Bryant Hawkins (03:23):
Great points, danielle.
I'm curious to hear what, adri,you have to say about this.
What's your thoughts on this,adri?
Adrianna England (03:34):
So I, as well as Danielle, is extremely
excited to be part of this.
For me, it was the fact thatall of our visions were aligning
.
So, april, myself, kim, we allhave the same visions, but we
were holding it all internally.
So, partnering together,joining a group of strong,
(03:54):
dedicated, passionate and, whatI'm going to say, fearless women
, is exactly what I feel thisHTM community needs.
So I'm just blessed to joinsome fearless women, and that's
what's inspiring me to actuallybe on the board.
If something new coming to thefield Great.
Bryant Hawkins (04:12):
Now, I was looking over your mission
statement and in the statementit mentions the importance of
bringing together a diverse mixof successful leaders.
How do you define success inleadership, especially in the
context of empowering women?
Let's see April.
Can you take that one for us?
April Lebo (04:31):
I sure can.
So for me, putting the missionstatement together and thinking
about getting a diverse mix ofwomen I took that in a lot of
different contexts because thereare so many different avenues
in our industry that you can go.
We've got people that areworking in straight healthcare,
(04:52):
We've got people that areworking in HTM, we have people
like us Amber, Adri, Kim, myselfthat are working in more of the
retail wholesale market.
So there's just so many avenuesthat the women can come from and
be a part of this group andbring their experiences and
(05:12):
their stories and theirleadership and their passion
about what we do to the group.
So that was first and foremost.
But then, in terms of reallydefining the success in
leadership, and what I feel isimportant is not necessarily
always the title, but peoplethat are just really passionate
(05:36):
about what they do, have thatsense of positivity and their
work ethic and want to sharethat every day with others,
whether that's coming into theiroffice every day and being that
light and that positivity tohelp encourage and motivate and
inspire others wanted to bringthat into the women in
(06:01):
leadership society so that wecan stand behind each other,
learn from each other and justshare in each other's success,
especially for a lot of thewomen that are just joining the
industry, being able to bementors and show them that it is
possible to be able to reallybe passionate about what you do
(06:23):
and grow whichever direction youwant to grow in.
We're here to help.
Bryant Hawkins (06:30):
That is so great .
I'm so proud of you, ladies.
I mean, this is somethingthat's dearly needed because, as
Danielle mentioned earlier,it's a male dominated industry,
and to hear the effort you putin into making this transition
for the new young ladies in theindustry is completely awesome
to me.
Now, danielle, earlier youmentioned about it being a male
(06:51):
dominated industry and you,being a leader within Amy, put
you in a unique position toanswer this question.
Could you possibly share someinsight on the main challenges
women encounter in leadershiproles and explain how your
organization is working totackle these challenges?
Danielle McGeary (07:12):
Yeah, absolutely, and you know, you
know I want to preface thisanswer.
You know that this is.
Some of these examples are myexperience, and obviously
everyone has a unique journey inthis field and everyone's and
because everyone's journey isdifferent, you know, we have
that, that diversity, right outof the gate.
(07:32):
You know, the more diverse weare, the more diverse our
conversations, and when we allcome together, sharing our
different stories, I thinkthat's where we really can, can
make change and really helpothers, and in that's one way
that this group really so nicelyaddresses these challenges that
I'm going to speak about.
You know, I think one, onechallenge that I've always seen
(07:55):
is people in the hospital notexpecting you to to be a female.
I'll never forget that I got acall in the OR and I had gone up
to look at the medical devicethat was broken and the chief of
the OR said to me oh, you know,sweetie, we don't need another
nurse, we're waiting for theengineer.
And I remember saying, well, Iam the engineer, I have an
(08:16):
engineering degree.
And and he just looked at meand said, oh, you don't look
like an engineer.
And I just said, well, what doengineers look like?
You know, and and I think it'skind of those types of
stereotypes people being caughtoff guard, especially if you're
young and also being female andanother challenge also is not
(08:40):
having women connection pointsreally easily.
In 2022, and you did an HTMdemographic survey and we
surveyed close to 8000 folks inthe field and only 10% of those
folks that answered the surveywere female, showing that 10% of
the field is female, showingthat that that we're not very
diverse and in regards to genderat all.
(09:02):
Because you don't have readilyaccessible connection points
with other females, it can behard in this group.
What's so great about it is,through the LinkedIn group and
in in as we grow, women now knowthe other women in the field.
It brings people together, itallows people away to ask
(09:26):
questions.
You know commiserate onchallenges and I think the final
challenge that that I have feltas being a female in the field
is since I became a working momand had my daughters.
I think it's sometimes very hardto ask for what you need when
your children are home sick.
(09:48):
You know obviously as much aswe're, you know, working female,
and that still falls on you alot and, and you know, I always
had this fear of saying you knowmy daughter's home sick, I you
know I need to take the day off,and a lot of that to me was
very self imposed and I thinkjust letting other people know
you know it's okay to ask forher what you need.
(10:09):
One of my favorite things inthis field is being able to
mentor.
I have always loved all welleveryone that that I've worked
with, but I've always tried totake a very vested role in
mentoring those who have workedfor me along the way, and I feel
as though you know, throughthis network that you know this
(10:30):
group has created, we reallyhave, our boundaries are
unlimited as to who we canconnect with and who we can
mentor and who we can help andwho we can empower, and that's
why I think this group is sogreat and you know, that's just
one of the many ways that we canhelp address this challenge.
Bryant Hawkins (10:49):
Collaboration and networking.
They're vital in any leadershiprole.
Now, how does women inleadership facilitate networking
and connection among itsmembers?
Adri, could you help us outwith that answer?
Adrianna England (11:03):
Of course, I am 100% in networking.
That is what I do.
That is how I started my career.
What we're doing is we focusedon LinkedIn.
We feel like in our HTMcommunity, that's a strong
social media platform.
We started our group in October.
We have 85 current members.
(11:24):
It's a private group, so thatis where we're focusing is
LinkedIn.
We also are looking for word ofmouth, so anybody that we're
connected with, we are invitingthem to the group.
We are sharing the group.
The HTM shows.
We just came back from Amy, Kimand I and instantly we're like
let's take a photo so we put itup.
We're high-fiving other womenin leadership, ladies that are
(11:49):
in the group as well, Peoplelike you, Bryant, like we're
hoping to get you on board tohelp spread the word.
Our newest thing is using Amyas another networking platform
to help us spread the word andget more women into our group.
Bryant Hawkins (12:03):
Adri gave a great answer there.
Anyone else have any thoughts?
April Lebo (12:08):
Through getting to know and hearing the stories and
seeing the other people in thegroup.
My hope is it's going to makeother women feel comfortable
being able to reach out to maybesomebody that they wouldn't
have ever known before, wouldn'thave ever thought to talk to.
But now we've got thisenvironment that really focuses
(12:29):
on those connections and thatnetworking and giving everybody
an opportunity, whether it'sthrough LinkedIn or finding them
through their work or personalemails, whatever it might be but
being able to just have thataccessibility to reach out and
just say I would love to talk toyou about your journey.
(12:51):
Can you tell me a little bitmore?
Here's what I'm facing.
How would you handle it?
And possibly being able to meetup at one of the Biomed shows
or Amy or one of the othernetworking events that are out
there, and just being able tohelp with those connections and,
again, having an environmentthat really promotes that
(13:16):
accessibility to talk to otherwomen in the group.
Kim Rowland (13:19):
Yeah, I agree, I'm going to jump in on this April.
I agree with that.
And I just want to add this wassort of your baby, your idea,
and you put this together andyou built a really great team.
But the biggest value that I'vegotten out of it is I've done
this a very long time but Idon't know that I've gotten the
one on one and really gettinginto the stories of it and sort
(13:44):
of humanizing it.
You see people in certain roleswith certain titles, the length
of time they've been in theindustry, and it can be a little
intimidating whether you're newin the industry or you're just
not.
Maybe you're a little more shy.
You know, sometimes those tradeshows can be a little bit
overwhelming, but then you sortof break it down.
We have a common goal and youbring us all together like this.
(14:05):
It really brings it down to alittle bit more manageable idea
and it makes it easier toconnect.
Danielle McGeary (14:12):
And just to piggyback off of that, this is
also a great mechanism forrecruitment retention and
succession planning as well.
We all know, combined with notbeing very diverse, we have an
aging workforce.
Over 60% of the field is overthe age of 60.
And I think it's so importantto succession plans for the
(14:37):
future.
And by having these kinds ofnetworking events and
connections, we're more apt tokeep females in the field, help
them grow their careers and moveup in a positive trajectory in
the field.
The last thing we'd want to dois lose female leaders or
females that have just enteredthe field because they feel
(14:59):
alone or unsupported or don'tknow who to turn to.
And if you take that one stepforward when we talk about
creating a pipeline into thefield, we all know that people
don't believe they can be whatthey cannot see, and females
seeing other females and havinga support system and seeing us
(15:19):
out there will help.
People want to come into thefield as well and it opens doors
.
I know whenever I see otherfemales in the field, I
automatically feel like they'remy best friends.
Up here in Boston there's a lotwell, I wouldn't say a lot,
probably still 10% but all thewomen that I've met up here
throughout my jobs at HartfordHospital, the VA, aira, mart,
(15:43):
have become my friends and youknow, because there's not many
of us and we band together.
And I think when we take that astep further, looking at you
know, when we do that outreachto high schools, to colleges and
females see other females,people more like them, it is
(16:03):
very appealing to draw people inand we are in desperate need of
people to grow this field forthe future, to ensure we have a
strong future going forward.
Bryant Hawkins (16:14):
Great answers, ladies.
Now I have a question for allof you.
Well, not a question, but moreof a favorite to ask.
Like I speak to a lot of highschool kids and, as Danielle
mentioned, not many of them theyoung ladies, don't see females
come and speak.
If I was to go to one of thesehigh schools and I set up a Zoom
meeting, would any of y'all beopen to remoting in and just
(16:39):
expressing from a femaleperspective of the industry if I
was able to set that up?
Danielle McGeary (16:45):
Yes, of course , okay, absolutely.
Bryant Hawkins (16:49):
Absolutely Great , great, great, Of course
absolutely.
Cause that be the and you have avery diverse group.
So that would be great.
I'm just thinking why you guysare talking and a lot of females
be in the audience, but theyjust it would be great if they
saw someone like you said.
Look like them.
So keep that thought in theback of your head.
(17:09):
I'll definitely tap into all ofy'all, if not one of y'all.
Now I'm looking at your missionstatement and it mentions that
education is one of your corecomponents.
What types of educationalresources and programs do you
offer to support women in theirleadership development?
Kim Rowland (17:31):
So I'll jump in on this one.
Bryant, I've got this is Kim.
I've got a long history in theeducational space as far as my
job and my career, but I thinkeducation has a lot of different
meanings.
We can talk about technicaleducation, but I also think
educating the females and thenew people getting into the
(17:52):
space, just about theopportunities, about connecting
with people.
It's always kind of been mypassion to connect with the.
Like Danielle was saying, whenyou see a new face in your area,
when you go to a trade show, Ijust like making people feel
comfortable.
When I got into this industryit was about 20 years ago and
(18:14):
10% is now, but back then it waseven less and the females that
were just easily welcomed meinto the space and introducing
me around.
I'm just very excited to beable to pay that forward.
We're pretty new as a group but,being connectors to the
(18:35):
different associations, thestate groups at trade shows, our
main goal is to get the wordout, find times that we can have
a specific meeting, have anetworking event, something like
that at the symposiums or thetrade shows, maybe even at
quarterly meetings.
We'd really love to see whatthe interest is and hopefully it
spreads and we can normalizethe rules and normalize the
(19:01):
education at all levels, whetherit's the technical level, the
manager level.
You're just getting intocustomer service, as you
mentioned too, brian, thatthere's a variety of us on this
panel.
I don't think any one of us.
We got a little bit of anoverlap, but there's a lot to
pull from and I'm learning evenfrom being in this group, and
then the mentorship.
Of that, I'm excited to be ableto offer that, even being
(19:25):
mentored from these ladies thatI get to be with on this board,
and also that I'm going to bemeeting in the field, that we're
going to be meeting in thefield.
Bryant Hawkins (19:36):
Yeah, since you touched on mentorship mentoring
I'm going to ask you this do thewomen in the leadership group
have any plans for mentoring orhaving a mentorship initiative
within your society?
Kim Rowland (19:50):
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely, and mentorship is
really what the foundation hasbeen built on.
April really had a strongpassion for that.
She's got a lot of stories thatshe could share, but the
mentorship part of it.
What I found interesting, and Ialluded to earlier that the Amy
website has a lot of resourcesand there's a lot of things that
(20:13):
we don't have to rebuild.
We don't have to recreate thewheel.
We can point in directions, butonce you saw, it's kind of shine
a light and you really you knowyou go into these areas that
people are interested in and youconnect with them on a personal
level, it becomes a little bitmore real.
I've heard all those things butwe're busy, all of us are busy.
You don't always have time totake the time.
(20:34):
Let's go to the website, take alook at this, but hey, I
connect with Danielle and shegives some fantastic stats, but
they've already built so manythings, so many programs, and
have bridges that can connectyou to the things that.
Mentorship is one of those thatare already in progress and
that's definitely something thatwe want to continue to really
(20:56):
build and to be able to connectwith on an individual level.
Bryant Hawkins (21:01):
Thank you for that April.
So they say you the brain trustbehind this great society here.
I know it may be early, but isthere a way you can maybe share
some inspiring success storiesor examples of women who have
benefited from being a part ofthis group already?
April Lebo (21:22):
Sure, I know for me personally I have seen such a
change in myself, even though ithas been just a few months that
we put this together Just forme.
Again in my own work life I havefound inspiration and
(21:43):
encouragement just through thesegirls, through this group, to
have some really hardconversations that I don't think
I would have been able to havea year ago and would have been
very uncomfortable for me.
But knowing that we have thisgroup and the mission behind the
group is to help encouragewomen to be more vocal and to do
(22:06):
some things that might makethem feel out of their comfort
zone and really gave me thedetermination to do some things
and have again conversation thatI might not have been
comfortable doing before.
So just some personal successstories that I've found from
(22:27):
being in the group.
But also one of our members isgoing to be speaking at a state
society show next month and waspretty nervous about it and
reached out to the group askingfor advice, for some tips, and a
lot of people were able to jumpin and help her out and
hopefully that is giving her alittle more confidence in terms
(22:49):
of the talk that she's going tobe doing and utilizing the group
I know Danielle is going to bespeaking at the same show and
really us rallying behind tohelp promote, not only within
the group but even on our ownpersonal social media pages, to
get that out there, to helpsupport Danielle, to help
(23:10):
support Rihanna and to getpeople to go and attend and be a
part of that we can all rallybehind and just support.
So my hope is that it willcontinue to grow.
More women will speak out inthe group and ask for advice,
ask for help, and we cancontinue to build on some
(23:31):
success stories that way.
Bryant Hawkins (23:32):
Oh, that's great and I would gladly promote
anyone also.
Feel free to shoot me, shout meout.
I'll do what I can to help also.
Now, this next question is forDanielle.
This is for Amber, and thereason I'm picking Amber is
because she's one of the mostactionable people at the shows.
I mean, I may not know her name, but I know her color and we
(23:55):
all know that.
And so, amber, everyone knowsdream.
So I want to ask you what aresome actionable strategies or
advice you offer to womenlooking to take on leadership
roles or advance in theircareers?
Amber Sportsman (24:12):
It's a mindset.
As we've discussed at greatlength, mentorship is huge.
It was huge in my career.
I mean recognizing someone thatyou admire, that you can learn
from, that you can strive to belike, really helped me look
(24:36):
forward and understand.
This is what I want to do aswell.
So learn from those that youcan learn from and, at the same
time as you're growing, be thatrock for everyone else as well.
Don't make it about you.
You can't.
When you're trying to grow intoa leadership role, you have to
(25:00):
set your pride aside.
You have to be willing to helpothers.
You have to be a mentor, asyou're being mentored for sure.
It seems to be the commondenominator with all of us
mentorship.
And, just like Danielle saidshe talked about empowerment and
(25:22):
you do, and once you reach thatleadership role, you have to
empower those people that dowork for you but you're still
working for others.
So it's not particularly astrategy, bryant, it's a mindset
.
I can do this, and I think ifyou're listening to this podcast
(25:46):
, really you should check outour war stories, because I said
in mine that you don't ever sayI can't do that or it's not my
job.
Take it on and if you don'tknow how to do it, then you
learn how to do it, and that'show you get ahead.
So don't let yourself doubtever get in the way, because you
(26:07):
can do it.
We've all done it, we'veaccomplished it.
Be true to yourself, so thatwould be my advice.
Bryant Hawkins (26:14):
Amber, I just want to tell you there's a great
answer and, despite what yousaid, you gave some actionable
actions there.
You said you need to be a rockto someone, you need to be a
servitude leader, you need toempower.
You shouldn't doubt yourself.
Those are some great strategiesand those are some actionable
items.
So you didn't think you weregiving them, but you trust me,
(26:37):
you was giving them and I'mwriting them down as you're
talking.
So trust me, they were veryimpressionable.
A great answer.
Now, along with thosestrategies there, that also ties
in with motivation and readingonce again from your mission.
You guys want to build amotivating culture.
That's one of your goals.
Can you elaborate on whatculture looks like and how it
(27:01):
contributes to the women'sgrowth and achievement within
your society?
Adrianna England (27:07):
Yeah, this is Adri.
I'll take that one.
Culture is something that Ihold near and dear to my heart.
In my current profession, I amthe director, but I also am a
leader for our engagement teamand learning and building what I
feel culture is, I've realized.
For culture there is no bestdefinition for that.
(27:29):
It's our beliefs that we'regoing to build, it's our general
culture of shared beliefs andit's setting patterns of just
human activity and how we shouldtreat each other in a community
or a social group setting.
So for me, we wanted to create asafe place for women, for young
(27:49):
adults, for professionals.
We want to have an open forum,so April's created this LinkedIn
group that we marked as privatebecause we are not too sure
who's going to share theirstories, who's going to share
their journeys, and we want tomake sure we have a safe place
for them to be open and feelsafe.
(28:10):
The biggest thing that I'mbuilding off of this culture
right now is we are givingencouragement by experience, and
to me that is invaluable.
We are a true testimony of whatit takes to start at the bottom
and work our way up, and that'sthe culture that we're bringing
.
We are bringing hard work,dedication with a safe
(28:32):
environment for all of us.
And I've said it before andI'll say it again I truly
believe together we can achievemore, and that's what April has
provided with this Women inLeadership group.
Bryant Hawkins (28:44):
I'm going to pose this question to Danielle
and Kim.
How does Women in Leadershipensure inclusivity and support
for women of all backgrounds andidentities?
How does Women in Leadershipensure this?
Danielle McGeary (28:58):
Yeah, absolutely so.
Just before I give an answer,I'll give a couple more
statistics about the HTM fieldas a whole.
When we talk about inclusionand different backgrounds, when
we did the diversity survey,only 8.5% of the HTM field now
this is the whole field, notjust female.
(29:20):
So this number would be evensmaller if we were just looking
at the female population.
But as a whole, only 8.5% ofthe HTM field identifies as
African American or Black andonly 7.3% of the field
identifies as Hispanic or Latinx.
So beyond just having a genderdiversity issue, we also have a
(29:44):
racial and ethnicity lack ofdiversity as well.
But one positive statistic, justso it doesn't seem all looming
gloom, because we're here tomake that better, be positive
and empower one another Of the10% females, 14% of HTM managers
(30:07):
are female, which is prettyremarkable, because the 10%
denominator, as we figure outthat that statistic, is the
field as a whole.
Then if you separate up themanagers, which is even a
smaller subset, you would thinkthat percentage would go down.
But it actually increased by 4%.
So that shows that the women inthe HTM field are succeeding in
(30:31):
moving up in the field, whichis very positive.
And just the comment onensuring inclusivity.
Obviously, this is a welcominggroup of every background and
because of the LinkedIn group,the world isn't so large anymore
.
Anyone can join and with Amybeing involved, we are an
(30:54):
international association and wedo do a lot of work with the
international HTM associationsas well, and we can help promote
this group not onlydomestically but internationally
.
Kim Rowland (31:08):
I love listening to all the stats.
We talk about these things butreally showing the depth in that
and sort of that gap that weare improving on and hopefully
we'll be a big part of that.
But I've not been a part ofmany industries.
I've been in this one about 20years but inclusion and
(31:30):
relationships and theco-operative portion of that
I've always valued that.
I talk to people that aresuccessful or in different roles
in other industries and it'svery hard to get your head
around the co-operative but whenI'm out there we're all in it
to do well in our jobs, to grow.
We're all out there to pay ourbills and to eat and to be
(31:52):
successful.
But I just feel like there's abigger section of us, male and
female, that are willing to getout there and to help people.
I think it's a people helpingpeople industry and when I'm at
a show I see new people or newerpeople.
I want to help introduce themaround and the inclusion part of
that has nothing to do withskin color.
(32:16):
Gender is something we'retrying to focus on.
I think this is not as muchabout gender, except we've got
to put some emphasis on that andreally normalize that.
That's my word for tonight isto normalize that for the female
side of it and for the youngergroup, but inclusion of all and
welcoming people into the space.
Bryant Hawkins (32:35):
Right, I mean, danielle has an engineering hat
on with the stats.
I'm giving the inclusion part Ican detest to all five of you
ladies.
I think I'm a pretty outgoingperson, but when I met each of
you, every single one of you waslike greeting me with open arms
(32:56):
as if we've been friends foryears.
So y'all have that talent andskill set to bring individuals
into your fold and I think it'sgoing to be a great thing you
guys have going on here.
Now, what about upcoming events?
Y'all mentioned a lot of showsand things like that.
Do y'all have any type of womenin leadership projects, events,
(33:18):
initiatives coming up?
Let's see, adri, can you takethat one?
Adrianna England (33:23):
Of course, I am the secretary, so I'm making
notes and I'm making meetings.
So luckily we partnered withDanielle just in time.
The Amy Exchange is coming upin June, located in Phoenix, and
if you're attending or if youcan get a day pass, amy is
donating a room for us on Sunday, june 16th.
(33:44):
It's going to be a one hourmeet and greet.
So it is our very first womenin leadership women in
leadership reception, 430 to 530.
You can meet the ladies on thepanel, join the team.
So that is our very first eventcoming up.
Some projects and again, ryan,you should feel special.
(34:05):
Our very first project wasbuilding this and spreading the
word and talking about who weare and what we represent.
So doing this podcast was onour list of projects to do,
because we can't spread the wordwithout the following.
So thank you again for allowingus to talk about who we are and
what we represent.
Bryant Hawkins (34:25):
I will be an Amy also, and I know it's a female
only event, but I do photographyand if you would need a media
guy to come in and take picturesof y'all event, I'll offer that
to you guys as a love offering.
But I know it's female only soI might not be the guy for it,
but that's something y'all canutilize if y'all like.
Now I was Brian.
Adrianna England (34:48):
let me stop you there for one second.
This is Adri.
I'm glad that you said that,because as we started this group
, we started to talk about isthis women only who can be in
the group?
And we're building it as women.
We're taking on the role tostart this group, but eventually
, down the road whether it's sixmonths, nine months or maybe
(35:09):
even a year we want to mentorand give advice to our entire
community, not just women, butus women leaders are taking on
the role of getting this startedbefore we reach out to
everybody in our community.
Bryant Hawkins (35:25):
Now, you mentioned about using my podcast
to get the word out and we havesome female listeners that's
probably listening in.
How can they get involved?
Well, what could you tell thoselisteners, how they can get
involved or support your mission?
What opportunities areavailable for individuals, as
(35:45):
well as organizations, to engagewith women in leadership?
April Lebo (35:51):
I'll jump in on that one.
So, first and foremost,obviously we're trying to just
grow the group.
So, whether that's word ofmouth, totally appreciating your
helping to spread the word.
But the more women we can getinvolved in the group, the more
we can brainstorm ideas on whatwe can do and what the needs are
(36:14):
of the women in the industryout there.
But joining the LinkedIncommunity and, if you are a
member of the group, invitingother women, you know, sharing
the link, sharing what we do,talking up just some of the
different initiatives that wehave going on, the more people
(36:36):
we can get in, obviously, themore we're going to be able to
do.
But always looking for likeAdriana mentioned doing the
networking event at Amy anybodythat would be willing to sponsor
.
That you know.
The hope is, as we grow, as weget bigger, to do more
networking events, you know, atthe different society meetings,
(36:56):
and we're always going to belooking for sponsors If we do
need, you know, help getting aroom or help with anything that
we might be doing.
So if somebody is interested inwanting to participate or
engage at all with the women inleadership, we are more than
open to having thoseconversations.
But I think right now, out ofthe gate, it's just a matter of
(37:20):
spreading the word and makingsure that the women in the
industry know that we're hereand would love for them to be a
part of it and to hear theirstories and have them just
contribute and help again,mentor and do what they can to
encourage the other women in theindustry.
Kim Rowland (37:40):
Can I add also, april, you mentioned that the
there's we need to invite andask the other ladies to invite.
You cannot, because it's aprivate group, brian, that you
cannot search for it.
So it's not like we're tryingto exclude anybody, but we're
trying to keep it private,trying to really cultivate our
mission, and if you see anybodyon their talk to anybody on this
(38:02):
podcast, you can reach out toany one of us on LinkedIn and we
can get an invite sent out toyou.
Bryant Hawkins (38:07):
OK, that's great .
That's great information there.
Amber, I want to pose thisquestion toward you, being your
leader in this industry what aresome common misconceptions or
stereotypes about women inleadership you may have seen and
, if so, how would the women inleadership group address these
(38:30):
type of challenges in yourmission?
Amber Sportsman (38:34):
You know I've been in this industry for 34
years.
Believe it or not.
I have.
Yes, I have experienced someamazing people, both men and
women, and that have lifted meup and praised me.
You know I can only speak of mypersonal experience, so also
(39:03):
those of you that know me knowthat I'm a very petite woman.
I am five feet tall.
I was not blessed with height,so a common misconception in my
own personal experience is thatI couldn't possibly be a leader
because I look and sound like alittle girl, right, but I'm
(39:26):
almost 60 years old, so I'vebeen doing this for a long time.
So I think one of the biggestmisconceptions is that women
serve in support roles asopposed to those leadership
roles.
It did take me, like Adri said.
(39:46):
You know, we, most of us haveworked our way up from the
bottom.
I didn't start out at the top,and so you do have those people
that just make the assumptionthat because you are a woman,
you couldn't possibly be aleader.
(40:06):
I have a great example.
Just the other day I answeredthe phone at the office and they
were asking to speak to one ofmy employees, who happens to be
a male, and he wasn't available.
And, um, they want to leave amessage and you have to.
I find that, I don't want toput it out there.
(40:32):
Oh well, he reports to me.
I don't want to be just brazenand sound because you come
across as being forceful orarrogant, as opposed to if a man
were to say, well, he reportsto me, I can help you.
And I think that misconceptionis just because you are a woman,
you are in a support role, youare not in a leadership role.
(40:54):
So that's one of the thingsthat, again, going back to that
mentorship, we want to sharewith those women that are
entering this industry.
We want to share with them ourstories and what we did, how we
reached the level of successthat we have reached.
(41:18):
And so again, again, mentorship, it's a big thing.
That would be how we're goingto address it.
I would say but show yourconfidence, ladies.
It's not arrogance, it's justconfidence, and don't let anyone
(41:38):
ever get you down on it.
There's a lot of jealousy aswell, and, women, you support
the other women.
That is something that I havewitnessed in my 34 years Women
being jealous of other women'ssuccess.
We have to turn that around.
You need to support one anotherso that.
Bryant Hawkins (42:00):
Great answer.
I want to ask you this questionalso, amber, since you wanted
to find the members of thiswomen in leadership society.
You've been a leader in thisindustry for many years and it's
been a short period, but whatare some of the most rewarding
moments you would say you'veexperienced or lessons you've
learned from this journey withwomen in leadership, as you've
(42:23):
been with this short period oftime?
What are some rewarding momentsyou can pick from it?
Amber Sportsman (42:31):
You know what, brian?
I love this question.
I can say it's been bondingwith these women.
We have all been friends formany years.
We all work in the industry.
We've you know, we say hello,we'll excuse me, we'll be social
(42:51):
with one another at the showsor wherever we're getting
together.
But I have gotten to know eachof them on a much more personal
level and finding out that ourstories are so similar that we
share the same fears, we sharethe same motivations, it's
(43:11):
really just given me a newperspective on my own journey.
I felt a little bit like maybeI was the only one feeling the
way I was feeling.
You know, again going back towhat I just answered previously,
don't have that fear, show yourconfidence and don't be afraid
to show it.
(43:31):
And so they've really lifted meup and April spoke on it too,
with her confidence in beingable to say some things and
meetings that she didn't thinkbefore we had done this that she
had been able to do.
So I think it's just thatcamaraderie that we've got with
one another and I'm just sograteful that we're starting
(43:52):
this group and hopefully we canshare that with other women in
our industry.
Bryant Hawkins (43:57):
I love it.
Is there anybody else want toshare some thoughts on this
question?
Kim Rowland (44:01):
Well, I love this question too, mainly because
it's exciting to know how muchlike-mindedness there is out
there.
You know the generosity ofthese ladies on the panel and
just that, the outpouring thatwe're starting to get of people
that are in the same boat, thatwant to think I mean that think
the same way, but they want toget on board and find ways to
(44:23):
help other people.
April Lebo (44:25):
And it's exciting.
I'm going to jump into, if youdon't mind, real quick.
One of the things that has beenso unbelievably rewarding for
me is the fact that Danielle waswilling to join this, and just
the support that Amy has givenus.
And then, brian, yourwillingness to do a podcast with
(44:48):
us, and I thought of this andcalled the other ladies asking
them if they would be interestedin doing this with me.
Never in a million years did Ithink we would be here today
already.
You know that Bryant would wantto interview us on his podcast,
that Amy would be willing togive us a room to do a
(45:09):
networking event, and it hasabsolutely left me speechless,
and so to me, just theoutpouring of support has been
so unbelievably rewarding.
Adrianna England (45:22):
Brian, this is Adri.
I just want to chime in onsomething that actually happened
today.
It was a very rewarding moment.
I had shared one of our WarStory Wednesdays with my team
currently and one of the girlsreached out to me.
She hadn't accepted ourinvitation yet and said like hey
(45:44):
, adri, is it okay that I chimein?
Because I'm not a leader, I'mjust a tech.
And I said well, you know what,join our group and you will be
the best tech we've ever seen.
And just knowing that you don'tneed a title to be a leader is
exactly the reward and thebenefits that I'm getting by
being on this panel.
Bryant Hawkins (46:03):
Definitely y'all .
May Y'all answers are great.
Looking ahead, what are somelong term goals and aspirations
for the Women in LeadershipSociety?
How do you envision thatevolving into the future?
April?
April Lebo (46:19):
So for me I mean obviously long term, it's just
recruitment and having hundredsand hundreds of women join and
be apart.
And every day we're learningmore and hearing more from all
of the women in the industry andbecoming such a draw and, I
might say, fun society that itencourages more women to want to
(46:44):
join.
You know, the more we can getthe word out, the more people
hear about us.
You talk about going to highschools.
You know, if people know thatsomething like this exists, they
might say that is an industrythat I want to be a part of if
they've got this kind of groupthat I can join.
So to me I look forward todoing that.
(47:04):
And also, maybe we get to thepoint where we've got different
chapters.
You know, you guys were just inCalifornia at that society show
and it's like would there be awomen in leadership chapter that
can meet in California, inGeorgia, in Florida, in Ohio?
And we just continue to growand have more and more
(47:28):
opportunities for women to beable to network and get together
.
Kim Rowland (47:34):
Exactly, and I want Danielle's statistics to be a
lot bigger too.
When we have this call again inone year, maybe Danielle will
be able to report and do acomparison.
I would love to see that.
Bryant Hawkins (47:48):
Anyone else want to chime in?
Amber Sportsman (47:50):
Yeah, actually I want to make a point as well.
I don't know that we've reallyaddressed this.
Even though our group is calledWomen in Leadership, it's not
only for leaders, it's for womenthat want to be leaders, that
are looking for that in theirfuture.
(48:13):
So I would like to just maybestress that.
So, if anyone is interested,like Kim I think it was you that
said it Search one of us out onLinkedIn and just ask and we'll
send you the invite to get inthe group.
So I just wanted to make thatpoint.
Bryant Hawkins (48:30):
Yes, that's a great point because, honestly,
leaders are not only inleadership roles.
You could be a technician, asmentioned, and you can be a
leader because I learned fromtechnicians.
I learned from anybody.
Anybody can be a lead.
You could be a leader by howyou perform your activities, how
you do your duties every day.
(48:50):
So that's a great point there.
Now I want to throw a littleshameless plug in here that my
podcast has listeners in sixcontinents, 63 countries and
over 639 cities worldwide.
Will the Women in LeadershipSociety be open to women all
over the world, or is it just aUnited States name?
Kim Rowland (49:15):
Well, I think that goes without saying.
We would love to be able tofind ways to branch that out.
And congratulations to you,brian, on your podcast.
You do a fantastic job.
I don't know how you do it asoften as you do the preparation
that you put into it.
I mean the content that youprovide.
You really take the time tocare about your person that
(49:36):
you're talking to or your groupthat you're talking to.
It's exciting to see how muchyou've grown.
I know you've got many, manyyears behind you in this
industry and other industriesand as far as broadcasting and
kudos to you you're doing afantastic job.
But we would absolutely love tofind ways to build those
bridges and to connect with allof the leaders the women leaders
(50:01):
, the women leaders andleadership roles with our group.
Bryant Hawkins (50:08):
I love to see people trying to bring attention
to this industry, so thatmotivates me.
So you're not only motivatingthe women in this industry,
you're motivating the men too,and I'm one of them, which is
why I pushed so hard to have youall on my podcast, because I
know the hard work you'reputting in.
So if I could play a small part, I feel like it's a blessing.
(50:30):
So, in the end, here we'regoing to wrap this up I would
love to give each of you sometime to maybe give some going
away parts that you could sharewith the listeners, some
encouraging words or anythingyou would like to share, and
we'll start it off with Amber.
Amber Sportsman (50:53):
Oh, my goodness , encouraging words.
Follow your dreams.
Don't take no for an answer,because you can do this.
If we've done this, you can dothis, so stick with it.
Bryant Hawkins (51:07):
April.
April Lebo (51:10):
To me I'd say set your goals and work hard every
day, Be passionate and utilizeall of your resources around you
to get where you want to go.
Just because your woman doesn'tmean that you can excel and
exceed and be the best that youcan be and hit every one of
those goals that you set foryourself.
Bryant Hawkins (51:32):
Let's just stay in the A's Adri.
Adrianna England (51:35):
I knew I was next For me.
I'm going to go ahead andrepeat what I said earlier you
do not need a title to be aleader.
You just need to be someonethat someone needs to follow and
wants to follow.
So I, if you look at me myappearance, I do not look like a
director of inside sales.
I have colored hair and tattoos, which is not your typical
(51:56):
director position.
However, I want the young womenand just different women coming
into the industry that has theknowledge, that has the drive to
be in this position, to knowit's okay.
Leaders come in all differentshapes and sizes.
Bryant Hawkins (52:12):
Right, danielle.
Adrianna England (52:13):
Yeah.
Danielle McGeary (52:13):
I think if I had any knowledge to impart is
you know kind of what I saidearlier we're all stronger
together and I also think youknow part of this bringing
everyone together is knowingthat every day is not always
going to be easy.
But when you look back on thetrajectory of your career, you
don't focus on those bad days,you focus on all the good and
(52:37):
you look back and hopefully youcan look back with a smile and
you know really a found a careerand you know I couldn't imagine
doing anything else and I thinkit's important to always
remember that we meet, we've upto this day in time, we have
always made it through 100% ofour hardest days and we can all
do hard things and we can dothem together.
Bryant Hawkins (52:59):
Right, kim, you can close it up.
Kim Rowland (53:03):
I'm going to close it out very simply.
Thank you, brian.
I have always lived by this,but you should always leave
people and things better thanyou find them.
Bryant Hawkins (53:13):
Wow, that's great.
Now I have one more questionfor April.
I just I know all the ladieswas mentioning how this is your
brain child, so you kind oftouched on it earlier.
But it has to feel kind of, Iguess, outside, outside body
moment to see that you thoughtof it and then and I don't know
how many months it's been, maybeyou can tell us that it's you
(53:36):
mentioned.
It's moving so fast.
I just want you to know.
It's probably going to pick upeven more now, but how do you
feel, knowing that you boughtsomething in life that's going
to make a difference, I promiseyou.
I want to know your thoughts.
April Lebo (53:51):
It's.
It's hard to even put intowords because it has already
exceeded anything that I thoughtit would ever be.
You know, I'm I'm so honoredthat the ladies wanted to be a
part of it and agreed to jointhe board.
I'm just again.
(54:11):
It leaves you speechless tojust see where it's gone in such
a short amount of time and thesupport that we've gotten.
But to me it's exciting becauseif we've been able to bring it
here in just a few months, Ican't imagine where we're going
to be at this time next year andthe thought of knowing that
(54:33):
we're going to be able to reachand help, encourage and support.
Bryant Hawkins (54:57):
I don't know how you assemble this team, but you
picked a team of women that arehigh energy.
I know a lot of people veryoutgoing.
I mean you picked a great team.
I don't know if it wassystematically done or
organically, but you got a greatteam on your hands and that's
(55:18):
probably why it's growing asfast as it's growing.
So kudos to all of you guys andanything I can do to be of
assistance, you know it's noproblem.
Please reach out to me.
I'll do it I can to help, and Ijust want to thank you guys
once again for coming on.
Htm on the line and you'rewelcome to any time you want to
come back.
Thank you, ladies.
April Lebo (55:40):
Thank you so much, Bryant.
Thank you, Bryant.
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