Women of Wintrust Panel Discussion

[Music] on behalf of the women who win trust it's my absolute pleasure to welcome you today my name is Jill Iraqi and I am one of the co-chairs for the programs team of the women of Wind Trust and we helped to put this event together um my official title at the bank is commercial learning advisor my title in life right is woman mother professional spouse caregiver friend etc etc so happy to welcome so many of you who identify as some of those same things or different things as well tonight but before I hand you over to our amazing moderators and panelists I just want to share my gratitude to you all for spending your International women's day with us [Applause] so the theme for the day is embracing Equity if you haven't gone to our selfie station yet make a note and head on over there but let's real quick everybody just give yourself a little hug Embrace that you're all welcome here Embrace means to willingly and enthusiastically accept adopt and espouse something today that something's Equity yay um but before we get started it's my job here to get up here and give a few thank yous so thank you um but well instead of Applause even though you so generously shared yours with me earlier we're gonna save that for the dynamite women in the paddle I don't want your hands to get worn out because there's going to be lots of moments for that instead I'd like to give you a quick little can I get a whoa all right so we're gonna woo all right you all have passed the test I did not doubt you all right so thank you to my co-chairs Nancy Vassar and Tonya Burger giveaway all right to the wow leadership team up here in the front to all of our brg members and supporters keep on coming to our woman owned catering company entertaining company some food and drink um to all of our guests our customers our friends our co-workers and our allies I see you all right to Hannah branick and our amazing events team [Music] [Applause] to our volunteers and this is going to be a big woo so thank you so much to wintrust bank for sponsoring this event all right and then finally thank you to our panelists and our moderators and with that I'm going to turn it over to Marianne krennic who is the chair of the women of Wind Trust And also the CEO of the Chicago Trust Company and Melissa Donaldson who's SVP at the bank and our chief diversity officer so please give them a warm welcome [Applause] thank you [Applause] as many of you know about a year ago Melissa and I kicked off women's History Month with a Eminem in the morning show and I do want to say we rocked that and we are about to rock it tonight for all of you as well it's been a long time coming so Melissa take it away thank you Marianne and I am super thrilled to have you all here with us this evening this is not only International women's day it is the first time when trust Financial Corporation has had a formal International Women's Day celebration so please can we give win trust and all of you a grand Round of Applause um I I think what was it what was the term you used we're making her story today it's a historic event so listen I'm I'm gonna speak to the lay I feel like I'm on you know stage at the concert I'm speaking to the ladies for a minute but this is your month This Is Your Night this is your day this is your story that you're writing real time so this is a time for you to celebrate you celebrate each other and celebrate all of the wonderful things that you do on a daily basis just to make your world amazing so in the spirit of the women of Wind Trust I want you to give us a big wow so there's so many people that we have um to thank uh for getting us to this point this evening as Marianne said a year ago we got together um and had this kooky idea first of all let me just real talk you know how we do you know how we do real talk Marianne sent me a podcast and said listen to this and I'm like okay love a good podcast well the podcast was about menopause and I was like oh I like her she's not acting like stuff doesn't happen to people I like her so we got to talking and I really felt we had this kinship this connection and so we decided let's just have conversations with women for women about women and that's not to the exclusion of anyone else but we know that we it is important to take a pause and say wow this is about the women of Wind Trust and this is about her story so the Eminem in the morning um uh it wasn't a podcast it was actually a talk show on screen it was super cool um we hadn't done it again because we're just busy people but here we are when Eminem in the morning in the evening we're bringing it back we're bringing it back so here we go yeah and I want to say too one more woo for all the men that had the courage to attend tonight you rock as well thank you for joining us and supporting us I actually want you to give a real Round of Applause for our male identifying coachette team in the back yes but we also have to to really be honest with you all and just really share that weren't not for the support that we receive endlessly honestly from Ed Weimer to Rich Murphy to Tim crane to Dave Dykstra to I see Toms adars back there forgive me if I don't call names because I'm in Shadows but these are individuals that have often said yes when and how much but more often than not yes when and how much any average year the population of women at wintrust has been 58 to 60 percent annually you have women like Marianne who is a chief executive officer in our trust company we have so many women who are in president roles and in other Chief kinds of roles who are just excuse my language just doing a damn thing on a daily basis we couldn't be prouder of this very moment so I do want to give credit where it is due um besides us getting all of this extra uh attention that we have enjoyed from the executive team I do want to say a really big thank you to the women of Wind Trust leadership team so they are one of five business resource groups that's what we call our Network our grassroot Grassroots networks of employees they are one of five and they are not even quite a year old they just had their debut in November 2022. so I at this time I'd like all of the leadership team to please stand let's give them a round of applause they put this together you saw them bringing this table up here these are not individuals who are scared and then if you are a member of the women of wintrust business resource Group please stand [Music] [Applause] [Music] and Counting if you are one of our um righteous males who are in the room who are also a member of the women of winters brg and our brgs are open to everybody please raise your hand or stand we want to also recognize you too [Applause] they're shy they're shy they're shy when you see them say oh that must be you thank you that must be you so we're gonna go ahead and move along in our program we have four Dynamic women that you are going to hear from today that is just you know talk about real talk I think you are in for it so don't go fill your glass up right now because that's just too disruptive have your friends send you something but you know you're about to hear a conversation among uh four powerful Dynamic women who are just making history in their own way as well so at this time I'd like to bring to the stage our panelists Selena Roldan Cirillo CEO and please we gotta give them Illinois region of the American Red Cross [Music] wealth management board of directors [Applause] [Music] did you all hear me say American Red Cross CEO we're not even playing we're not playing okay next I'd like to bring to the stage Jill falgren who is founder of the possible life Incorporated yeah [Applause] next D Robinson who is CEO and president of Robinson Hill Incorporated she is also a member of the Wind Trust board of directors [Applause] [Music] last but never ever lease I'd like to bring to the stage Olga Camargo CEO and founder of Phoenix [Music] yeah welcome ladies we are so thrilled to have you today just to get us started and then we'll just roll on from there and Marianne and I we're just gonna do a dance this evening so here we go if you could please each of us share a little bit about yourselves and what was it what was it about this invitation this event that had you say yes when you were contacted so why don't I just start with you Olga if you don't mind oh closest to me absolutely well um I I'll say that um a little bit about myself you said so Olga Camargo this The Foundry CEO for she Nix and a little bit about myself I've been to the financial industry for over two decades I'm getting close to that third decade so do the math um and I've enjoyed myself going through this journey just because of the people that I get to meet every day and my learning through this professional Journey um my Evolution from working in economics group all the way to becoming an investment fiduciary but I think that more importantly it's about the impact that I might be able to have and the impact that people have on me and so why I said today yes um I said yes because I did want to come and share with you guys information that I think is needed for everyone's growth and also um just excited to be here to meet new people and I'm just really darn through with the pandemic and not being able to see people so that's why I'm here excellent thank you Olga D well first of all hello wintrust women I want to hear that come on [Applause] well first of all it is a honor and a thrill to be here and uh first of all I could say I didn't have a choice but we remember we all have choices and so it is my honor to be here and of course I'm here because it's women's day so come on Happy International women's day so when you think about a day like today why wouldn't you want to show up right and then think about that and how we show up every day and first of all I want to tell you a little bit about my business I want to thank all of you at least most of you so I own and operate restaurants and Retail and airports across the country and so you've been in many of my restaurants from Frontera Grill to Ben and Jerry's to a whole host of let us entertain you Brands and I'm also a partner with Hudson News so how many people in the audience Hudson News water newspapers all out so uh thank you all for your support and as I I think you mentioned earlier I'm also thrilled to be a director for wintrust Bank [Music] [Applause] hello everybody so nice to be here and um I'm an executive coach I am based here in Chicago born and raised and as a coach the work that I do is really focused on helping leaders and Executives be their best and do their best and that really is about finding their authenticity finding their own path and creating their success every journey is different so as I think about why I'm passionate about the work that I do I look at my own journey and I realize that before I became a coach I wasn't very intentional about my career and I was doing what came to me instead of really thinking about who I am and what's true for me so that's why I'm really passionate about helping others and it's also why I wanted to say yes today I did say yes because it really is an honor and a privilege to be here with you all to be with this esteemed panel and you know part of the reason that drives me is because I truly believe that we need to celebrate women and we also need to recognize that in my my experience the accomplishments and capabilities of women are often undervalued overlooked and so if we can impact one person today if one person hears one thing that makes a difference for them that's a win and boy I sure hope that we have many many wins today so thank you all and thank you all thank you thank you thank you bring us home Selena good evening everyone my name is Selena Roldan Cirillo and I am the CEO for the American Red Cross of Illinois so thank you so much I'm so excited I just feel really filled up seeing all of you here and being able to celebrate um International women's day with all of you so I serve as the CEO for the Illinois Red Cross which essentially means that I get to work with superheroes every single day um the mission of the American Red Cross is to go out and alleviate human suffering during times of disasters and emergencies we serve 12.4 million people across the Illinois region responding to local and national disasters with the number one disaster we respond to being home fires um so I literally get to experience this across uh with again the incredible dedicated volunteer Workforce that we have um but I have spent close to 20 years now in the non-profit sector and I am a social worker by training and by heart um so really what has brought me here today was um that I've had just the incredible privilege to work alongside Working Families working mothers young children communities across the city of Chicago and have really committed my passion to ensuring Equity uh fairness and access to all people um and I have to say one of the primary other reasons that I said yes was because one of my bosses and one of my amazing American Red Cross board members um asked me to also be here and I'm seeing some of my other bosses that are in also incredible women leaders that are in the audience and I think to me again this part of being able to have other women that are really not only just kind of opening up doors and opening Windows but literally elbowing the way forward as they've done for me and I'm so incredibly grateful and it was one of the other reasons that I wanted to be here today excellent thank you so let's give all of our panelists material and I'm proud to say we didn't have to leave any heel marks on the foreheads of anybody on the way up maybe on the chest let's get it started all right Jill this year's theme in honoring International women's day is embracing equity how do you define equity for women versus equality and why is this distinction so important for everyone to understand terrific question and it is really important and the way I think about equality is you're giving everybody the same thing so that sounds really great and if you don't dig below the surface um you know that sounds like perfect everyone's got the same thing so for example you might a company might promote or hire multiple people with different backgrounds identities experiences into the same role title level so they might promote that as equality and move on check that box we're done right now if you look at what Equity is equity is really about giving individuals the resources they need so they can level that playing field so that identity isn't prescriptive of what opportunities or resources people get so if you go back to my example where this organization has multiple people same level same role equality and then you look at maybe some of the things that may be happening under the covers or maybe in in plain in plain sight right so I'm curious have any of the women in here ever been in a meeting and asked to get the coffee clear the dishes take notes for the meeting order lunch I'm seeing there you go right up the dishes um and and you know maybe it's okay to do that if they're asking the guys to do it I was just gonna say and and maybe you're noticing that as the woman you're the one asked and other people aren't another example so has anybody here ever been in a situation where you're speaking in a meeting a conversation and people keep interrupting you people keep talking over you or maybe you've raised a suggestion or an idea or offered offered up some kind of perspective which is maybe ignored or even diminished and then a few minutes later somebody else says exactly the same thing and that idea is picked up oh yeah yeah where there's not necessarily Equity right hey we'll let you in the room but we're not going to listen to you we're not gonna allow you to so if you can see where I'm coming from here it's a big distinction and in my opinion um you're not really going to get true equality if you don't always also tend to equity D would you care to elaborate any yes I saw the location you're a horrible poker player dude she says with a sign well oftentimes I think about equity and equality and this is an easy way maybe Ruth Bader Ginsburg what does she represent she was about equality Thurgood Marshall equity she talked about even playing fields now what I will say is inequality inequity has taken out residents in way too many organizations and we need to evict them right it's time to the end now I want to use one example she's talked about using her voice and talking up in meetings and all um some of those things by the way I wanted to make sure we understand we also have to be responsible for the things that happen to us and we also have to think about how when they happen to us how we react our reactions are actually the most powerful whether you see it but we have to use our voice so when I think of inequality when I think of inequity we actually all know that we witness it we inherently know what it is that I ask you then what are you going to do about it how are you going to end it she talked about the power of one we don't think that these that we can solve such a big problem I'm going to say yes we can she talked about yes later on I'm going to talk about why we should be saying yes more but I truly believe given whatever Spectrum a company might be an individual if we inch them somewhere the other side there's a lot of empathy that's required a lot of patience but we see it all the time we don't need to keep talking about it what we need to do is start doing something about it next question huh oh I'm sorry I was so engrossed in one no she was so crazy sorry sorry that was awesome okay I'm thinking about ways and how she's gonna change tomorrow and then together Olga how have you seen any of your current or past organizations how have you seen those organizations create a more inclusive workplace by Embrace embracing Equity or otherwise and what were any of the steps that you may have personally taken to to I'll use Daily Language to help evict some of the inequity so in the past in my past um professional work I was helping out an organization a financial firm um with the um being more inclusive and obviously offering more opportunities um to underrepresented minority groups and we I did end up actually spearheading that whole initiative and what I realized in talking to some of the individuals that wanted that opportunity was sometimes that they were probably not in the role that they could have been you know they could have like really carried out what they want to do sometimes it was in business development uh sometimes it was in being able to provide an expertise to um businesses organizations just in general and the more that I actually started to learn about what the desires were and the intentionality that they were moving forward with I realized that we needed to create a space so one of the things that I asked leaders is like okay well if you know what the need is and you know what you have in terms of this wonderful Talent what kinds of opportunities and spaces are you creating and sometimes I feel that leaders may you know not move as fast because they just basically think that they do have to have um some kind of very structured type of platform or program but I would say that I'm the kind of person that likes to have individuals that want to participate more um in you know advancing those organizational goals its mission to the table and I'm about a round table all the time because I believe that everybody has something to contribute and I think that part of that uh leadership or part of part of the new mindset is to just understand you are going to learn as a leader as well and I think that people feel that by them not but leaders not having the control of what the conversation or the narrative will be at the table they feel that they're probably lacking in leadership and I would say no you have more leadership when you include more people and you will also be able to bring in more followers and not just followers people that can actually enhance your leadership skill sets right so I would say um be about the new mindset which you know if if you are looking at these the way that uh these other maybe programs are are in place if they're not working talk about it why isn't it working right this is it's it's it's we talked about the we've heard about the Great Recession I think this is and the great what is it resignation this is the great conversation I would say and I think that there's so much in each of us um that in terms of talent and just ideas I believe that we can work together side by side and be able to really Advance again not just your personal goals but also the organizations and I think that's really more of a win-win can I add to that sure please first of all uh thank you for that I was just important and when I think about our role in this first of all we may sometimes just simply have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable and as I Was preparing for today I started to think about why are we so uncomfortable why aren't we willing to have spirited Brave conversations so first of all there's for little forgiveness that I want you all to give yourselves sometimes we just don't know how to talk to someone who doesn't look like us because we haven't had much experience I used to be the co-chair for leaders United in Organization for African-American and Jewish leaders and it was astounding to me how many people we would do Sailors would do all these events had not actually had many interactions with someone of color and if we think about where we go to high school frankly in my house going with the boarding school I was a minority truly there was a few of us and you can count on two hands but it's okay now what I want you to think about is within the courage to say you know what you may be a little different you might have a different sexual preference whatever that difference might be and just say it's okay but if we start thinking about why you're uncomfortable because see we put the illness on other people just sort of understanding it back to saying yes more thinking about you know what I see this person on the other side of the room who doesn't look like me I love Affinity groups by the way but if we keep talking to our each other about our problems and not taking it outside of our circles we will not solve the problem back to what I was saying earlier some of his responsibilities is ours so just think about when you have those moments and we'll talk a little bit I'm sure about the corporate culture and environments and things we could really do but I really believe that just being able to think about why I might be uncomfortable and lean into that moment alone and start examining yourself and then maybe then saying you know what I'm going to push through that anxiety that whatever it is and I'm going to reach out and I'll ask you all to do that for this month just try once and watch what happens it will not be as bad as you think I love that the comfortable with being uncomfortable speaking of equity when they came out with men's Spanx I felt like now you're gonna know how many of you have it on right now right amen Spanx that's Equity you're right Selena we have to write these little tidbits down and this and send it out there's going to be some nice sound bites from this I haven't heard be bold yet but we're going to hear if they suddenly got interested in their drink maybe them Selena forging gender Equity is not limited to women solely fighting the good fight allies are incredibly important for the advancement of women what ways can our male colleagues assist in creating greater equity for women and is there anything that you do regularly to better balance the scales and level the playing field thank you thank you Marianne um well I heard some recognitions and some Applause and woohoos for the men that are here today so I want to again uh thank all of the men that are joining this conversation today and um I'll start by saying um the Harvard Business Review published a study that said that when men are included in gender inclusion activities events initiatives companies see a 98 progress toward their goals around Network versus 30 percent of organizations in business who don't when men are not included and so but they also differentiated that there's a difference between inviting men to events like this which is wonderful versus actually having them be part of developing the initiatives and the works together right and I think and and in part though but what is their role when they do that and I think that some of the ways that I've seen men do this well is first to show up to listen right like really be in the spaces where they can are listening right now um really also respecting the spaces that are for women um many times when we're having these conversations in the work that we're doing sharing that vulnerable side of us of things that have been painful in the experiences to get to where we are um being right getting uncomfortable like being comfortable with being uncomfortable um and then also really being co-partners in in allyship really understanding and getting to know and understand um what women's progression has been what the historic um systemic issues have been that have faced women who have tried to work up whether it's been a non-profit corporations or businesses um so I think one of the things that I really try to do is at least within my organization as well and I think that the Red Cross and like many other non-profit organizations there are women and where you see women many women in leadership roles and often in non-profits you see um uh more gender Equity than you might see in other business and organizations but in the executive levels you don't always necessarily see that and I um pretty regularly particularly in disaster and emergency response and management you'll see more men than women in those spaces and so it really is having direct conversations with men and at kind of pointing those pieces out looking around the table and seeing you know where women are missing um and often asking men to be part of those plans to be able to build Partnerships initiatives and really create allyship Can it can I just um say thank you for for sharing that you know our business resource groups are structured in in that way so we do have the women of Wind Trust we also have one called leadership Coalition and it is cold it has a co-head chip a male and a female co-head chip and the entire leadership team is balanced kind of 50 50 in that headship for all the reasons that you name we didn't realize how brilliant we were being so thank you for understory all of that but you know we we really have tried to really engage men just not as signators you know or co-signers on things but to really you know help them learn because this is their Journey as well um and to help women also um the last thing I would share with all of you is that um we just completed we just wrapped up the first cohort of a very large sponsorship program internally um and we have a program called pair to win I say it's a two-sided coin one side is sponsorship the other side is mentorship the mentorship side is open to everybody in the organization the sponsorship side it's invited and it is a very small group and the senior most executives I'm talking CEO or one click away from the CEO 57 of them most of whom were men were assigned a protege 67 percent of those proteges were women for one year to have some of those intimate conversation intimate was not the right word meaningful impactful speak for yourself [Music] right speak for yourself right conversations um and we did see some outcomes that's really suggested wow I had not been I don't feel like I've been listened to in that way so this is a journey a process everybody has a role to play so thank you thank you for uh putting that out there sorry beautifully said thank you for that both of you um a couple things I would add to that is I'm gonna pull out a sound bite that Olga shared a couple minutes ago I heard her say I believe that everyone has a contribution to make and I think if anyone's live tweeting maybe you could tweet that out because I think that's really powerful and maybe take it taking it even a step further not just any contribution but I think everyone has a valuable contribution to make and I love the love the um I I totally agree with this idea that we we as women can't do this alone and that allies are critically important and two things that I would love to point out one is you know it really starts with awareness and it's it's very easy to um not have to be as aware of inequities inequalities when things are going pretty well right so starting with awareness asking questions if you're a man an ally somebody who wants to make a difference here right asking questions looking below the surface at what's really going on what's Happening what isn't happening and not waiting to be asked to participate in these types of initiatives but but not only seeing um not only being aware but really trying to understand and then translate that to action because if you're there there's a powerful opportunity here there's a lot of uh value there are studies around women uh leaders and the impact that they have and we're all losing a lot of opportunity here by not elevating women by not taking action and so it starts with self it starts with what can I do to be a little bit more aware and then translating it to how can I not only show up at the event but actively make a difference actively Elevate the voices in the room can I add one thing to that sure so um as an entrepreneur I sometimes have to go out and raise money and I'm actually doing that as we speak I'm not asking you for any but um I I talk about asking for money and I've coached in you know entrepreneurs about their race so what's important about that is I need you to think about who you want to be your sponsor you also want to look at the individual and see if they have a pattern of helping others nurturing them coaching then mentoring them sponsoring them if they have not had any kind of track record of that I'm going to suggest that you find someone that does just like the money example no one has a profession to lend money why are you wasting your time go to the person who actually looks like they actually support entrepreneurial efforts go to the person who you've already seen bring people up within the organization now here's something else I want you to think about we always think about mentorship sponsorship I always say sponsorship is when they're talking about you when you're not in the room because that means they're talking to someone else about you and that helps build there's something that I call reverse mentorship because whether it's a sponsorship or a mentorship generally you're going there to get something from someone but what about you what do you have to give the reality is in the reverse mentorship role what I mean by that is you're asking a senior executive or someone in your life to help you right but you have gifts too or if it's an older executive you may know more about social media than he'll ever or she may ever know so offer that well through articles or whatever but that's how true engagement happens when we're helping each other when we're giving and that Spirit of giving is where we're going to propel our lives for and find a lot more joy so just think about that as we think about how do we want to move our lives forward whether personally professionally think about who you want to spend your time with in the book I guess I forgot to mention I'm an author I talk about courage circles this is really important so okay we did an eviction now I'm going to have you do laundry I want you to think about the people in your life they say that we are the son of the people we spend most of our time with when I think about the courage Circle the people in my life to the people that Inspire us Empower us and stretch us think about that stretching I'm always you should all be thinking about learning all the time but those people are going to be the ones who will invest in you and help you on your journey we don't do anything alone me as we so when you think about all of these things oh I want to get the best life I want this great career I want to be in her position because she's done this job really well it wasn't a straight line well I happen to know a lot of folks here at the bank and then and you know there's a spirit of that and thank you for mentioning that but that's something that they designed to help people and part of that is done because some people need the help but again it's back to taking full responsibility on how we advance our careers who's in our Lives who do we want find them seek them out and just watch the magic happen well said absolutely I heard a phrase the other day saying the best mentors choose the mentee not the mentee choosing the mentor and so that goes along the same lines as What DJ said is those mentors out there that think you know you're just waiting for that mentee to come forward and say I want you to Mentor me I think you have the opportunity distinct power and opportunity to find your mentee yourself so yeah very very well said absolutely and and I think a lot of what we've heard thus far comes like we got some more to go I know what we heard thus far is really being able to give voice to headwinds and Tailwinds what is what do you see as keep consistently showing up as some of those barriers right and how can I help those who have the power to remove barriers how do I help them understand that these barriers these headwinds are really existing for individuals you can have best program in the world but if structurally is systemically and systematically the barriers are in place that's what needs to be removed and sometimes it's just there's just not an awareness there's just not an awareness I think somebody was working behind the scenes with mine because um I got paired with a a young man in the I.T Division and uh for those of you that know me you know I'm very technologically challenged out there so I intend on learning a lot from my mentee this week take it away Melissa so um you know there are some particular categories um that stand out for women when it comes to workplace and Equity typically that's around pay right it's around exposure and support we've talked about and it's also around promotion so what's an example of a time that you have been faced with an inequitable situation in any of those categories how did you navigate that and what advice would you have for those who may be in a similar situation oh God you want to go sure so as I mentioned um at this financial firm that I was at there was this desire to really tap into that Talent right that The Firm had and so yes I was helping out others but at the same time I had to help myself out too right and so this is where here I was in an economic analysis office I was the production editor for this Chief economist but I also knew that after working there for several years that I was not going to become an economist that I wanted to go into becoming an investment advisor and with that at that for making probably history by becoming the first Latina there to be an investment advisor how I was going to get there well you know what I didn't see how I was going to get there pretty much it was not going to be a straight line right because it hardly ever is and so I had to basically build that relationship with some individuals that could help me get there and I just didn't see it how and you know sometimes it just takes individuals to get to know you get to know your passion get to know that you are fully committed that this is not just something that oh let's give this a try because that would have been a major investment in me from that firm right so you have to ensure that um yes the promotion at that instance it was I felt it was I was being promoted even though I ended getting the same pay right but I felt it was a promotion because I was going into the space that I wanted to be into these individuals eventually came back and how I got there um they they picked up the phone and they said so-and-so's coming over Olga's coming over effective since it was a Friday on Monday what I'm like this is happening I mean I was I was uh you know very excited I couldn't believe it but it's a testament right and it didn't just happen where I asked for it and like next week it got done no there was I know that they had to also digest that information figure out the timing the best timing for me to do that but it did come about like a year and a half later but I had to put in some work ahead of time which I was willing to do because I meant that much to me and um so 2000 ten is when I went into that role and so I will forever look back and be very grateful to those individuals that helped me out because that's what it takes you have to have support and sometimes the promotion that you're looking for is the promotion that you may not exist as the natural next step for you it exists in another space and I felt uh today I mean I'm I just looked back and I'm just so happy and and proud of myself for Having the courage to ask because you just never know you sometimes don't have the courage to ask because you think they're gonna laugh at me they're gonna say you don't have what it takes or whatever but you know what those are sometimes your own insecurities and you have to get through that if you have to talk to yourself in the mirror in the morning before you go on you're like today is the day this is what's gonna happen and even if it's not you have to tell yourself whatever you see you like in terms of a vision for yourself I'm going to tell you this pursue it because I can't imagine not having having taken that that you know elevator ride up to this individual's office and making this request and asking him to you know to consider me and I think I would have right now if that wouldn't happen I would have looked back at that and I would have regretted it and so I'm just happy that I I didn't like you know students have come to like those insecurities and so I as you can just tell you take me as an example ask for what you want even if it's a different role a different space where you know you're going to thrive I think that if you start talking with the appropriate uh individual at the organization at least you'll you'll you'll you know they'll listen to you and they'll also keep you in mind when opportunities come so think about that they can't find you if you don't say if you don't say right exactly but I really really love about what you said is so many things by the way but you really spoke to stay ready so you don't have to get ready you never know when those calls those opportunities are going to come there's so many rooms that you're not going to be in where those decisions are being made right the other thing I really hope that everyone takes away is you said essentially pump yourself up before you have to go in and have one of these these um High consequential kind of how many of you have your own personal theme song to get you pumped up you know what if you don't let me give you a few suggestions lizzo is about damn time you know uh Beyonce's words like you know you won't break my soul she's on fire she's on fire no it's right like seriously on your Drive-In or your commute in or whatever we won't sing with promise she needs to speak for herself but yeah please please um I'm looking across the room right now and I I see myself in you and that I know there's something we all share we all either have a dream or we imagine a better version of ourselves in the future so she talked about pay she talked about promotion first of all I want you to know your value know who you are what you bring to the table you don't have I mean I love the song because I have them too you know I walk on song Whatever It Is but the fact is you're gonna walk this home because you know it you have it you've got it you have everything that you need right now a situation happened in the room back stages and someone said uh I had a reminder stop being apologetic stop thinking that you do not deserve that race dear friend of mine um she's um and actually is in the book she tells a story she's at a baseball game with a colleague and they have to be talking she learned that she was being paid you want to hear this a hundred thousand dollars less for the same job wow think about that a hundred thousand but he knew she was in this position and they had this moment and he said you know I want you to know they had a friendship that developed back to those allies and everything he said you need to go in there tomorrow and demand that this will get you what you should get paid and accept nothing less now of course I said she should have asked him more because there was probably a return you know the interest rate involved all the money she had but she did it and you know what she got it she knew she worked hard she knew everything a hundred thousand dollars now when you know what you're bringing to the table when you know you're volunteering for great assignments at the bank or anywhere know your value now I'm going to say this if you aren't valued so that's why I left my corporate life then you should think about where you should go to be valued but you can create those environments for yourself but never be apologetic go in there or I think you owe me no I should by the way here's something I want everyone to do if you're not tracking all the things that you've done succeed and accomplished because you know when that review comes up that I do with my team monthly by the time that review comes up they will not know all the things that you've done and you should not just go in there I don't by the way promote on tenure performance and contribution when you walk in there to get that raise or ask for it you're going to say here's what I did here your boss won't remember some people don't even remember what they did yesterday and you want them to remember what you did you back to being accountable but think about that never ever ever right now I'm not going to ask you to raise your hands because I know there are people in the room who think you know what I should be earning more then be intentional about why tell your story help people understand and it's okay ladies and then to toot your own home horn there's ways to do it that's constructed humble but you know this whole idea of pay promotion inequity and inequality is just it burns in my heart at times but I am also trying to empower women and men to go out there and get what they want in this life show that better self instead of you imagine it down the road why not right now amazing may I add one thing to that yeah I just want to say we're going to run overtime everybody okay with that I'm okay with that okay go ahead quick build on what Dee is saying which is it's not just okay to talk about yourself to promote your accomplishments to to let people know your value it's imperative and my example of what I would be talking about here is not that different from Olga's but to build on a couple of things the two of you said part of the um it was a client that I was working with that I was going to talk about who wanted to increase her visibility and exposure and three things that she did because she realized that the challenges were her boss who was not was kind of shielding her and not really giving her the opportunity to get visibility the organization because she was seeing there weren't a lot of female role models in her organization and guess what the third thing was herself because part of the thing that was holding her back was she had the belief that promoting herself talking about her accomplishments was bragging that she was humble and as a humble person she couldn't do that so guess where we started we started with her we started with helping her get a clear-eyed view of what her situation was and we started with what Dee said earlier helping her get the courage to step outside of her Comfort Zone by looking at her mindset challenging those beliefs and looking at where she may be missing out because she wasn't sharing her story wasn't sharing her accomplishments because of this belief that she had and so it takes steps and and and practice and and you know one one action at a time to get there but if you don't take that first action it's not going to happen a lot of personal responsibility I think is what you've all been saying and bringing in others bringing in building those relationships getting that support absolutely imperative yeah we definitely want to have time for the audience to ask questions so we're going to keep it moving along here Selena your work with the Red Cross has taken you across the country to support diverse communities after disasters can you share your experiences and learnings in building diversity equity and inclusion within the Red Cross locally and or nationally thanks Marianne um the the one example I have for this is probably the one that where I've done some of my most meaningful work and the work that um just has really changed my life so in 2017 for those of you that remember hurricane Harvey in Houston um and uh if you remember Houston had 51 inches of rain dump on it in about three days Houston typically in a year gets 50 inches of rain just to for you to understand what that looked like and in the George R Brown Convention Center so if you think about the United Center at the height of the disaster there was 15 000 people living so think about going into the United Center and there's 15 000 people that are there sleeping on cots families children people who have lost absolutely everything Houston has the second largest undocumented population in the country and when we walked into there and I was actually a colleague of mine got there first from LA and he called me about six days into the response and said Selena I'm standing in the George R Brown Convention Center and there's no Latinos here and you're looking around you're asking yourself how is that possible now during the time that was happening in Texas um the Latino Community was being targeted by different groups in law enforcement and we were and the government at that time um and so the Red Cross as being a neutral organization our only role and our only objective is to be able to make sure that we can serve people no matter what but still at this moment this entire Community is not coming to the Red Cross for help is seeing that it's unsafe to be able to do so and so myself and my colleague formed what became the initial Latino engagement teams that now deployed during disaster responses with the Red Cross around the country to go out so really recruiting local volunteers people who speak the language who are culturally competent to provide um access to to Red Cross services and help during times of disasters and so this idea that we're not going to wait for someone to come to us for help we're going to go to them and this now has been implemented across the country we continue to continue to use these teams um Latino engagement teams during times of disasters but I use this as an example of what it means for all of us even with working with the best of companies with the best of intentions that are doing such good work we sometimes can see where there isn't access we can see that things aren't right and things aren't fair and I remember at the time also being fairly new to the organization kind of raising my hand and saying this this is a problem this is the entire Community can't get to us and can't get help and thankfully because it is the Red Cross quickly they said okay what do we need to do here are the resources here's the support to make sure there's equal access but the other part of it so companies may not see it even though it may be really clear to us right so when we don't see women at the table we don't see a community at the table that we need to be able to say that um but also they may not have the knowledge the tools the you know the the really the knowledge to be able to know what to do so that's the other part of our role is being able to work with companies businesses organizations to say this is how you do that work so I you know I think that is really one of the things that I've been most proud of but I really meant and that as a way that again kind of talking about where our voices to make sure that we are really speaking up when we see something in even in places that have the best of intentions and are doing the best work absolutely a lot of Courage courage absolutely so one last question and then I hope you have your questions um you're thinking about your questions in the audience and I'm not sure if we have a mic that we can run but um so you know although you mentioned the the great resignation and and I think you said the Great Awakening yeah the great conversation it's a great comments to have yeah that you know and I you know I also like to say you know the great realization that something's been off for a minute and you know there's no denying that the pandemic definitely had it has taken as tall on the workforce and particularly on women in the workforce and according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics 80 of the workers who left the labor force in September 2020 alone were women that's four times the number of men that left within that women population there were over 300 000 were Latinas and over 58 000 were black women more than a million of those women were single mothers many of whom were already living below the poverty line so this issue of equity is not just a workplace Workforce issue it's a life it's a life issue so for any of you what's the obligation of leaders of some of those organizations Selena maybe I'll come back to Selena maybe I can come back to you since you just you gave a really you know striking example of what happens when there isn't diversity at the table diversity of thought diversity of experiences diversity of ideas that opportunity opportunities get shut off right could you say a little a little bit more about what leaders of these organizations need to do the c-suite if you will what needs to happen to make the new reality of work the new reality of the workforce and the labor pool workplace make it work for everybody sure and I'm going to say something about the workforce but I also want to say just about something that we do as women and so um I have some very dear friends that are here in the audience and I have a dear friend who's a one of our Deputy Governors and she is someone who I have to say it's one thing where you know when you're sitting at the table and you're like oh there's there's no women here at the table and then you kind of like give them names of people she's literally like no no hold on I'll wait while you call them right like and there's that's a difference like there's a difference between and how you actually say what's the next step of not just be like here of the names here are the people that need to be at the table but I'm actually going to sit here and wait and ensure that these individuals can be at the table so I think and when we think about our Workforce right um and I know um one of the things that I do just want to mention is I was a single mom for a long period of time and my son is 18 now and so yes serious 18 now and and so I mentioned this about in terms of what can the workforce do and thinking about supporting women and creating work schedules work environments that support all women right I have amazing friends who are single and they're incredible and they I have amazing friends that have children and that or just have a partner right and so how do we create environments and workplaces that can support all women and I do just want to say in this part about being a mom as well that really when we can give you give ourselves Grace when our companies and our businesses can also give ourselves Grace um I had this moment I think I was going to the California wildfires I was being deployed and I was running to the airport and I couldn't take my son to school that day so I had to put him in an Uber he was I think he was a freshman and I was feeling guilty about not driving him to school and so but I was and so I'm texting him you know from on the way to the airport being like okay and you had your soccer bag and then you have your lunch and you have this and then when you get done you're gonna do this and then you're gonna go to Grandma's and like he and I was feeling so much guilt about this and he texted me back and he said mom um I'm in my Uber and my Uber drivers Puerto Rican she knows who you are and and I told her where you're going mom and I'm so proud of you right and like this idea that we you know right women can have it all if we just know what that means for us and and what we decided we want it to be and so when we have companies and businesses in c-suite and individuals that can allow that to be the workplace for women I think we're we're making progress flexibility thank you that's awesome you ready for any questions from the audience raise your hand please we'll bring a mic over here while they're doing that Marianne if I had one thing to watch sure Jill go ahead can you stand up I forget whose hand was up but I saw a hand we're waiting for the mic Jill wanted to add to that list yeah please I would like to offer up you were a beautiful story and sharing kind of what organizations can do I would offer up that you know at least for public organizations there's an obligation to a fiduciary obligation to shareholders right and I would ask organizations to think about what what cost is to them for not including women for not including an equitable Workforce and is that fair to their shareholders yeah and there is a cost right exactly somebody's not getting served and some other organization is going to take care of that and and Rob you of that opportunity yeah so thank you for that question thank you uh sexism racism and that we think about the costs only being to the individuals of color or women it's a cost to all of us and I think it was um uh Bank of America that did a study and and that what the total cost to the city City Bank thank you and do you remember the number 16 trillion 16 trillion is the cost of the economy when what they said was due to discrimination that's that's it and then we were talking about what we can do first of all we can cultivate an environment of Courage that courage becomes a value of the organization and last but not least you know you can't manage what you don't measure I truly believe the reason we aren't seeing the metrics around this issue back to being courageous and raised no one wouldn't want to really see we actually know what it looks like right but nobody really wants to admit that it's that bad I'm saying whatever wherever you are it's okay but wherever you're on the Spectrum start there and then grow from that but you'll never get to a great place unless you measure and if you think about it I mean public companies I think it's going to come a day when they all are going to be required to have that measurement they talk about diversity and their demographics but I truly believe as we start inching our way looking at the success of mentorship sponsorship programs all of that but then we all embrace it as an opportunity for us all see us move forward absolutely there's some questions out yes please thank you this has been such a wonderful conversation and appreciate the women of Wind Trust and Wind Trust for for hosting it um I think the last question is really what got me going I'm I'm Jill Eid I'm the executive director of Girls on the Run Chicago and I was thinking about you know how like girls today are going to be women tomorrow and the success of that transition is all of our responsibility and so I'm curious how each of you think about your responsibility in that transition and then the business community's responsibility and that transition so can I make a request um can you rep have someone review our questions I'm not sure I heard the whole question a little closer yeah could you hold a little closer can you hear me better yeah okay um so my question is perfect you know it so I work for Girls on the Run Chicago and we know that girls today are going to be women tomorrow and the success of that transition is the responsibility of all of us and so my question is how do you think about that individual responsibility and the business community's responsibility to support our girls in that transition the question is how do you help what do you think how would you help that effective transition from girl to woman is basically what she is basically what she's saying what's our responsibility what are some of the things that we should really focus on doing oh um can I ask you please start with this yes um I want us all actually in those girls see ourselves in those girls and think about what we either did get that was great or what we wish somebody would have given us and in that moment just give it to them you know what they need I mean sadly there's just these young girls are coming up and they don't feel empowered they don't you know help them understand their their voice should be heard not a box to be checked all of us in this room your voice should be heard not a box to be checked but young girls are looking to us I say now I've figured out after all these years of being an entrepreneur being in banking by the way I started my career in banking that my obligation is to shorten the runway to success for others we know what we've gone through and I don't want anyone in this room and certainly not a young girl or boy to have to go through that certain obstacles we have to go through because that's how we learn but there are certain parts of this journey that are just unacceptable help them and I'm just going to add to that that I think this this idea of mirror images right so how meaningful it's been for us when we've you know and I I remember this also really during the pandemic and on Zoom like how obvious was it when you joined like a screen and you were the only woman right and it's just all these other squares of men you know it just I didn't you didn't really notice it as much as like then during the pandemic you're like wow I'm really the only one in this space and I remember when I started in this role um seven years ago when I was at an event um with young Latinas and I remember several of them coming up to me and saying you have no idea what it means for me to see you in this role or I've never met a Latina CEO before and so this other part of going back to you know again how important it is for businesses and groups to be able to create those mirror images because we can accomplish what we can see and when we haven't been able to see it that way it becomes more challenging for young women you have to see it to believe it see it to believe it so I I would say that one of the biggest things I'm going back to the girls they sometimes feel the way that they maybe see their mother feel and that's true and I believe at least with us um and you know part of like our mission with shenix which is a fintech app for Latinas going back to those figures uh that were shared earlier in 2020 just between March and may 700 000 Latinas in Leisure and Hospitality were laid off later on that year between August and September another 377 000 Latinas left the workplace to go take care of children that was over a million Latinas that year so the reason for Phoenix is because we need to make sure that our Latinas it helps them out with finding that job getting we're working to be able to get them the equal pay to start there number three it's about getting them Financial Resources in terms of you know partnering them up getting them to maybe have get courses through maybe third parties to be able to economically Empower them and and then there's other things that that are offered other financial services but what I want to say is this Latinas if they if they are not able to number one make a financial decision because guess what there's no money in the bank right we need to address that they need to get a a job how does that make a family feel especially if they're if it is a single mom how does that make her office her children feel not to see their mother and it could be any mother right not an unemployed how do they basically take in that energy for themselves we need to make sure that when we're addressing our community that we go to the heart of it and that is basically to the women that are there helping nurture their children and also educating them and giving them that empowerment that economic empowerment so these are things that as Leaders whether you are in business whether you are a non-profit wherever you are just know that that work is needed whether that be on a peer-to-peer basis at an organizational basis or outside of that but that's where we have to start we have to start with the backbone of our communities absolutely I think we I absolutely I think we have time for one more last question hi um so mine's kind of a two-prong question I'm sorry and it's the last one um so I have thank God seen a lot of success for myself in the last year um can you hold it closer to sorry so um thank God I've seen a lot of success for myself in the last year but at my age and seeing where other people are um how do you deal with the remorse of I should have done more or I could have done more and in addition to that I'm trying to help build my team but a lot of them are my age or older so I don't want to Broach that conversation in a disrespectful way of helping to build them up so how would you start a conversation of we can do more we should be at this table we deserve it as well um you know she was saying that um there are some things that she wished that she would have done differently and she has a team and she wants to get advice on how you would what you would say to a team that kind of keeps them motivated and and what I you didn't these are my words not yours but essentially how do you how do you move be move past the curse of the Shoulda Woulda Coulda oh I'll start did I get that right was that what you okay I'll start um how do you get past the Whitaker Shoulda is you look you look for you look at what's happened and you look for the lessons and you find that learning and then you move forward and it's not to ignore what happened but by focusing on those Woulda Coulda shouldas you're giving up your power because you were focusing on things you cannot control so once you learn those lessons if you can look at your situation and think about okay where am I now where do I want to be and how do I move forward from here using the lessons you've learned and your skill and your talent and your knowledge and whatever resources you have and take it one step at a time I don't think that answered all of your question because I couldn't quite hear it but I hope that at least gives you some starting point in terms of where do I start one thing this is my journey I'm going to share with you and I hope that it helps you and I have been talking about this going around the country there's one asset we have that we can mind really really well and that's our mind in our subconscious mind does not know the difference of between an imaginal real thought so what you think about all the time will manifest in your life now I'm sharing the story because I sit here today having left my job my mom thought I lost my mind I've gone boarding school with the pen I went to the Kellogg had Johnson Johnson Leo Burnett and then I said I want to leave I'm gonna go do something else Mom I'm gonna go do this dream she's like are you crazy no I did it but I was derailing my own success you know why so when I didn't have as much money as I thought I needed to be on the journey I suddenly was gripped with fear doubt limitations and here's the reality when you have doubt when you have fear you have no ability to be creative no ability to solve a problem it literally is impossible it's either scientific reason for that I was drowning in doubt limitation and I even got to a point when I did not know how to pay my rent that's real and suddenly like what am I going to do and by the way I didn't have parents I could call and say hey Mom You Know Rich do or can you know it was on me and I don't know I also want to give me this rubber band and I actually created one for myself I don't know where I got this idea young lady but we have to be conscious of how we think so I got this band anytime I had a negative thought I popped it I don't have enough money I'm popped it and I had to rephrase it to something positive and I did it over and over and over again but it was those thoughts that were keeping me from my dream and for me to advance to doing what I do I went for nothing I'm a multi-million dollar company author now and I'm gonna first time announce publicly that I'm a Bourbon maker [Applause] that's a journey but you know what I can I will and I have faith say yes more trust yourself don't everything I don't have enough education by the way everyone I did not have any money for any of my Ventures out the gate and how many times said well we don't have enough money how many times do we limit ourselves right come on yeah well guess what if you have a really really good idea you've done the work or I was already planned someone will fund you by the way when trust funded me [Applause] don't close doors before they open we are our worst enemy believe you have everything and guess what if you don't have it find someone who can help you I'm like I can't have this then I'm gonna go find someone who has a resource on the knowledge I'm not supposed to know everything so trust yourself the resources are all around you just open your eyes control this and live with no regrets think about it hourglasses turn it over start the sand off um was was that I understood that was a gentleman that had a please yeah you do you have one coming you can't hear you oh okay what happened to it come on we can't hear you we gotta get a mic to him where did it go does she have a wife no here she oh I'm sorry I know that guy thank you I promise you it wasn't a trick that would like to not to give you a thing that's okay it would be the only man who's asking questions it's a great panel my name is Philip and it's from Miss Robinson the first deal that you got or maybe the first deal tell me the Journey about Ben and Jerry's how you got there and then how did it take you where you are now what was it Ben and Jerry's the first deal may be the first deal but your journey to get that deal and how it brought you to where you are now to that deal and then how did what have so really quickly how did you get from that point to here thank you Mr so really quickly um back to mindset and that truly was the start um I had a lot of people telling me what I could not do so one other thing to the young lady in particular uh wanted us to understand something when other people tell you what you can't do and that idea is crazy they're really telling you what they can't do why are we willing to trust people who haven't even ventured and doing the things that we want to do right so Phil um from Ben and Jerry's first of all I'm gonna tell that quick story um I thought is you remember when the Midway Airport opened up for new concessions so by the way that was my very first business I went from Sears and then I heard about this opportunity at the airport and I thought I'm gonna put everything in best Architects best everything and I thought oh I'm gonna win this and guess what I did not now many people would then fail and to say it's done or even my very very first deal I kept calling this guy early late never got to him because they don't necessarily return your phone call doesn't mean that they're not interested in helping you it might just mean that they're busy and you got to be creative and find him so this one guy called just and this got me to Ben and Jerry's was that I called you know we all got Gatekeepers generally when the gatekeeper leaves 1.5 hours everybody remember that they will usually be in the office for a little long that's the time to call and you get them on the phone and I know this guy said oh my God Ben and Jerry's went from I lost the bid but I also think it was the best thing that ever could have happened to me because I then knew how to navigate the city of Chicago I'm in multiple airports across country now but that was one and it's like no you gotta talk to the decision makers that's the other thing make sure you know who you're talking to and earlier I talked about who to talk to the people who can help you but I didn't give up and so went from that but it's just been the journey and so for the one out at Midway Airport one of our assessments and also by the way Ben and Jerry's didn't think they wanted to do it I called them there's a there's a pattern here I'm persistent right if I want something but guess what when you want something you don't let anyone else get in the way of your dream they they had never been in the city of Chicago cold months cold city right here's what I help them understand this is why you want to do this and I'm a person to help you do it now well no no no but I kept calling but guess what we became among the top three in the country When You Believe in your ideal and you know it's a good one so you're right I went from bad but you leveraged that and you leverage it again and I mean there's a lot of stories you know unpacked in in how I got from that one Enterprise to being in other airports because it's about Partnerships it's about everything but see this beautiful stage here women here's what I do also know women empowering women and also men Empower us too so look around get the help just stay with your dream if it's what you want that's all you should be focused on in getting it absolutely hear me we obviously learned a lot of lessons today thank you to this incredible panel we um also learned a lesson and timing is everything and so uh we're gonna stick around till 6 30 um the panelists will as well and for any additional questions we're sorry about running out of time um I do want to thank one very important person each business resource Group has an executive sponsor and we were very fortunate to have Kate bogey our chief senior counsel for wintrust Bank um become our sponsor for the women of Wind Trust unfortunately Kate was ill today and was unable to make it but I know she's going to watch the replay and so a big hand of Applause for Kate bogey dude [Applause] I would not be able to do anything regarding this event without the co-chairs of the program committee for a while so I would like one more round of applause for Nancy Vassar Tanya Burke thank you so much for all your hard work this was incredible it all it showed us is that there's power in numbers there's power in our voices there's power in being courageous um Dee mentioned that she wrote a book and I spent 14 mornings on my treadmill reading it and earmarking it it's an incredible book so we have a big surprise for everyone um don't look now but under your chairs if you have a Post-It note under your chairs you will be receiving one of D Robinson's books and so come up afterwards I said Don't Look Now does it have what does it cost a note look like just in case they have Post-its in the purse yeah and don't pull those Post-its out of your purse and put them under your chair thank you all again for joining us this has been an incredible journey um I wanted to leave you with a quote that really had a lot of meaning um that I ran across D left us with this women empowering Women quote right Madeline Albright our former Secretary of State once said there's a special place in hell for women who don't help other women yes absolutely there's a special place in hell for women that don't help other women after seeing you all today I now know a little bit about how Heaven Must feel you guys are amazing thank you all for coming out please again let's take Selena [Music] foreign

Channel: Wintrust

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Id: r1UhgKMUvBE

Length: 86min 42sec (5202 seconds)

Published: Mon May 15 2023