With a fresh take on what it means to provide opportunities for women in the automotive industry, SBN has held Women's Leadership Forums the past three years. More than 50 women have participated every year, where they spent three days networking and learning how to advance their careers. Hear about their experiences and what benefits they were able to get from attending.
Hear from attendees on their experiences and the benefits of joining this event.
"I was able to take a risk and put myself out there. I met some great women through networking and have already exchanged conversation with them after the event. I loved the "queen bee" syndrome Angelia spoke about. I also enjoyed Shaundra's story of her first failed talk but not giving up, Erin King brought a lot of energy, and I loved the borrow someone's cape tip. I took a personal impact on the importance of my own health and fitness and how that effects my day-to-day decisions, engery level/my ability to work better."
—Katlin Weber, T Sportline
All of the speakers and all of the topics helped to bring self awareness and a reinvigorated focus on personal motivation to be better. Whether it is to be better as a leader, communicate better, approaching topics differently, choosing to not be a victim and working to overcome your own securities, it was a space to share and gain empowerment with other women. Sometimes all we need is to be brought together.
—Kira Daczko, Universal Technical Institute
This was my 2nd year attending and I was able to make even more connections this year. It has impacted me professionally and personally by stepping out of my comfort zone, being fearless and learning to use my voice more.
—Tricia Emurian, Yamaha Motor Corp.
"SBN leadership gave me the confidence and boost I needed to advance my career. I realized I was selling myself short by setting my goal out at such a long term, when I am ready now and I don't need to wait on anyone to teach me or show me what I need to learn: I can teach myself and study and learn it on my own. There is nothing that in unattainable. SBN taught me some leadership skills I was lacking that were so beneficial, that not only will help me, but more importantly, help my teams that I lead!"
—April Rogers, Dee Zee Inc.
"I'm new to the industry and it helped me come out of my shell and network. I also learned a little more on how I could better my company as a female owner, and how to talk to my employees and have them take me seriously. In addition to networking activities, the event included sessions with expert speakers, several that were led by the world-renown Dale Carnegie program. Topics focused on creating and building skill sets in high-performance leadership, dealing with difficult people and emotional intelligence."
—Christina Storm, Ikon Industries LLC
Empowering and inspiring! Being surrounded and motivated by all the businesswomen is a one-of-a-kind experience. Looking forward to the 2025 WLF!
—Ashley Miller, Fox Factory Inc.
"It was refreshing to be surrounded by other positive and empowering women, discussing both personal and professional development and leadership opportunities. At times I forget there are many powerful women in this industry, so networking with everyone in attendance was a priceless experience for me."
—Mallorie Anderson, QA1
Women have worked their way through the ranks of the professional world to represent well over half of the US workforce. Yet, they continue to hold a vastly smaller percentage of leadership positions than men in various sectors. WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP
As of 2023, 35% of top management positions are held by women.
As of 2023, women hold 10.4% of leadership positions at Fortune 500 companies.
Women make up 27.9% of the 117th United States Congress.
The industries with the highest rates of women in leadership include human resources (74.85%), education/social services (41%), healthcare (41%), and hospitality (33%).
The industries with the lowest rates of women in leadership include mining/quarrying (12%), construction/real estate (18%), and transport (19%).
Women represent 56.5% of medical students and 55.75% of law students in the United States; however, they only account for 37% of doctors and 40% of lawyers.
For women of color, the climb to be equally represented in leadership roles has been even more laggard. While today's statistics about women in leadership show improvement from years past, there's much more work to be done.
Less than 1% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women of color
The SEMA Businesswomen's Network is a dynamic group of professionals representing the women of SEMA. The SBN oversees the continued development and management of the SEMA Mentoring Program, the Annual SEMA Speed Networking Breakfast, opportunities for SBN Member Networking, SBN Communications, SBN Projects, development of articles and member features, contributes regularly to SEMA Member News, and much more!
nicoleb@sema.org
909-323-2149