2007 Women on Wall Street Conference
It’s your move: Driving Change in Your Career and Life
The Women on Wall Street (WOWS) Conference held in New York City last week packed a punch as guest speakers spoke about driving change in both their careers and personal lives. Keynote speaker, Brenda Barnes, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sara Lee Corporation, offered her advice for succeeding in today’s changing world and a panel of five top women executives told their personal stories of success and failure.
This year’s theme, "It’s your move: Driving change in your career and life," drew over 2,000 professionals from Deutsche Bank and other companies and signified the continuing need for this conference in our industry. Americas CEO Seth Waugh opened up the evening by commenting on being a change agent in life.
"Change is a forever thing," said Waugh. "You have to embrace it, make it your ally, but also accept that you can’t always control the timing."
He was immediately followed by Barnes. Prior to joining Sara Lee, Barnes was president and chief executive officer of PepsiCola North America and has seen plenty of change in her own career. During her 22-year career at PepsiCo, she held a number of senior executive positions in operations, general management, and sales and marketing. Barnes spoke about her own personal experiences climbing the corporate ladder and the choices she made along the way.
Barnes stated that the demographics of women at the top of the corporate world in CEO roles and on corporate boards are still too low. She urged women to understand what they want and then leverage their skills in the best way possible. She also urged corporations to create cultures that make it possible for all employees to succeed.
Barnes spoke candidly about significant milestones and decisions in her life, including her choice to leave her CEO position at PepsiCo to stay at home with her young children - a decision which prompted fierce debate globally about the pressures on women trying to juggle family and work life.
"There’s no binder on how to do this," she said. "There is no simple answer. You have to figure out what your values are, what your goals are, learn to leverage your strengths and figure out what makes you good. Figure out what that compass inside you is telling you to do."
The discussion was then turned over to Roelfien Kuijpers, Global Head of Institutional Business for Deutsche Asset Management, who served as MC. She introduced the panel discussion segment, which included Natalie Morales, National Correspondent for the Today Show who moderated the discussion, Laurie Hodrick, Managing Director, Global Head of Alternative Investment Strategies, Deutsche Bank, Sandra Horbach, Managing Director, Consumer and Retail, The Carlyle Group, Cathleen Benko, Vice Chairman and Managing Principal, Talent, Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, Denise Menelly, Managing Director, Global Head of GTS Client Delivery/CMB, Citi and Tracey Travis, Senior Vice President Finance, and Chief Financial Officer, Polo Ralph Lauren.
Each of the panelists offered candid insight into how they got to where they are, offering advice on achieving authentic success in male-dominated industries. They also stressed the importance of having a support network, embracing change and taking risks. The night was such a hit that a blog has been created by the website The Glass Hammer to encourage continued dialog about issues discussed during the conference.
The 13th annual WOWS conference saw an increase in popularity and participation, showing an increase in the number of men as well as a significant number of individuals from other companies and industries. Over 950 people responded to the conference survey indicating a high level of satisfaction and relevance to their lives and careers. The results will be used to help plan for next year’s conference and will be posted shortly.
To access The Glass Hammer blog, please click here.
|
|
2007 Conference Webcast
The 2007 Webcast videos are now available.
Our Sponsors
WOWs would like to thank our 2007 sponsors
|
