Business advisors at NKBA’s Women 2 Women Leadership Conference offered sage advice for succeeding in business and in life.
By Dianne M. Pogoda
Ten accomplished business advisors at NKBA’s 4th annual Women 2 Women leadership conference in Scottsdale, AZ, told 100 attendees to stay true to themselves, to transfer skills from different careers and life experiences to their current situations, and to appreciate their own value along their career journeys.
The conference, held in September at the Mountain Shadows Resort, was sponsored by Café Appliances, Ferguson Home, and Maxim Lighting.
Moderated by Heather Shannon, SVP of Marketing & Communications for NKBA, the advisor panel included Arianne Bellizaire, owner of Arianne Bellizaire Interiors; Patty Dominguez, VP of Business Development for Cosentino; Erica Bovard, Senior Director of Café Brand & BGI Consumer Marketing; Casey Brand, owner of Cassandra Brand Interiors, Kristin Elder, VP and General Manager of the Consumer Channel for Kitchen & Bath North America at Kohler; Cheryl Fenelle-Dixon, a marketing professional who is an adjunct professor at Columbia University; Alena Capra, owner of Alena Capra Designs; Indira Franca, VP of International Business Development at Emerald; Ivana Molzen, an eCommerce and digital transformation executive; and Nureed Saeed, owner of Nu Interiors.
The panelists shared their own stories, positive experiences, and learning moments as they offered essential advice centered around six key themes.
1. Transfer Skills. “Don’t feel guilty about changing careers to follow a passion,” Bellizaire advised. “Many K&B professionals are in their second or third careers. The skills, knowledge, and information you pick up along the way help inform your next steps. Everything you’ve done is your path to learning the art of storytelling and sales. If you can’t get the client to understand it, you can’t sell it. Effective communication is the most valuable thing [you can] do. There are always nuggets from a previous career that will inform your next career.”
Dixon added that besides selling yourself and your services, it’s all about knowing your worth as well as recognizing what’s important to your audience. “Solve a problem, fulfill a need, show them how you fit into their world,” she said.
2. Overcome Roadblocks. This is especially important when you’re the only woman in a predominantly male-dominated environment or industry.
“I work at Cosentino, in a very male-dominated industry,” said Dominguez. “When I started, some of the men in the boardroom just ignored me, but I wanted to have a voice. Finally, I spoke up — and Eduardo Cosentino recognized me and believed in me. But I didn’t believe in myself. He told me I’d be going to KBIS, and when he was there, he said he wanted to see people coming up to me and asking about my son. Because then, he said, ‘you will have created a relationship.’ A year later, he offered me the role that really launched my career. I overcame my fear of speaking up and being heard, and that created an opportunity for me. So, speak up!”
Capra, who hosts a local design TV show in Florida, said her journey took her from designer to TV host, an opportunity that arose when the previous host, who had a major following, left the show. “But I wasn’t him. I had to learn how to blaze my own path and make the audience identify with me,” she said. At first, the response on social media was somewhat harsh, she noted. “But I got to be myself. Never let other people’s opinions hurt you but rather learn from them. Be authentically yourself, and your audience will cherish what you bring to them.”
3. Identify the Qualities You Want in Your Team. Bovard said if the team isn’t right, nothing will be right. “The number-one thing I look for in team members is curiosity,” she said. “My team needs to know how to learn, how to do it better. The second thing is that they are a team player, and the third is to know their numbers. It’s important to have data ready to support a decision and rally people around you.”
4. Identify Qualities in a Partner. Whether collaborating with an individual or another company or brand, choosing the right partner can be tricky, said Brand, noting, “I want someone who willingly shares info with everyone.” She added that curiosity is also very important here, as is constructive criticism — giving it and taking it.
5. Identify and Use Flaws to Help Build Your Career. “Everything about me could be considered a ‘flaw,’” said Saeed, “for example, being female or a person of color. This can prevent people from connecting with their true selves. Embrace your own unique qualities and understand that even when you lose, you can still win.”
Elder added that not having a college degree was a source of “shame” early in her career. “But my real-life experience made me a better marketer. I learned what resonates most from working on the retail floor and hearing my customers.”
Dominguez said she was often criticized for being “too sentimental” in corporate situations. “But using your heart and seeing the emotional side of the business — the women’s side — helped shape the direction of our company and was ultimately quite beneficial.”
6. Learn the Benefits and Drawbacks of Artificial Intelligence. A big topic was understanding and negotiating AI in the business world, particularly the design arena. Molzen said many of us have replaced Google searches with AI, “because you can do almost anything with it. We should be asking what we are using AI for. You need a strategy and a long-term vision. Replacing the workforce with AI can be catastrophic. Instead, take the time to educate your workforce about how to use AI responsibly.”
Bovard noted that, like most of the Internet, AI is forever. “Be careful about what you feed into Chat GPT, and be sure to protect your company’s data. Think about how AI can help with your productivity, for example, create an algorithm of who your audience is, and ask questions to figure out what your true audience really wants.”
She also advised attendees to learn about the “Large Language Model” — the keywords that AI identifies as being those that propel a company to the top of a search, based on massive analysis of text and human language patterns.
Franca concurred, “We have tons of data to learn about how to be more effective and productive and to learn about our audience, but if you don’t want some information to be public, don’t put it out there.
Saeed concluded, “Ask Chat GPT about yourself — you might be surprised to find out where you stand.”
The Takeaways
Several constants emerged as key ingredients for success in both business and life.
• Use emotion as a strength.
• Don’t change or compromise your values for anyone.
• Appreciate your self-worth and be confident in yourself and your values.
• Don’t allow anyone to disrespect you.
• In a male-dominated culture, find a man in the group who values you, get his support, and the rest will often follow.
• Sometimes you need to leave a bad situation. Understand that maybe your circumstances will dictate a change for you — and that it can be the best thing to happen to you.
