The Women’s Contact Society and Thompson Rivers University — North are hosting our first ever Women’s Conference on Saturday March 10.
This event is exciting for the Women’s Contact Society, and its new partnership with TRU is thriving with each event we host.
The theme at the conference is Home-based business profits, stress and children. The goal is to support and celebrate local women and businesses.
The conference is a great way to meet new people, talk and learn about different interests through our workshops.
The presenters are all women from Williams Lake with the exception of Dr. Chris Montoya who is with the Thompson Rivers University’s psychology department. He has graciously accepted the invitation to present to the women of Williams Lake and area.
Dr. Montoya will be speaking about Baby Brain Development, the stages of development beginning in the uterus and for the first few years of life. He will also touch on the environmental impacts such as stress, alcohol, smoking and how they adversely affect brain development.
Carla McCulley will be presenting on Dealing with Difficult People.
Her presentation will include ways of handling sticky situations the appropriate ways and how to keep emotions in check throughout the situation.
Mayor Kerry Cook will be presenting on Women and Leadership. Cook has been a resident of Williams Lake for a number of years and has raised her family here.
She is a passionate supporter and advocate for women and is a proven leader. This is her second term as mayor and organizers are very excited to have her come to the conference to discuss how she got where she is today and to teach women how to use confidence and their skills to succeed. Personal Budgeting will be presented by Kirsten Stark.
Take control of your money and make it work hard for you. Learn to plan and budget, and then live your dreams!
With personal experience of living on a tight budget, sometimes during challenging times, Kirsten will encourage you to share experiences, whilst you learn new skills and become motivated about taking control of your personal budget.
She has more than 10 years experience in managing million dollar projects (delivered on time and within budget) and is currently the financial literacy project co-ordinator for Cariboo Chilcotin Partners For Literacy.
Community Futures will present Cost of Doing Business: How much are you really making?
It will bring tips on splitting your personal shopping with that of your business and show you how to earn a profit working from your own home.
Keynote speaker, Susan Foisy, is coming to Williams Lake from Kelowna and she will be discussing Women and Stress at the start of the conference with different ways to deal with our busy and stressful days.
She will also be the presenter for Kids Have Stress Too! Her presentation will focus on the importance of our role in helping young children learn to manage stress.
Research demonstrates that stress, both positive and negative, has a profound impact on the development of a child’s brain, and that the neural circuits for dealing with stress are particularly malleable or “plastic” during the fetal and early childhood periods.
A child’s ability to cope with stress in the early years has consequences for physical and emotional health throughout life.
Marketing yourself: Are you sending the message you want too? will be presented by Laurie Walters, an employment counsellor at the Williams Lake Employment Services and a city councillor. Walters has many years of marketing experience in Williams Lake. She will bring her passion for the community and marketing. She will talk about how to send the right message with what we wear, say and act in a professional environment.
Lunch will be provided and free child-minding by the students of the TRU Early Childhood Education program available.
Contact Ashlee Turatus at 250-392-4118 for registration information.