PBN summit features women business leaders

WITH MORE THAN 200 in attendance at the Crowne Plaza Providence-Warwick, the two panels at PBN's inaugural Business Women Summit on Leadership & Entrepreneurship took on issues that included achieving success in a corporate environment as well as how to succeed at starting your own business. Ann-Marie Harrington, founder and CEO of Embolden, second from left, speaks to the second topic on a panel that includes, from left, Jessica Granatiero, owner and president of The Savory Grape and The Savory Affair, Robyn Smalletz, president and CEO of Gloria Duchin, and Susan Keller, managing director of LeveragedSolutions, a division of LGC&D. / PBN PHOTO/MIKE SKORSKI
WITH MORE THAN 200 in attendance at the Crowne Plaza Providence-Warwick, the two panels at PBN's inaugural Business Women Summit on Leadership & Entrepreneurship took on issues that included achieving success in a corporate environment as well as how to succeed at starting your own business. Ann-Marie Harrington, founder and CEO of Embolden, second from left, speaks to the second topic on a panel that includes, from left, Jessica Granatiero, owner and president of The Savory Grape and The Savory Affair, Robyn Smalletz, president and CEO of Gloria Duchin, and Susan Keller, managing director of LeveragedSolutions, a division of LGC&D. / PBN PHOTO/MIKE SKORSKI

WARWICK – More than 200 women – and a handful of men – attended the PBN Summit on Women, Leadership & Entrepreneurship on Thursday, leaving with insights from two panels that they planned to apply in their work and lives.
After fielding individual questions from PBN Editor Mark S. Murphy and Marketing and Events Manager Nancy J. Adeszko, members of the first panel on corporate leadership began firing out tips in quick succession.
“Women apologize a hundred times a day,” pointed out panelist Marcia Cone, founding executive of the Women’s Fund. “Stop it. You don’t have to be sorry. Just do it.”
That and not being afraid to promote one’s accomplishments were takeaways that Christina Rouse, a marketing coordinator with Sweeney Real Estate in Providence, said she’d put into practice.
“I’ve heard the dirty rumor women get promoted based on performance, while men get promoted based on an expectation, so I think the point about self-promotion really resonated with me,” Rouse said after listening to the five speakers on the first panel. “And the ‘I’m sorry’ bit – I do say I’m sorry about a hundred times a day.”
Hope Global President and CEO Cheryl Merchant made the crowd laugh more than once, telling a story about empowering others, like the man who helped a company she worked for in Mexico uncover losses in operations and reduce those losses from 14 percent to 2 percent.
“I promoted the s— out of him and he is now running the largest operation in Mexico,” she said. “No degree. Smart. That’s what you watch for.”
Other advice included finding mentors; delegating; mastering something difficult; being more direct and less risk averse and showing confidence.
During the second panel on women-owned businesses and entrepreneurship, Susan Keller, managing director at LGC&D LeveragedSolutions, outlined three steps to starting a business: not assuming because you can solve a problem, that that solution is marketable; forming and supporting a good team; and committing to the fledgling company from the start.
“You have to be able to understand every aspect of the business,” said Keller. “Be committed. There is no work-life balance when you’re starting a company.”
She also recommended creating a business plan, not just for the company’s launch but for 18 months or more out.
“When you put something on paper, that makes it real,” she said. “Don’t think of it as static, think of it as fluid.”
Eric Lichatin, a credit specialist at Freedom National Bank in Greenville, came with co-workers in place of the company president.
“I love what I’m hearing,” he said. “A lot of things the first panel was saying I don’t think applies just to women. It’s what [Latha Sivaprasad, senior vice president and chief medical officer at Rhode Island and Hasbro Children’s hospitals,] said: ‘Don’t be scared to move ahead.’”
Summit sponsors included presenting sponsors Verrill Dana LLP and LGC+D and co-sponsors Cox Business, Hope Global and Lifespan.

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