Stettler and area women assembled at the second women’s conference on May 2.
Last year’s conference was oriented toward women in business, but this year’s, entitled “Fitting in the Joy,” is more about women learning to love being women.
“The women’s conference is an opportunity for women to get together and network, create business opportunities, and also to celebrate just being a woman as well,” said organizer Stacey Benjamin of Stettler Board of Trade.
The conference organizers included also Alberta Works and Stettler and District Adult Learning.
The day started with a free breakfast and registration, and the main portion of the day was taken up by different speakers. Brenda Robinson spoke first about the power of being positive and influencing others through positivity.
She spoke again towards the end of the day about the importance of laughter.
She almost had the audience in tears as she recounted stories from her own life, including more than one story about being caught in a less than fully-clothed state.
“The speakers were very, very good,” said attendee Liz Marshall. “The first one (Brenda Robinson) was very funny in both of her talks.”
Candace Viste of Goodsense Healthcare in Stettler spoke about balancing work and personal life, and ultimately said that words like “juggle” were detrimental when talking about balancing everything, and would rather use words like “manage,” “choose,” and “commit,” as they are decision words that put the power with the person using them.
The last speaker, Kim Berube, spoke about the power and advantages of being a woman, punctuating her talk with anecdotes about things that she has gone through in her life.
Jessica Skaley of the Hideaway Salon in Stettler did two makeup demonstrations, showing a nighttime and daytime look and answered makeup questions from the audience.
There were several breaks, where women at the conference could browse the items sold by local vendors – items included Tupperware, skincare products, Scentsy, and makeup products.
Participants were treated to catered lunch as they listened to local pianist Kim Ko.
“I’m hoping that they have an enjoyable day where they can just talk with other women, do some shopping, and enjoy themselves,” Benjamin said.