FALL 2017 NAED Women in Industry Bootcamp

By: Heather Monoson, GEXPRO

​The Fall 2017 NAED Women in Industry Bootcamp, hosted by Cree at their facility in Racine Wisconsin, provided a wonderful opportunity to network and learn more about female leaders in the electrical industry.   This year, Kate Burkhard and I were in attendance from GEXPRO, along with Brittany Camera from Rexel USA. 

As an attendee and speaker, I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to participate in the various breakout sessions and roundtable discussions.  The agenda included a phenomenal line-up of topics and speakers, including:

• Mentoring:  How to Elevate Your Capabilities & Your Career, Kathy Jo Van (Southwire, VP)
• How a Strong Business Acumen Can Help Your Career Trajectory, Heather Monoson (Gexpro, Finance Manager)
• Maximizing Your Ability to Influence, Becky Rupiper-Greene (Tero International, Image Consultant)
• Career Path Planning "Project You", Stacey Felzer (Anixter, Director of Product Management)

​During my education session, my goal was to encourage attendees to think about how deep their business knowledge truly is, focusing on the idea that broadening your overall understanding of the Electrical Distribution industry will make you more valuable to your business.  If your career goal is to become a leader, it's essential to understand the language of finance.  At their core, all strategic decisions are driven by or have financial consequences, so if you can demonstrate your finance and business acumen, it will help you grow in your career. 
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The audience seemed to really enjoy the discussion, and I received positive feedback that my session made finance accessible, so I was very happy with the session and the Bootcamp overall.  Thank to you to the business for supporting our attendance - it was a great learning experience and opportunity to highlight GEXPRO at an Industry event!

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