WYE MILLS — The first of three scheduled panels kicked off the second annual Women to Watch Summer Speaker Series with a conversation at Chesapeake College about passion and purpose Thursday.
Highlighting empowering women in Mid-Shore communities, panelists included Shelly Gross-Wade, principal consultant and CEO of Bay Crossing Consulting; Kim Montooth, assistant vice president of M&T Bank; Shawna D. Payne, founder and coach of The BE Academy; and Liz Verhelle, financial advisor of Edward Jones.
Moderator Carrie-Ann Barrow, executive coach, owner and author of “Scaling Strategies,” led the discussion.
The biggest take away of the panel series is that anyone, particularly women, “have a choice and have a say in what they want to do in life and are in a position to make changes in their lives no matter what,” Barrow said.
During the panel discussion, speakers shared personal and professional stories from their career and development.
Discussing career changes, raising families, furthering education and health scares, panelists emphasized leading lives full of passion and igniting their driving purpose to empower others.
“Passion is what will not let you sleep at night, purpose is the process to achieve that passion,” Gross-Wade said.
Following retirement and starting her own business, Gross-Wade emphasized, “the quality of life is more important than the quantity (of) anything else that we have,” she said.
After facing burnout in under-appreciated careers, focusing on her passion and purpose helped Payne identify life values, including creating her own schedule and prioritizing time for her family.
“If you’re not operating with passion and with purpose, things just kind of seem meaningless… I wanted to be happy with what I was doing every day,” she said.
Payne said she started her own business to give others the tools to empower themselves and do what they love.
“I hold the belief that we all can achieve anything we want to achieve if we just put in the work. I did it, and I’m so confident that others can do it as well,” she said.
According to Montooth, creating a venn diagram and embracing the Japanese term “ikigai” or “reason for living” can help identify what you love to do, what the world needs, what you are good at, and what you are paid to do.
Embracing a passion for helping others brought Montooth full circle in finding her purpose in life.
“For me, finding my passion really helped steer my purpose,” she said.
For Verhelle, sacrificing her ego and embracing humility was necessary in order to completely change career fields and forge a path forward all on her own.
“Sometimes you have to sacrifice things in your life when it’s not the direction you should be going, and it’s not supporting you. Whether it’s personal relationships, whether it is friendships, sometimes you have to make those sacrifices to follow your dreams, to live your passions, to make sure you’re within your purpose,” Verhelle said.
Payne noted leaving an established but unfulfilling career to pursue a driving passion can be rocky and can mean sacrificing financial stability.
“The sacrifices you make for those investments are not always pretty, but are well worth it,” she said.
For those struggling to find their passions and purposes, the panelists noted saying yes to opportunities and building connections and relations with those who will support goals is just as important as knowing when to step away from nay-sayers and relationships, and careers that aren’t fulfilling.
In addition to creating a self-mantra and an empowering playlist to rock to, Verhelle encouraged surrounding yourself with encouragement and leaning into relationships that will remind you of your worth and those who will help you meet your goals.
It is crucial to break out of boundaries to reach your fullest potential and create a legacy for others as much as yourself, Gross-Wade said.
New this year, following the engaging dialog, participants also broke into small groups for mentoring sessions and to speak about their own personal and professional challenges.
The series is part of the Women to Watch program.
Since 2020, APG Media of Chesapeake has recognized women in Mid-Shore communities with the annual Women to Watch program, and in 2024, community members nominated over 350 women across the Mid-Shore as Women to Watch.
The Summer Speaker Series continues the momentum and enthusiasm these communities have for the Women to Watch Program and promises inspiration, guidance and invaluable connections.
The next events in the series will take place July 25 at Wharves at Choptank Visitor Center and August 15 at the Avalon Theatre.
Each event includes networking with other community leaders, a light breakfast from a local restaurant, discussion panels from Women to Watch leaders and small group mentoring. Tickets are $30.
More information on the event, panelists and the series can be found on at apgchesapeake.com/summer-speaker-series-2024 or by contacting kenglish@chespub.com.
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