(Seguin) — A two-day event that looks to celebrate and empower the women of the Lone Star Stage gets underway tonight in Seguin. The second annual Texas Women of Influence Gala & Conference is again being presented by the Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce. The event was the brainchild of Chamber Chair Natalie Jones, who said that they wanted a way to recognize local female leaders, while also bringing other women together to support each other and to learn from.
“The catalyst for this idea was just women having an opportunity for women to fellowship together. That was the main inspiration for the actual conference day was bringing in some leaders of different industries that can speak to their successes as women in those industries, share best practices to help others grow around them, really leave people feeling empowered and inspired motivated to be their best self but we wanted to take it a step further and we really felt like there also needed to be a celebration of all of the women in our area, all the amazing things that they do and accomplish everyday balancing work and life and kids and family and friends and there is a lot of balance there – celebrating the different perspectives that they bring to the organizations and businesses that they are a part of so that’s where the gala came in is we felt like Hats off to Her would be a celebration where men and women can come together and all celebrate together the accomplishments of what women do every single day,” said Jones.
Chamber President Chester Jenke says he was blown away by the success of last year’s inaugural event. He says he knew this would be a good idea, but he expects it to continue to grow and get better each year.
Jones says this is an event that’s aimed at women, but really, it helps to make everyone better.
“I have found that men really enjoy celebrating the women and the difference that women make. They just needed an opportunity to get together and do it and we see men recognized at events and yes, this is really tailored what women do because they are so unique and so different and add a different perspective but once they have an opportunity to come together and celebrate, they enjoy doing it. You have a mom. You have a sister. You have a best friend. You have a spouse. You have a daughter. There’s a woman in everybody’s life that has contributed to your success and it’s just taking that extra time to say thank you and recognize that and then the next day, all of them getting together and really sharing their stories of success and obstacles that they’ve had to overcome so we can be the best that we can be,” said Jones.
The event opens with a gala tonight in the Seguin Coliseum. Tickets are no longer available for the gala, but during the event, the annual Guadalupe County Woman of Influence Award will be given to local businesswomen Krista Moreno. Moreno is being honored for all of the volunteer work she has done in the community, particularly the work she has done in support of students and staff in the Seguin ISD. Jenke says Moreno is well deserving of this honor, and they had several great nominees for the award this year.
“The social hour starts at 5:30 to 6 and then we will have a sit down dinner by Burnt Bean and we will honor that Local Woman of Influence which this year is Krista Moreno and if you don’t know Krista Moreno, I don’t know what rock you climbed from underneath here in Seguin because she has been so influential in so many things and I guess when I was reading through her nomination form, I knew about the PAC but there was so much more that she did that I didn’t know about. So, that night, we will honor her,” said Jenke.
Day two of the event begins on Thursday with a number of speakers and special breakout sessions. Organizers say there will be two speakers on the main stage, along with nine breakout sessions. The conference will also offer an Inspiration Center, vendor shopping and a keynote speaker.
This year’s keynote speaker will be this year’s Texas Woman of Influence winner Ruth Hughes. Jenke says Hughes has done some amazing work for the state of Texas and she is well deserving of this recognition.
“Ruth is the former Texas Secretary of State. She is a very accomplished attorney in the lawyer field. But more than that, she was so influential with making those connections if you will with Texas and Mexico as Secretary of State. She oversaw all the elections so if you want to talk about somebody who has been influential inside of Texas that Secretary of State position is just so much more than being a secretary, taking notes for the legislative session etc.,” said Jenke.
In addition to the speakers, Jones says those attending the conference will really get to choose from a wide array of topics that will be covered throughout the day. She says their breakout sessions offer something for everyone.
“There will be three breakout sessions for people to pick and choose and design their own day and then we will recognize our keynote speaker and award recipient for the Texas Woman of Influence Award and that is Ruth Hughes and she will take the stage and have some time to talk to us and inspire us and throughout the day, we also have vendor booths. We have an inspiration center where people can get resumes reviewed. They can talk through social media tackets. They can talk about dressing professionally on a budget. How to be the healthiest you that you can be so that you can be the most successful for the people around you whether that be coworkers, family, or friends. So, lots of interactive opportunities in and out throughout the conference as people design their own day,” said Jones.
The chamber also released the names of the other speakers for this year’s conference. The speaker list includes Felicia Jeffery, Lynn Kincaid, Sarah Wilson, Melissa Vega, Dr. Ruth A Reitzel, Sarah Chilutti, Jill Heard, Yvonne Sifuentes, Jillian Strong, Nicole Bruton and Natalie Land.
More information about the gala and conference can be found at seguinchamber.com, or by calling the Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce office at 830-379-6382.
