This year’s Women in Leadership nominees know what it’s like to take a risk.
One is making her first run for political office. One is openly sharing her journey through addiction to help others choose sobriety. A third owns a small business that is launching products in major retailers around the country. And another turned her trucking company into a booming enterprise.
The Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce will honor Grace Kestler, Lisa Pein, Dawn Andrews and Telma Santana at the annual Women in Leadership luncheon at 11:30 a.m. May 10 at The Commons, 300 Washington St. About 300 people are expected to attend. Tickets are $45 and available online at columbusareachamber.com.
Chamber President Cindy Frey said the honorees were chosen by a selection committee from a list of top female leaders in the Columbus area. Each woman was considered by a variety of topics, including how the person exhibits courage in their career and their background.
“We want to showcase people who are stepping up and venturing into that entrepreneurial territory,” Frey said. “It’s important if we’re going to be a community that celebrates innovation and entrepreneurship that we take the stigma out of failure. That we let people know that most success stories are not in a straight line.”
That idea is what the theme of this year’s luncheon is about. The theme is based on founder of Girls Who Code and bestselling author Reshma Saujani’s book, “Brave, Not Perfect.”
Frey said the chamber wants people to know there are setbacks along the way, and the women being honored are proof of that.
“Failure is a necessary part of the learning process,” Frey said. “Hearing from these women, we hope they’ll share some of those things — mistakes that were made, challenges they couldn’t overcome so they had to take a different tactic.”
Beth Stroh, owner of Viewpoint Books, is serving as the honorary chair at the annual luncheon. Stroh will also share reflections on her own professional journey, which involved a shift from teaching in a classroom to owning a bookstore.
For more on this story, see Saturday’s Republic.
