Last Friday, we hosted our 12th annual Inspired Women’s Luncheon!
The luncheon was started to celebrate and empower women in the Greater Arlington area. It is also an avenue to award Dr. Judith J. Carrier scholarship recipients. This year, the Alliance disbursed $19,000 in scholarships to women in universities and nursing programs.
This year’s theme was Lift as you Climb. As we presented different themes to our IWL Committee, this was the theme that most of the women could relate to. Whether they have been lifting others up as they climbed, or they wish they had done so, Lift as you Climb felt like the perfect theme for our 12th Annual Inspired Women Luncheon.
The luncheon began with a professional development that helped introduce the theme for the main event. Our panelists included, CEO of Medical City Arlington, Sharn Barbarin, President of the University of Texas at Arlington, Dr. Jennifer Cowley, and Judge Mary Tom Curnutt. Read more about the recap of the professional development here.
After an inspirational and quite hilarious professional development, attendees were able to participate in bidding in our silent auction, purchasing a bling box or two and/or getting a mimosa from our wonderful mimosa bar sponsored by Overridge Wealth Advisors.
With mimosas and bling boxes in hand, attendees were able to begin finding their seats to enjoy the program. We began the event with some inspiring words from our emcee, Autumn Reo. She spoke about lifting as you climb and thanked all our volunteers and staff that made the event a reality. It takes a lot of hard work and preparation to make IWL happen so we are truly thankful for the committee of women who help make this one of our biggest events every year. We truly could not do it without our Women’s Alliance.
We were able to move the program along with an invocation by Tillie Burgin, congratulate our 2022 Dr. Judith J. Carrier Scholarship Recipients, and hear some opening remarks from CEO & President of the Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce, Michael Jacobson and the current chair of our Women’s Alliance, Stephanie Buduhan.
The time finally came for our Keynote Speaker to take the stage. This year we were able to have the CFO of the Texas Rangers, Kellie Fischer speak to our attendees about her journey of lifting while she climbed or how others had lifted her up on their climb to the summit.
Some of the key takeaways from her speech were:
- Education is critical for a solid foundation
- Be intentional about your climb
- The mountain you climb is yours
- you may have to stumble and fall but always dust yourself and keep on climbing
- “Be flexible. Be a joy. Be ethical.”
- Even Kellie Fischer, CFO of the Texas Rangers, feels Imposter Syndrome from time to time
- Kellie Fischer has a future career in being a sports commentator
It was truly amazing to see how much Kellie’s humor and journey impacted the audience. We cannot thank Kellie enough for being open and honest about her journey of being a woman in the sports industry. She left the attendees with one final motivating statement, “Enjoy your climb, everyone!” and that we will, Kellie, no matter how hard the climb may get.
To further our mission of supporting small businesses, we have two small business grants that we present at IWL each year. This year our recipients were Simply Divune Café and Cup O’ Vibes. Congratulations to both of these amazing small businesses and we are thrilled to see you grow and thrive. Thank you to Frost Bank and Wells Fargo for sponsoring our Small Business Grants.
The final award recipients of the night went to our 2023 Hero & Rising Star. This is an award that is handed out every year at IWL to women who have made an impact in the Arlington community. This year our hero award recipient is Judy Rupay, owner of Arlington Today Magazine. After 43 years in the investment business, Judy launched Arlington Today in 2013 and it has been overwhelmingly embraced by local readers and quickly evolved into a vibrant city magazine that celebrates the greater Arlington area.
Our Rising Star Award recipient is Katie Carlson of Amegy Bank. As a banker, Katie has held increasingly responsible leadership positions and now manages a loan portfolio while also cultivating and developing new community relationships for Amegy bank in the Arlington area.
The Chamber would like to thank all of our sponsors, volunteers and staff that worked tirelessly to make this event seamless and look beautiful. Our 12th year of hosting the Inspired Women Luncheon was one for the record books! We are grateful to everyone who attended. See you again next year!