2020 Fall Conference - Women Business Owners Network

The 2020 WBON Fall Conference will center around a highly requested theme, that of pivoting our businesses to adapt to change, and will be presented 100% online.

This year has been challenging but it has also led to opportunities for growth that we never could have imagined. Our engaging speakers and workshops will inspire and educate you while our roundtable breakout rooms will give you the chance to bond and share with other attendees like yourself. Come engage in community building with other women business owners and leave with new skills to propel your business forward. This is the year of the pivot.

General Admission Tickets Now On Sale

Agenda

1:00pm-1:15pm Welcome and Keynote Intro

1:15pm-2:10pm Keynote by Jen Kimmich, Alchemist Beer

2:10pm-2:20pm Break

2:20pm-3:10pm Break out into Workshops

3:10pm-3:20pm Break

3:20pm-3:50pm Roundtable Networking Breakout Sessions

3:50pm-4:20pm Endnote Interview with Kesha Ram, Candidate for State Senate

4:20pm-4:30pm Wrap-Up

Click the Toggles Below to Learn about the Conference!

Meet Our Keynote

Jen Kimmich

Alchemist Beer

Building a Resilient Business through Purpose

Since 2003, when Jen & John Kimmich opened their brewpub in downtown Waterbury, they’ve faced challenges of every description – from being flooded with beer-smuggling customers to flooding during Tropical Storm Irene. Now, they are weathering the storms of COVID-19 while they stay committed to building a business focused on quality, community, and employee happiness. How are they doing it? By never losing sight of their purpose and values. Join Jen Kimmich to hear more about the Alchemist’s story, their work as a B Corporation, and their commitment to inclusivity and anti-racism work.

Jen Kimmich is co-founder and CEO of the Alchemist Brewery, a certified B Corporation. With her husband John, she founded The Alchemist as a Waterbury brewpub in 2003. Building on the wild success of the pub and beers, the team began canning Heady Topper in Waterbury in 2011, and opened their Stowe brewery in 2016, where it serves as a model of sustainable water use in brewing. In July, 2020, The Alchemist released their action plan to dismantle systemic racism in their business and community [https://alchemistbeer.com/#inclusivity]

Jen founded and serves as board chair of the Alchemist Foundation, which is a place-based nonprofit focused on expanding economic and educational opportunity for young Vermonters.

Jen is extremely active in public policy and a passionate advocate for working Vermonters and the environment. She has frequently testified in Montpelier and on Capitol Hill. She has served on a wide variety of boards and committees, including VBSR’s Public Policy Committee & Clean Water Advisory Council, Vermont’s Workforce Development Board, the Vermont Council on Rural Development, VPIRG and Main Street Alliance Vermont. She and John live in Stowe with their son Charlie.

Meet Our Endnote

Kesha Ram

Running for Vermont State Senate

Kesha Ram recently won the Primary Election to serve Chittenden County in the Vermont State Senate at the age of 34. If elected in November, she is poised to become the first woman of color and youngest woman in history to serve in the Senate. Prior to that, she served four terms in the Vermont House of Representatives on behalf of Burlington, where she was elected as the youngest legislator in the country at the time. In 2018, she graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government with a Master in Public Administration. She has worked for the City of Burlington as the Civic Engagement Specialist and for Steps to End Domestic Violence as the Legal Advocacy Director. She also served on the boards of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England and the Vermont Natural Resources Council.

Workshops

How to Make Time for Marketing

Julia Scott
JScott Marketing

In this lively session, marketing pro Julia Scott will share three tactics that will make marketing more efficient, more effective, and more strategic. If you struggle to find time to market your business, this interactive session is for you. We’ll include actionable tips you can put into place immediately and reveal our secrets for efficiently delivering expert marketing.

JScott Marketing founder Julia Scott is a seasoned communications and marketing expert who is passionate about making marketing and social media easy for her clients. After six years as a newspaper reporter, including a stint at the Star-Ledger where she contributed to a Pulitzer Prize, Julia started a website to help people save money that became a national brand, featured in the Wall Street Journal, Good Morning America, NPR, and dozens more national media outlets. Julia now offers many of the same marketing and communications solutions that made her own brand so successful to small businesses that want to get noticed, and she speaks regularly at conferences and business groups.

Holistic Self-Care for your Team, Family and Yourself

Leslie Langevin, MS RD CD
Whole Health Nutrition

In this presentation we will explore how to build a holistic foundation of wellness using nutrition, stress reduction, fitness and mindset work. You will come away with practical tools to support the mental health of yourself and those who depend on you, including that of your employees/staff even if you do not have a dedicated wellness budget for nutrition or exercise.

Leslie Langevin, MS RD CD is a registered dietitian and co-owns Whole Health Nutrition, LLC a nutrition counseling practice based out of Colchester. Leslie is also the author of The Anti-Inflammatory Kitchen Cookbook. Leslie attended the University of Vermont for her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Dietetics and Nutrition. Leslie likes to work with adults and kids to help use foods to improve health and wellness. Leslie also is specialized in helping with diet for autoimmune & inflammatory conditions, and picky eating for children. Leslie loves to garden, cook, do yoga and spend time with her two boys and husband.

The way we go about our daily lives has changed, right down to our eating and wellness habits. Many of us are currently focusing on how to avoid illness and are making accommodations in our lives to protect our employees, families and ourselves. This presents a great opportunity to rethink our habits and move toward greater wellness than ever before.

Your Business’ Financial Go-Bag

Pictured left: Christina Ubl | Clute Wealth Management

Pictured right: Gwen Pokalo | The Center for Women & Enterprise

No matter the industry, specialty or size, a common thread that runs through all businesses is the need for financial management. If you’ve been struggling to keep your financial “house” in order in your business then this is the workshop for you. We will be identifying what goes into your Financial Go-Bag, meaning the documents any business owner should know how to complete. We will also explore how to recognize what your business needs if you are partially or fully shut down for a time so that you can begin planning and forecasting even during uncertain times. You will leave armed with helpful insights, worksheets and actionable content that will immediately have an impact on the health of your business.

Gwen Pokalo is the Director of the Center for Women & Enterprise Vermont which provides statewide individual business counseling, training, and certification to help entrepreneurs start, grow, and expand their businesses. She got started as an entrepreneur when she developed one of the first student-run retail incubators in the country featuring products from emerging Vermont entrepreneurs. She owned an artist representation and business consulting firm and has worked in rural development research and held teaching positions at Vermont colleges around the state. In addition, Gwen serves on the boards of LaunchVT, the Vermont Community Loan Fund, and the Women’s Business Owners Network (WBON).

Christina R. Ubl is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst™. She joined Clute Wealth Management (a Registered Investment Advisor) in 2000 and became a partner in 2014. Even prior to becoming a partner, Christina was involved in all aspects of HR, which included determining when outside experts were needed (such as for comparing health plan options for employees), and hiring an attorney to draft an employee manual. She often works with small business owners and is frequently asked questions about what to do or who to call. Securities offered through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC.

Meet Our Emcee

Sarah Lipton

The Presence Point

Over the last two decades, Sarah Lipton has guided thousands of leaders as they navigate the creation of thriving cultures. Through her business, The Presence Point (pending B Corp certification) Sarah works with organizations longing to empower their leaders from the inside-out. Her passion is rooted in over twenty years of service, contemplative training and teaching in the Shambhala Buddhist community and stems from the conviction that when leaders are genuine, society can bloom. She is also the founder of GENUINE, Inc, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that focuses on transforming society through community. Sarah is a keynote speaker, podcaster, visionary and soon-to-be-published author who lives high on a hill in rural Vermont with her husband and two small daughters.