On Tuesday, March 26, a panel on women in the workplace was held in The Cafeteria private dining hall inside of the Student Center, for students.

Brenda Fleer, principal of Quincy Junior High School, was a panelist for the event.

Fleer empowers women in and out of her school and explains the importance of leadership, even before you’re in a leadership position. She says this is especially applicable to QU students.

“I think I was raised to be a strong woman. I did always feel like as long as I put hard work and dedication into something, then I was going to be successful, and I did do that. I built my brand first through the classroom. People ask when leadership began for me, and I respond with saying that it began in 1998 with my first job in my own classroom,” Fleer said.

Fleer explains the importance of women taking up multiple opportunities to showcase your skills, so when it is time for a higher leadership position, there would be no question of competence. Her best advice to every woman is to let your work speak for itself.

This event was hosted specifically in recognition of women’s history month. QU hosted this event following a dinner etiquette lesson for women a month prior, as they find female student’s want for more empowering events rise.

There were around 20 attendees to the event, with many people coming and going as their schedule allowed.

Kristen Liesen, director of experiential learning, says that any and every student, specifically women, should take up the opportunities offered by QU to learn more, network, and think about future plans. Her goal is to see students succeed in whatever role they would like pursue.

With Liesen’s and Diane Shoemaker‘s efforts, the panel with six successful women was accomplished.

“These are just really neat leaders in every industry. From education, non-profit, and our state’s attorney office and so I felt like it was a really great variety,” Liesen said.

The panel consisted of five local businesswomen and one last minute addition that Liesen eagerly added. Julissa Quinonez is a recent graduate of QU, and Liesen reached out to her in hopes she could share her experience right out of college.

Many of these women also offer interning opportunities through QU, and Liesen suggests attending this type of event helps students understand better where they belong and what type of environment they would like to work in.

Many students asked questions, guiding the trajectory of the panel’s answers.

Most of the questions consisted of handling work-life balance, negotiating pay and promotions, and interviewing tips.

Alaina Wilkinson, a freshman, found the panel to be useful going forward into her specific field.

“Since I’m going into business management and marketing, I think it’s important hearing from these women’s experiences and advice moving forward. I would definitely go to something like this again,” Wilkinson said.

Wilkinson says she really enjoyed hearing from the panelist’s specifically because she is going into the corporate workforce after school, which happens to be male dominated.

With advice from the five experienced and successful panelists, students like Wilkinson could learn a lot from professionals like Leer.