When the Women, Wit and Wisdom event was first launched in Ottawa back in 2017, the idea behind it was to create an empowering girls’ night out.
Ten dinners later, it continues to leave many of those who attend feeling motivated, supported and ready to conquer the world (or at least their to-do list). Much of that inspiration has to do with the ever-changing but always-impressive panel of women leaders who agree to participate. In doing so, they share stories, insights and perspectives while hosted in a very welcoming way by Ottawa Board of Trade (OBoT) president and CEO Sueling Ching.
“Women who are leaders in our community, and have been for a long time, have shared with me that it’s changed the way that they’ve thought about their own leadership and their own life,” Ching told more than 120 attendees of the dinner held last night at the Fairmont Château Laurier. It used to be called Women, Wine and Wisdom but, in a bit of rebranding, saw the “wine” removed and replaced with a more inclusive word that still connotes good times: “wit”.
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“The conversations from the stage and at our tables have proven to be inspiring, comforting and, in some cases, therapeutic as we aim to provide a platform for some raw and real conversations about leadership, about life balance and legacy building,” said Ching.
Women, Wit and Wisdom is among the 20-plus events co-hosted each year by OBoT and the Ottawa Business Journal to engage and inspire leaders with the goal of driving community prosperity and economic growth in the region. The dinner, which featured a “digging deep” theme, was held with the support of RBC, Casino Lac-Leamy and Oakwood Designers and Builders.
Ching talked on stage about a range of topics with Jessica Greenberg, vice president of asset management at Osgoode Properties; entrepreneur and business coach Karla Briones; and social entrepreneur Meseret (Mesi) Haileyesus, founder and executive director of Canadian Center for Women’s Empowerment (CCWE).
Attendees included former CEO of the Year Kathryn Tremblay from Altis Recruitment and Technology and former Newsmaker of the Year Dr. Vera Etches, Ottawa’s medical officer of health, as well as Capital Angel Network executive director Suzanne Grant and OBoT board member Erin Benjamin, president and CEO of the Canadian Live Music Association and a former Women, Wit and Wisdom event speaker.
Each of the award-winning speakers shared a little about themselves, like how Briones left Mexico at age 18 with her family because their hometown of Chihuahua was plagued by drug cartels and violence. Her family sold practically everything they owned before driving 3,764 kilometres to basically start over again.
The family settled in Ottawa because it was all they knew of Canada. On a previous exploratory visit, her parents had first stopped in the nation’s capital but never made it beyond. That’s because her mother, in a fateful move, stumbled and broke her foot on her way to the bus that would have taken her parents to Toronto to check that city out.
The room heard how Briones, owner of the Global Pet Foods shops in Kanata and Hintonburg, has made it a focus of her career to help other new Canadians and underrepresented entrepreneurs in their business journey. “Leadership and action is about helping grow others and helping them achieve whatever it is they want to achieve, telling them there is a space for them and that they belong,” said Briones, who’s also on the board of OBoT.
Greenberg was born and raised in Ottawa. Her father, Stephen, founded Osgoode Properties, which owns and manages an extensive portfolio of 10,000 multifamily units spanning Ottawa, Gatineau, Kingston, Toronto, Alberta, Florida, and Georgia.
She spoke about previously living in Boston, where she was ticking off all the usual boxes: education, job, marriage, house, kids, etc. Then, her life changed completely. She recalled the day her father paid her a visit to speak with her about succession planning. “He said, ‘You don’t have to join the family company but, if you want to, I need you home in three years’,” she was told of the 10 to 15 years required for her to learn the real estate ropes before it came time for him to retire. He made it clear: “If you don’t want to do it, no problem.”
Other factors that soon brought Greenberg back to Ottawa and working for the family business included her younger sister suffering a debilitating stroke (from which she would eventually recover) and the unfolding of her husband’s full-blown mental illness. Greenberg, who candidly spoke about the adversity she faced in her personal life and career, referred to Ottawa as being “a soft place for me to land”.
Today, Greenberg manages as a solo parent of three kids with the help of her “incredible support system”. She remains involved in the community, with plans to eventually step into the role of board chair with the Jewish Federation of Ottawa.
She had her audience laughing supportively when she admitted there are certain kinds of volunteer work she avoids, such as supervising school field trips. “I do not volunteer in schools, ever. It’s not for me. I don’t particularly enjoy large groups of children. I really love my children but I don’t like field trips.”
She was also honest about how much she loves sleep. “So, so, so very much,” she added. “I’m not a great person if I don’t have enough sleep, so I need to make some big choices,” she said of making sure she has enough energy for those things that are most important to her.
Greenberg spoke about her family’s values to be “caretakers of our planet”, which fit nicely with her love of the outdoors. “A principle of being in nature is you try and leave it better than you found it every single time,” she said. “Success for me is really about knowing that I’m leaving things in small ways, medium ways and big ways better than how I found them.”
Her advice to the next generation was to be prepared for “twists and turns” in their lives and careers. “Be open to things you have not contemplated, things you could not have expected. It’s okay to step off that path and to try something different and new.”
The room heard how Haileyesus, who was born and raised in Ethiopia, began her career as a midwife and reproductive rights policy advocate in her homeland.
Through the CCWE, Haileyesus is developing new approaches to promote women’s economic equity and resilience. She’s harnessing victims’ lived experiences and uniting key stakeholders to bring policy change and to build a social, financial, and regulatory safety net against economic abuse and injustice.
Her advice to a younger version of herself was to embrace challenges and opportunities and to build resilience. “Everybody has their own journey, everyone has their own different experience, especially as an immigrant to this country, and I think it’s all up to us to take those opportunities to the next level,” said Haileyesus, who listed self-awareness and emotional intelligence as important skills one can develop through networking and the meeting of new people.
“One of the most beautiful things I’ve learned from my personal journey is that pain is beautiful,” said Haileyesus of the ability to turn “scars into the stars”.
It’s not always easy to be a feminist, she acknowledged. “It’s up to us to every day tell ourselves we are brave, we are strong.”
caroline@obj.ca
