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Ottawa businesswomen gather for Powerplay event at Canadian Tire Centre

January 10, 2025

The Ottawa Senators may have been shut out by the Buffalo Sabres Thursday night, but for Ottawa businesswomen, it was still a night to remember.

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The Ottawa Senators may have been shut out by the Buffalo Sabres Thursday night, but for Ottawa businesswomen, it was still a night to remember. Nearly 200 women donned Senators jerseys and braved the cold to attend Powerplay: Women in Business Night, a networking event and panel hosted by the hockey club at the Canadian Tire Centre. “The Ottawa Senators, we go to many networking events across the Ottawa-Gatineau region, and whenever I’m an attendee and listening to panellists, so much of what they say resonates,” Sandy Stewart, the Senators’ manager of group sales who came up with the idea, told OBJ. The panel featured Lucie Andlauer, former CEO of Subterra Renewables and wife of Senators owner Michael Andlauer; Christine Crump, president of Hard Rock Ottawa; Ashley Curran, associate vice president of sport partnership and Jumpstart brand for the Canadian Tire Corporation; and Jodi Hamilton, operations manager for Bell Media. The discussion touched on topics such as work-life balance, imposter syndrome and mentorship. Andlauer told attendees during the panel that she didn’t have many female mentors in the early days of her career, which is why she now tries to pass on her experience and advice to others. “I’ve been blessed to be in the world that I am,” she told OBJ after the panel. “I just want (women) to know that to get there, we do it all the same: one foot in front of the other. It’s important that we all have the same feelings and the same journey, and I think someone like me talking about it makes it more real.” Andlauer is new to Ottawa, having moved here when her husband purchased the Senators in 2023. While she’s now retired, she said the event demonstrated the openness she’s seen from Ottawa’s community of businesswomen. “Coming from Toronto, and my businesses were in Ohio, I actually love the fact that women are very open to share,” she told OBJ. “In Toronto it’s still very competitive, so you kind of hold back. But Ottawa is so welcoming. They want to hear your story. It’s an amazing group of women here.”

Lucie Andlauer speaks on a panel at Powerplay: Women in Business night. (Photo by Mia Jensen)

Attendees gather at Legacy in the Canadian Tire Centre for the panel discussion. (Photo by Mia Jensen)

From left: moderator Patricia Boal, Lucie Andlauer, Christine Crump, Ashley Curran, and Jodi Hamilton. (Photo by Mia Jensen)

Crump, another relative newcomer who took on the presidency at Hard Rock Ottawa in December 2023, has noticed something similar. “The women in this community and the kind of environment they provide, it’s incredibly welcoming,” she told OBJ. “I think it’s a testament to the folks on the panel tonight. That really is the general sense I get from the city. Growing in business and just generally supportive.” For Ottawa physician Christina Romulus, who was in attendance, the event was an inspiring kickoff to 2025. “I just wanted to say how lovely it was this evening – the energy and also the uplifting vibe, it was absolutely incredible,” she told OBJ. “I look forward to future events and, more importantly, I felt it was such an amazing thing to see all these women brought together and sharing their stories, being vulnerable and real and authentic.” The Senator’s Stewart said advice raised by panellist Ashley Curran about reframing boundaries in a positive way was especially impactful, and she said she would bring it back to her own work. “Bridges, not boundaries,” she said. “That resonated so much. We’re trying to build these boundaries to say no, but why not look at it in a better light? What’s that bridge to get us to the positive thing, instead of thinking of it in a negative light?” After the panel, attendees went up to the 400 level to watch the Senators take on, and ultimately fall to, the Buffalo Sabres. There were drinks and a buffet of gourmet tacos and nachos. While the game didn’t give them the result they were hoping for, Stewart said the night was a success. “The energy is electric,” she said. “You just hear it from person to person, asking, ‘When is the next one?’ And I can confirm that this is the inaugural. We will be hosting this at least once a year and it’s about connecting and getting together and building these bonds, being boss ladies in the workforce.”