The Bedford County Chamber of Commerce is pleased to present our 13th annual Women in Business Conference, designed to educate, enlighten and inspire a regional audience of professional women: Thursday, May 9th, 2024 at the Omni Bedford Springs Resort.
Spring Conference Speakers Announced
The Chamber is excited to announce the speaker line-up for our 2024 Women in Business Spring Conference: three women leading in their industries with passion and positivity.
Lunch Keynote: Transform Your Life with Courage and Curiosity by Author Pam Stucky
Every day is ripe with possibilities and opportunities, and every day we make choices about whether we will lean into our best lives, our ideal relationships, and our deepest dreams. We all face countless moments in which we can choose to engage or pull away; to step up or step back; to expand ourselves, our lives, and our relationships, or to contract into our smaller selves.
The determining factor? Courage.
Being courageous isn’t about taking rash risks. Rather, it’s about understanding that courage is a muscle, and learning how to strengthen it. It’s about looking at fear from new angles and developing a habit of discovering the clues fear has to offer. It’s about taking small, regular steps to stretch your comfort zones, so that what once seemed impossibly frightening can instead feel exhilarating.
In this talk you will learn ways to start building your courage muscles, and how to tap into curiosity to befriend your fears and welcome fear’s lessons. You’ll discover how and why courage is contagious and learn how your courage opens space for others to be courageous, too. You’ll leave feeling inspired to lean into courage to improve your life, your business, your relationships, and the world around you.
As Anaïs Nin once said, “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” We are not guaranteed any tomorrows. There is no time but now. What new adventures are out there for you, just waiting for you to step into the moment? Through the conscious cultivation of courage and curiosity, you can transform your life!
Breakfast Keynote: Women Hold the Advantage in Leadership by Amanda Burroughs, GM, Omni Bedford Springs Resort
Amanda Burroughs started her hotel career 20 years ago in Las Vegas where she worked at the 3,000 room Mirage Hotel & Casino. Amanda studied Hotel Administration at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She joined Omni Hotels & Resorts 12 years ago and has served as the General Manager of Omni Bedford Springs since November of last year. Prior to Omni, she also worked at Walt Disney World and Gaylord Hotels. As the first woman to hold the position of General Manager of the Omni Bedford Springs Resort, she has a unique leadership perspective. In this thoughtful conversation, she’ll share her keys to the success, revealing ways that women hold a super-power of leadership to build successful teams through positivity, gratitude, authenticity and more.
Mid-Morning Keynote by Ayeshah Al-Humaidhi, Director of the International Conservation Center of the Pittsburgh Zoo
Ayeshah Al-Humaidhi has brought decades of experience in caring for animals and leading non-profit teams to her position at the Somerset County home of the Pittsburgh Zoo’s elephant preserve. Her leadership at the facility has led to significant changes in making the International Conservation Center more open to the public, and more committed to education and outreach to local communities. She will share some of her experiences and lessons learned through her career and life, from her childhood in Kuwait to her significant experiences throughout the US and beyond. She’ll present a mid-morning keynote discussing her use of empathy in leadership.