Cal Poly Women In Business hosts 7th annual Defining Her Future conference
Defining Her Future is an annual conference hosted by Cal Poly Women in Business (WIB) that is open to students, faculty and the San Luis Obispo community. This year’s theme was ‘Purpose’ for the March 11 event.
Orfalea College of Business Dean Damon Fleming kicked off the event with a keynote address. In his opening speech, Fleming elaborated on how transformational purpose is.
“Defining your purpose is about establishing your set point. Purpose is like the lighthouse. It helps navigate those seas, it keeps us off those rocks and it helps us find our support when we need it,” Fleming said.
After Fleming’s address, attendees had the opportunity to participate in various breakout sessions covering topics from authenticity to entrepreneurship.
Brooke Bruns, an audit partner from Armanino, one of the conference’s sponsors, was most excited for the breakout section called ‘Finding Your Cause.’
“I think it’s really important to do what you want to do and sometimes you just end up finding it by chance, and sometimes you find it on purpose,” Bruns said.
Business junior and Conference Director Layna Hathaway said it is important for everyone to pursue their own passions so they don’t get caught up in comparison.
“It doesn’t matter what other people are doing. It matters what makes you happy, what makes you feel fulfilled and if you set yourself out to do something you can achieve,” Hathaway said.
The annual conference is funded in part by sponsors. Some of the sponsors who contributed to this year’s event include Chevron, Google, EY, Armanino and Goldman Sachs.
Defining Her Future is just one of WIB’s projects. Other endeavors by the club include an alumni mentorship program and the club’s online business journal, the WIB Wire.
Business senior and President of WIB Grace Battles got involved in the club her freshman year, and said she encourages other students to do the same.
“At our core, we’re really just a community to support and empower one another, and also to just learn from one another,” Battles said.
To learn more about Cal Poly Women in Business and the Defining Her Future annual conference, you can visit @cpwib on Instagram.
