Photo courtesy of Red Banjo Studios
Terra Weaver and Kelly Sidoryk, co-owners of KT & Company, are using their talents to bring inspiration to the Border City.
The dynamic duo has been busy planning this year’s Inspiring Women Conference set for Feb. 1. The annual conference began as a mere idea and has grown tremendously over the past 13 years.
“We’d go to these fun women’s conferences and spend the day doing professional and personal development, and we always would say to each other, someone should do that in Lloyd,” said Weaver.
“And then finally we thought well maybe we should try.”
And from that ‘try’ a popular, uplifting event was born.
“The goal has always been to create connection with people,”
“We want to provide that opportunity for people to take a full day and invest in themselves, meet some new people, reconnect with people that they already know, and leave there feeling motivated to walk toward some of the goals that they’ve set for themselves, and accomplish them this year,” said Weaver, adding they put it on near the start of the year so people can find their momentum early on.
This year’s conference features keynote speaker Debra Kasowski, who is a bestselling author, a success coach, and host of a podcast called ‘The Millionaire Woman Show’.
“She’s a very dynamic speaker—even just when we’re talking to her on the phone. She’s very motivating. She’s very enthusiastic, and we know that she’s going to bring a lot of energy to the conference,” said Weaver.
Reviews of past shows have been consistently positive and have inspired change for many of those in attendance.
“What we have for feedback is that people leave there feeling very full of information, but also really inspired,” said Weaver.
One of the stories that popped into her mind was about a woman who left the conference about three years ago and went directly to the yoga studio that she’d been driving past for many, many years but never went in. That day on her way home from the conference, she finally did.
“She just kind of had that kick that she needed … to just go ahead and start doing the things that you keep thinking about, put those wheels in motion.”
It is a day packed with fun and motivating activities, and food for thought as well as lunch, coffee and snacks—which are provided with admission.
The day begins between 8-9 a.m. for registration, followed by a panel discussion led by three local women with different perspectives to bring to the table.
“This year we have Sarah Hogue, a Lakeland College student. She started this initiative called Girls Beyond Borders where she connects with and encourages young women to get involved in their communities in leadership roles,” said Weaver.
“We also have Sue Bygrove on the panel, and she is a local woman from the Hillmond area, involved in the agriculture industry and she’s also very involved in our community.
“And Joem Weinkauf is the third panelist. The Chamber of Commerce awarded her downtown business of the year, and she’s going to be telling her story.”
They will then run breakout sessions, throughout the late morning and early afternoon, where attendees will get to choose two topics they’d like to know more about.
“One of the breakout presenters is Nina Ellis, and she owns various businesses around Lloyd. She will be speaking on pursuing and saying yes to opportunities as they arise, and giving examples of where she has done this and kind of how to take advantage of those opportunities—no matter what’s going on in your life,” explained Weaver.
Another presenter is Mona Smith who will be presenting a program called Service Best Customer Service. It’s about how to make clients at your business feel valued, and how those strategies translate to personal relationships as well.
Professional organizer Deb Zack will also run one of the sessions. She has a love for transforming spaces and lives, and is going to give tips on tidying up and how that can improve someone’s quality of life.
The fourth presenter is Kristy Hunt, from Integrated Therapies & Performance. Kristy will focus on communication, the use of body language and how to create boundaries for communication.
Weaver said they really appreciate the support they’ve received from Cenovus in order to make the conference possible.
“I would really like to thank Cenovus, they have come onboard as the headlining sponsor and they’ve been a huge support”, said Weaver.
“It keeps the ticket prices down, which is fabulous, and they’ve just been a really good support as far as even providing other connections for us to pursue.”
Tickets are available at https://IWC2024.eventbrite.ca or can be purchased at Olive & Birch.
