“You must reach back and pull someone up. You must bend down and let someone else stand on your shoulders so that they can see a brighter future,” said First Lady Michelle Obama. “...When times get tough and fear sets in, think of those people who paved the way for you and those who are counting on you

From top to bottom: Christy Bareijsza, Jennifer Walsdorf, Keri McIntosh, Rachelle Nall, Lisa Burton, Larissa Schultz, Jessica Levin, Stacey Kent and Kelly Ann Blair

to pave the way for them. Never let setbacks or fear dictate the course of your life. Hold on to the possibility and push beyond the fear. Hold on to the hope.”

Last month, First Lady Michelle Obama spoke these words of inspiration as she addressed more than 10,000 people gathered at the ceremonies for the first graduating class of the University of California-Merced.Michelle Obama, like her husband, is a gracious storyteller with an uplifting story to tell. Audiences, particularly women, all over the globe want

to hear how she worked her way up the corporate ladder, raised a family and never failed to stop along the way to give back to her community.

She told the graduates: “...As you step out into that big, open world, and you start building your lives, the truth is that you will face tough times, you will certainly have doubts, let me tell you, because I know I did when I was your age. There will be days when you will worry about whether you’re really up for the challenge. ...Maybe you’re wondering: Am I smart enough? Do I really belong? Can I live up to all those expectations that everyone has of me?”

She continued, “And you will definitely have your share of setbacks. Count on it. Your best-laid plans will be consumed by obstacles. Your excellent ideas will be peppered with flaws. ...You will make mistakes that will shatter your confidence. You will make compromises that will test your convictions. You will find that there is rarely a clear and direct path to any of your visions. And you will find that you’ll have to readjust again and again and again. And there may be times when you wonder whether it’s all worth it.”

The First Lady may have been speaking to college grads, but her words certainly resonate with the women profiled in this feature — the story of nine distinctive women who have consistently broken barriers and hurdled all obstacles to achieve an honored place in their chosen (and sometimes not chosen) careers as meeting professionals. These Certified Meeting Professionals (CMPs) give back to communities in extraordinary ways, often volunteering on committees of professional organizations or worthwhile charities; and are among the first to initiate sustainable practices and corporate social responsibility programs.

They also find time to earn and renew professional certifications; continue their professional education through seminars, webinars, conventions and trade shows; mentor others coming up in the industry; and, most important, credit others for their success, from supervisors to co-workers and entrepreneurial mothers and fathers who taught them the value of a dollar.

Here are their stories.

A Lesson From ‘Seinfeld’?

An avid “Seinfeld” fan, Rachelle Nall, CMP, applies lessons from the popular ’90s sitcom. In particular, she claims that “The Serenity Now” episode taught her how to remain calm, cool and collected in her role as a corporate events manager. “Events will not always go smoothly, but how you handle the unexpected can make all the difference in the outcome. Remain calm so others around you will do so as well. Then roll with the punches,” she said.

Born in Michigan and raised in “the Fruitcake Capital of the World” (Claxton, GA), Nall said, “I’m the black sheep of the family having ended up in a profession in the corporate world. My father was a pediatrician and all my brothers and sisters also ended up in the medical field.”

A graduate of Georgia Southern University, where she earned a masters degree in information systems, she admits to having a “geeky side” and always wanted to be a successful businesswoman. In fact, she was voted as “The Most Likely to Succeed” in high school. While at her first job as a marketing coordinator at IBM, she “fell into” meeting planning when she was working for a software company in marketing and sales support. Here’s how she tells it:

“During our company’s annual customer conference, I began helping out setting up equipment in the exhibit hall that later evolved into coordinating the participation of exhibitors. From there, my manager had me handle our participation in trade shows, which was completely new to me, but I was always up for a challenge. I still remember being overwhelmed by all the paperwork to fill out in those exhibit manuals. Ordering electricity? Drayage? Good thing I was a fast learner.

“When the next conference rolled around, I became responsible for coordinating content for the conference. Upon completing that conference, my manager called me into his office and asked me if I’d be interested in being responsible in organizing the entire conference in the following years. I jumped at the opportunity as I had discovered how much I had been enjoying my exposure to events,” she said.

“From that day forward I knew I had found my calling and have loved it ever since. I’ve done the trade show circuit, designed the company trade show booths, planned and executed sales incentive events, customer conferences for 600 to nearly 6,000 people, partner meetings, analyst meetings, special events, receptions and more.”

Nall now serves as corporate events manager and as one of three corporate meeting planners for Georgia-based Infor and is “still having a great time.”

Last summer, she completed the CMP exam. Nall explained, “Having not formally studied hospitality or meeting planning, but rather MIS (management information systems) of all things, I felt that the process of preparing for the CMP exam would help fill in any missing gaps of information not gained through hands-on experience and create that official stamp of being a meeting planner. Having my CMP lets others in the industry and employers know that I’m dedicated to my profession and strong in my knowledge of the industry.”

Her sage advice to planners just starting out is practical: “Given the opportunity, attend industry functions and events, and keep abreast of industry trends and happenings whether through seminars or educational events or industry magazines and Web sites.”

More than that, advised Nall, young planners should develop the ability to react quickly and professionally to the change around them, or the unexpected. She added, “Work amicably with a myriad of personalities and always keep your cool under pressure.”

Such advice has certainly served her well all through her planning career. “My last onsite meeting was this past October in Las Vegas at the Venetian and Palazzo and Sands Expo where we hosted our annual customer conference for three days,” she noted. “Employees, partners, customers and prospects attended the conference, which enabled them to network, attend educational sessions (more than 700 offered) and view product demonstrations in the exhibit hall. “We wowed them with an up-close private concert with Glenn Frey and Joe Walsh of the Eagles. That was an exceptional evening!”

Where does Nall aspire to be five years down the road? “I hope to have my CMM (Certification in Meeting Management) under my belt. As I do enjoy the tasks and details around planning meetings, I plan to still be quite hands-on in planning meetings but will be considering the next steps up the ladder to perhaps management,” she concluded.

Knowledge Sharing

“Despite the fact that the war between the sexes is a part of history, women still struggle a bit in business,” observed Jessica Levin, CMP, Meeting Professionals International’s (MPI) Planner of the Year for 2008, the same year she earned her CMP designation. While the Boca Raton-raised woman (“Yes,” she said, “people actually do grow up in Boca.”) admits that the situation has improved incrementally over time, she firmly believes there is still a small hill to climb.

Levin, whose own career path serves as an excellent template for novice planners — or “newbies,” as she calls them — to follow, happens to be a cross-over. That is, her professional meeting and event planning experience was deeply rooted in the corporate sector before deciding to take on the challenges of association life — certainly not an uncommon move in the industry, and vice versa.

Accordingly, award-winning Levin is currently manager of communications and member services at Saddle Brook, NJ-based Moore Stephens North America Inc., which she describes as an association of accounting firms. “Since my last corporate job was as a meeting planner at an accounting firm, the transition to Moore Stephens was a natural fit. I made the change because it gave me an excellent opportunity to use my marketing skills, with a heavy emphasis on event planning,” she explained.

Still, Levin mustered eight of 11 years worth of total meeting experience as a corporate meeting planner first, which includes those spent at JH Cohn Inc., “to which my skill set and experience at the time were best suited.” In fact, it was at that CPA firm where she met her mentor and former boss Sally Glick, who is now chief growth strategist at Sobel & Co.

Regarding Glick: “I’ve always admired women who are able to put fear aside, jump in and make it happen. She taught me the value of networking and, most importantly, giving back without expectations,” said Levin, who considers herself a “middle-planner.”

“I’m still in the process of learning all there is to learn, and I also have knowledge to share. Meetings make things happen and, as a planner, it is important to create the perfect attendee experience. It can be enjoyable, but there is a lot of responsibility involved. A meeting planner wears many hats, including being accountable for budgets, contracts, safety and everything in between.”

Levin added that people meet to communicate, share ideas and learn. “Only meetings help them accomplish this. Each day is filled with fresh challenges, and it never becomes stale or boring. Of course, planning can be stressful work, especially during its execution, but it gives you a rush and fills you with pride to witness the fruits of your labor.”

As for the challenges ahead in the industry, she said, “As a heavy user of online tools for communication, I still believe that nothing is more effective as a connecting tool than face-to-face contact. Meetings give people ‘face time’ rather than ‘screen time’ to collaborate, learn and help each other.”

Based on her penchant for event planning, Levin began her career at Florida State University as a hospitality major but soon realized that the focus of that was more on restaurant management than on actual events. “At that point, I changed my academic pursuit to marketing; that is, once I understood what it was.” Later, Levin went on to earn an MBA at Rutgers University in New Jersey, where she now resides.

Always a prime example of the modern-day work ethic, Levin worked at a variety of jobs while in school and landed one of her first “real jobs out of college” as a marketing coordinator. There, her main responsibilities included working at trade shows, and planning and managing client events. “I was also able to convince management to create a number of morale-boosting events including ‘spring fling’ and various other teambuilding activities.”

Although meeting planning was not a part of that official job description, she found this was the favorite part of the job. “In my role there,” she continued, “I planned and organized a conference from beginning to end. This remains one of my proudest accomplishments as I created, from soup to nuts, a 25-person event with 25 sponsors, with virtually no support. Five years later, this event is still held annually by the company.”

When Levin looks into her crystal ball to the future, she hopes to be doing more mentoring, coaching and teaching others. “I frequently speak publicly and often mentor friends who are in the same or similar profession. One of my great joys is to help others grow, whether in the meetings industry or in other professions.

“While I had the honor of being named (MPI) Planner of the Year last year, it was a very humbling experience,” Levin said, “especially when I look at all of the other talented planners out there. I make sure that I learn from them…as well as share what I know.”

Family Matters

Jennifer Walsdorf’s first job after graduating from the University of Oregon was in Walnut Creek, CA, as a marketing coordinator. “It was entry level, which meant I was a part-time receptionist at times,” she said. After several years of that, she moved back to her hometown of Portland, OR, to be near family. In 1997, she took a job with Hollywood Entertainment, parent company to Hollywood Video. “I volunteered to work on the annual conference that was held in Las Vegas and had about 800 attendees. This meeting was planned internally by a committee of volunteers. I loved working on this project so much and parlayed it into the creation of a full-time position of manager of meeting planning and travel.”

Since then, she has worked for three different corporations in Portland, has spent more than 10 years in meeting planning and management, received her CMP designation in 2003, renewed it in 2008 and married and started a family, too.

Growing up, however, the journalism major wanted to be many different things, from an architect to a veterinarian, but landed in the profession of meeting planning very serendipitously. “I have always been organized and detail-oriented. I used to plan family parties and reunions growing up, and discovered this industry while at Hollywood Entertainment,” she said. “I love seeing an event through the eyes of an attendee, specifically during an awards banquet. In fact, one of my favorite memories was when a young man received the award for Store Director of the Year back in 1999. He won a convertible Ford Mustang and his expression was priceless. It felt great to be a part of that experience.”

Also, while this mother of two daughters was at Hollywood Entertainment, she met one of her favorite mentors in life — her boss. “She taught by example and had the highest credibility and integrity. She was dedicated, responsible and always willing to help other people,” she recalled. “But, that’s the kind of people you meet in planning!”

Most recently, she was the corporate meeting manager for the Knowledge Learning Corporation (KLC) in Portland. As a department of one, Walsdorf partnered with many talented people in her company. For instance, she worked side-by-side with the travel manager whose skills very much complemented her own. “The last event that we planned for KLC was a Regional Vice President Meeting at a new hotel in downtown Portland. Attendees included field V.P.s and corporate executives. This meeting was larger than usual as it was kicking off the 2009 year with new business plans and objectives.”

Little did Walsdorf realize that new plans and objectives would include layoffs (including her own) as KLC cut 126 positions at the corporate office. In addition to a new meeting planning job, she looks forward to earning her CMM. She said, “My advice to all novice planners is to get involved in your local chapter of MPI (Meeting Professionals International) — a great way to meet peers and learn — and also to get your CMP certification as soon as possible as it is a great way to add knowledge to your skills and experience.

“Come back next year and ask me ‘what’s my next meeting’ because I can’t wait to finish that sentence.”

Doing What You Love And Loving What You Do

As a woman in the meeting planning profession, Larissa Schultz, CMP, does not choose to “delineate herself out” in a man versus woman mindset. Rather, as she stated, “I think our society needs to become inclusive of each other whether man or woman. If we don’t stop trying to be viewed separate from one another on a gender basis, we will never move ahead as a unit of industry professionals.”

That being said, the way Schultz “fell into planning” was while she was working in the contracting department for a company in the Midwest, where she was born and raised. “At the time, I had the rare opportunity to meet a co-worker, Helen Hanson, my first true mentor. She was the corporate travel and meeting planner for the company. We quickly bonded and I began to share my personal interests and professional interests with her. Fortunately for me, she was planning on retiring in about six months and decided I would be the perfect replacement,” she explained. “Me, with no relevant meeting experience. The decision was based on my personality and work thus far with the organization.”

As fate would have it, the CFO of the company took the retiring meeting planner’s advice: “If it weren’t for that twist of fate and the individuals willing to take a chance on someone with hardly any experience, I may not have wandered into this amazing career.”

Since then, Schultz’s career choice has been a life-enriching experience. “Someone once said, ‘Do what you love and you will love what you do.’ That is certainly true with me. The amount of information, experience and skills I have learned, and continue to learn, enrich my mind. And the people I have met, who have become colleagues and friends, have enriched my soul.”

Today, Schultz owns her own business LJS Meeting Strategies LLC. The firm performs a variety of meetings-related services including consulting, full meeting management, onsite meeting management, training junior meeting planners for companies, site selection, contract review and more. She also volunteers at the Southern California Chapter Board of MPI, and surrounds herself with individuals who share her passion for the industry “which has helped me continue to grow in my career.”

The CMP designation was both a personal and a professional goal. “I am a huge proponent of continuing education. It shows commitment to the industry and the willingness to continue to professionally educate yourself, and to be able to bring knowledge and experience to the table,” she said. “Most important, you also are able to share that information with your colleagues and be an invaluable resource to those around you. In this current economy, and as our industry grows, those individuals who take the time to and devote themselves to the industry will continue to stand out.”

Schultz, who recently received a Masters in Hospitality Administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said, “Although I have learned from both men and women in this industry, and I have shared information with both genders, as well, as a woman in meeting planning, I admire other women who follow their dreams, take responsibility for themselves, care for themselves mentally, physically and spiritually, and share with those around them, knowing they have something special to offer the world.”    C&IT