Carey Chamber hosts annual luncheon

CAREY — The Carey Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual Professional Women's Luncheon Wednesday. The event featured a panel of speakers to discuss what it means to be a woman in traditionally male jobs. On the panel was Lara Beltz, a partial owner of Beltz Home Service, Shelby Reynolds, an apprentice funeral director, Carly Downer, who works for the Wyandot County Sheriff's Office, Donna Hohman, an agricultural educator and Bette Snyder, a journalist and newspaper editor. The emcee was First Citizens National Bank vice president and branch manager, Trisha DeAmicis. "It took inspired women… to break the glass ceiling built by years of societal expectations," DeAmicis started, also saying she believed the tide was changing in many historically male-dominated fields and women were not only entering these fields but ascending the ranks. Downer said, in reply to a question about moments when she had to ask herself if she was allowed to do something, that she has never accepted people telling her she couldn't do something just because she was a woman. "My uncle was in the AirForce and I told him I wanted to join the AirForce as a paratrooper… and he said 'well, you can't do that," Downer said. But she didn't accept that answer and later joined the army. "Tell me I can't do it and I'll show you I can." Beltz later echoed a similar sentiment when describing an instance when she wasn't taken seriously because she was a woman. When attending a conference for those in the trades, she said it was a room full of men who asked where her husband was. "Well, he's not here; I'm the owner of the business," she told them. "When I come across women in the field, I say, you belong here. Take up the space. Men have been taking up the space in this field for far too long without women at the table," Beltz said. Reynolds later said she was, as an apprentice who was still learning her role, finding it difficult to juggle being respectful of those teaching her while also wondering if she was being respected. "A lot of times, worrying about 'am I being respected' gets put on the back burner," she said. "I'm learning so I have to show respect to the people who are in the industry who I am learning from first before they can turn around and respect me…You have to pay your dues." When asked about what companies can do to make the workplace more inclusive, Beltz suggested breeding a more supportive culture including having uniforms that fit properly and keeping women's safety in mind when designing restroom and break room spaces. She also said that to hire more women in male-dominated fields, it is crucial for those women to be on board with company missions. Snyder, when asked about a shifting dynamic in the newspaper industry, said she believed women were getting ahead in life because they work harder than men to get what they want in life. Beltz, perhaps offering the most helpful advice of the day, said not to worry about what others think. "Just do it," she said, "Whatever it" may be. The event was sponsored by Armadillo Solar and Wyandot Memorial Hospital and was catered by Saum's Market. Many local organizations like the Dorcas Carey Public Library, Moreno's, Sisters in Shelter and We Are Laser Engraving among others also donated door prizes and other items to the event.