It was a rainy, cozy fall day, and what better way to spend it than by learning about women’s empowerment?
On Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, my RiverBender.com colleague Grace Schwarte and I had the privilege of attending the Troy/Maryville/St. Jacob/Marine Chamber of Commerce Women’s Conference in Edwardsville. It was a day full of addresses, workshops, and panels, and it was awesome.
We started out our day with breakfast, coffee, and a speech by a woman who reminded us to advocate for ourselves. It’s easy to say, hard to do! We learned a lot about that balance between taking care of yourself and pushing through toward your career goals.
In fact, to start off, we set career goals. It’s easy to get stuck in the day-to-day muck and forget about your long-term hopes and dreams. We took a few minutes to think seriously about what we want our careers to look like in five years. Especially as young women in the workforce, Grace and I were both jotting down notes.
We had the chance to attend three workshops, and they were all fascinating. I’m disappointed I couldn’t go to every single one that was offered!
In the workshops, we built LEGOs to visualize who we are at our best and what support we need to be better. I snapped my blocks together, having fun, but also thinking seriously about what I might need to succeed.
We chatted about practical tips to maximize our time — meal prepping goes a long way, people — as well as advice on how to be better community members, which, in turn, makes us better professionals. (Say hi to people in the grocery store, will you? It means a lot, makes you feel good, and reminds you of the point of this crazy life.)
We discussed self-care and leadership. We were reminded that you don’t need to be in a management position to have an impact on others. We also wrote down the strengths of leaders in our lives, traits we want to emulate. And we made a commitment to take better care of ourselves.
I decided to commit more seriously to yoga and journaling. Now, I have yet to find myself in the downward dog pose, but I have been journaling, so I get a solid C so far.
But one of the best parts of this conference was the reminder that we can always improve. I might not be at an A+ yet, but yet is the operative word. There’s time to keep getting better. In fact, the moment you stop trying to get better is the moment you die.
To clarify, I’m not advocating for the #grindset kind of lifestyle. I mean, if that works for you, that’s great. But I’ve found a better balance between ambition and self-care, and I think that’s really what the conference was angling for. Never lose your ambition, but don’t become so obsessed with success that you forget to care for yourself.
That’s an especially important reminder in a room full of women, many of whom will sacrifice A LOT in their lives for others or for their careers, and most of whom need to be reminded that they can set aside time solely for themselves. In our fast-paced world, it’s easy to get busy at work and then look up and realize 30 years have passed by. The point of this conference, at least for me, was intentionality.
I learned a lot at the Troy/Maryville/St. Jacob/Marine Chamber of Commerce Women’s Conference, and I’m super grateful for the chance to attend. (Plus, there was a soup bar for lunch; I was in Heaven.) I’m glad that we have these opportunities in our community, and I’m thankful for the people I connected with — so many amazing women professionals!
I’m taking a lot away from this conference, mostly my own intention-setting goals. I want to be intentional in both my career and my personal life. I want to make decisions in service of my larger goals. I want to know my larger goals. And I want to do this alongside other awesome, strong women who can guide me.
I’m proud of my career so far and eager to see what comes next. And a lot of that is thanks to the people I’ve met and opportunities I’ve had through experiences like this.
