Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone

I love teaching.

I never realized I had a knack for teaching until I started speaking at conferences and teaching 3 hour Continuing Education classes on pollution and insurance. It was the only thing I really liked about my insurance career, especially when I was able to reach contractors and developers on what they would be liable for and how to mitigate their risks. *I know, insurance nerd reporting for duty here*. But helping people avoid loss was important to me.

About a month ago, my friend Rachel asked me to teach a class on Sustainability and Events. I know nothing about events. I have no idea how they are planned, coordinated, or executed. But when a friend calls for a favor, you step up. I did my homework, added in my own knowledge on circular economy and waste and, naturally, added one section on risk management.

The entire time I lectured, fielded questions, and engaged students through a camera lens, I thought, “I’m a total fraud”, “they’re going to know I am way outside of my area of expertise”. Gratefully, after 50 minutes, it was over. I thanked everyone, provided my contact information for follow up questions and signed off.

What I did not expect was the feedback:

·        I would absolutely suggest this speaker for other students in the future. She was very informative and beings a new perspective on how to be sustainable. I think anyone would benefit from listening to her talk. Even though her talk was online she used great tactics to keep me listening and engaged.

·        I would definitely recommend her to other students in future classes for her knowledge on sustainability, energy, contract law, etc. She was a very informative speaker who provided depth and nuance to the topic as future event planner myself.

·        I would definitely recommend this speaker to other students, she was very open and kept me engaged even if I did not have anything to add to what she said but she did change my perspective of how much our world has changed and with specific events, sometimes it is difficult to incorporate more sustainable items but it does take some thinking out of the box, which is what our speaker was able to talk to us about. 

·        I really enjoyed Wendy's presentation and I think it is very valuable information. I think she would be a great guest speaker for the Corporate Events class or Event planning for the Professional class. 

·        I would recommend Wendy as a speaker for other students, perhaps more in a sustainability focused class though rather than contracting or event planning. I think sustainability has been a part of many of the classes in the Event and Meeting Management program, but we often only get to scratch the surface with speakers who only get an hour to spend with us. Wendy would be a great guest to delve deeper with in a class focused on sustainability.

·        I would absolutely recommend this speaker to other students. I really enjoyed how she was open to discussing anything. I liked how interactive she was as a speaker and I feel like she knew what she was talking about. Also, I liked how she was ready to give examples of things like those biodegradable straws. How cool!

·        I would 100% recommend these women industry leaders as future guest speakers to classes. Both women were not only extremely knowledgeable about there topics but also their passion for speaking about it really held through. Both speakers were incredibly engaged with the students and seems as Thought Leaders in both their specific realms of the industry.

·        I would recommend this guest speaker to other classes in the future. She is very knowledgeable and provided great stories and information on things in regards to sustainability.

·        I appreciated she spoke about sustainability and why it is important. The chart from the CDC was very helpful since I am a visual person. The breakdowns shown on the chart, and the effects of climate change along with the results of not being proactive to change our “wants” and habits was very informative. It helped me to understand how it affects us physically and mentally.

·        Absolutely! Her insight on how to make events more sustainable and the impact that events can have on the environment was eye-opening. There was a lot of useful information provided and anytime any of us needed clarification or had questions, she was willing to provide a more in-depth response and educate us further.

·        I would definitely recommend students to attend Wendy's presentation. Sustainability is incredibly important to the hospitality industry and learning ways to have no waste or minimize waste is something we can incorporate into each event. This industry creates a lot of waste through travel, materials, food, and so much more. If our communities become undesirable because of the damages that come from waste, then we no longer have a job and the hospitality industry as a whole is affected. All students should learn about sustainability so that we can protect the people, community/environment, and continue to be profitable. Wendy provided many examples of how to minimize waste for us to practice. 

·        I would definitely recommend this speaker to future classes. She was very knowledgeable int everything she had to say and I felt like she was also very engaging, I also loved all the visuals and examples she gave so we really got a better understanding of everything she was discussing.

·        I really enjoyed her presentation. Throughout many of the events classes there is a substantial amount of time dedicated to sustainability - as there should be - and the expertise that Wendy brings is really helpful. Her own unique experiences were really fascinating and informative, many classes could benefit from her knowledge.

·        I would recommend this speaker for other students because I find that she is very knowledgeable and being able to pass on her ideas and experiences of what she has seen would benefit people a lot when thinking about small details that might be overlooked when planning an event.

·        I would recommend her to future classes. I think that we have all seen and heard similar chats about sustainability and seen the charts and done our research, but to hear from someone who truly knows and lives these practices and can give every day examples of implementation gives it life. We all know how to recycle and what we should include at our events, but having someone show us how they have done it, or what vendors they have used is invaluable.

Why am I sharing this?

Everyone suffers from a bit of imposter syndrome. From a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) standpoint, many of us are unfairly criticized or held to different standards. I am telling you and showing you that you are exceptional and to ignore those who tell you differently.

As a society, we have one job. Help each other and lift each other up.

 #ImposterSyndrome #Education #Training #Sustainability #DEI