EW 075 – How To Build A Successful Women In Leadership Chapter – Winning with Doris Paquette, Chair of the Women In Leadership Edmonton Chapter

Gordon Sheppard (00:00.855)
Doris, welcome to the show.

Doris Paquette (00:03.384)
Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here.

Gordon Sheppard (00:05.901)
Well, we are really excited to have you here because they say if you want something done, give it to a busy person. And doing a bit of homework here, not only are you sort of advancing your career, advancing education, advancing on boards, advancing, you know, starting up things and making things happen for leaders, there's just so many things that you're involved with. And I think people are gonna really enjoy getting to know you. And, you know, but they haven't met you just yet. So if you had to describe yourself, what would you say?

Doris Paquette (00:33.806)
Well, thank you for the intro. And yes, I believe that busy people always get things done. But my name is Doris Paquette. I am currently the vice president president of assets and capital management with the YMCA of Northern Alberta. I am also the chair of Women in Leadership Edmonton. I am the vice chair of the YWCA Edmonton, and I serve as president of Change for Children's Association here in Edmonton as well. And I love I have two beautiful children, I have a wonderful family, and I

I love my work so much and I'm very passionate about supporting youth and women across our city.

Gordon Sheppard (01:10.327)
And the YWCA experience would have been, I'm sure, very impactful from, you know, supporting there and now with the YMCA and that's interesting. And then the board exposure that you're getting as well. What is this urge or interest that you have to be at the top levels of places to be contributing?

Doris Paquette (01:26.018)
Well that that's a great question. And and I get this I ask people ask me this often and the easiest thing I can say is this I just really want to support our community.

All the way growing up, I have been grown up in an atmosphere where I had wonderful parents, a wonderful family, but I see that in our society that isn't the case for everyone. And people do struggle with different things depending on where they are. And if I can support in any which way, shape, or form, I want to do so. And again, as I mentioned, I have such a soft spot for women and children and gender equality in our world and our workplaces. And what I can

do for that as well as supporting my children and seeing all of that so that they can become advocates as well is just a passion project of mine and I I'm probably gonna do it until I can't any longer because it it fills my cup and although I am busy these are the things that I don't consider work.

Gordon Sheppard (02:25.921)
Wonderful. Well, I think we have a pretty good sense of the type of person that you are from either Stephen these brief opening remarks. And again, we hear a bit of the pedigree, which leads us into our first question, which would be, you know, if you had to describe your biggest win, and I'm sure there's been many, but if you had to pick one just to chat about here today, what would that win be and how would you describe it?

Doris Paquette (02:44.202)
And you're right, Gord, there there is so many. But you know, what comes to mind right now is really the creation of women in leadership here in Edmonton. Although the foundation has been around for 25 years with chapters all across Canada, we created a chapter here in Edmonton about eight months ago, and it is really thriving. And

I'll get into that little bit more, but there's a reason, Gord, why this is so much of a passion for me. And it it has to do with a bit of what has happened in my past, both professionally and personally. And I was never, I never wanted to talk about this because I thought I would get judgment and I and there was a fear. And as I've grown older and I've I've been around such a network of amazing people, I realized that your sh your story isn't who you are. It's what comes from that story.

What you have achieved after it. And so, why women and children is such a huge passion to me is about you know, just over 10 years ago, me and my two children fleeed a domestic violence relationship, and I didn't tell anyone. I went to work, was a high achiever, was going to university for a second degree, most likely had the RCMP in my place in the evening, but I told no one.

Because I thought I was going to be judged. And as I'm sitting here today, I shake my head because my story may have been a little different had I told people, but I didn't, I didn't feel safe. And that's why I want to really help organizations to help women and children feel safe to tell their stories.

And then further to that, when you start talking about our professional lives, you hear this stereotypical piece about, you know, women battering at each other at the workplace, and there could only be one seat at a table, and we'll do whatever we can to get that seat. I always thought that was a myth. And and I I actually experienced it, and it was awful.

Doris Paquette (04:48.794)
And I thought to myself, there's no way that we can live in a world, being 2026, that we are thinking this way. And how can we change that? How can we be part of the story that's going to change the future for all women and children going forward? And so, with that in mind, that's why I said creating a spot to elevate women wherever they are and whatever journey, whether it's professionally, personally, in their lives, to have that fit.

safe network to sometimes it's just talking about random things. But I went through it. Probably somebody else went through it. And I hear this time and time again. And had they had a network to talk to, because sometimes talking to your family and your close friends isn't the best because you want that unbiased opinion. And so that's what we're really trying to form at women in leadership. And you know it isn't well the title is women in leadership. Leadership comes in every type of form.

It could be being on the student council at your child's school. It could be being a stay-at-home mother. It could be a CEO of an organization and everything in between. And so we really want to help women find their voice so that they don't have to struggle at home or in the workplace.

Gordon Sheppard (06:09.633)
Wow. I'm knocked off out of my socks hearing that. Thank you. I feel honored to hear your one of your stories, which is a domestic violence scenario that you went through and the complexities around that, around you're describing, you know, you're giving us that retro one or two sentences of like why you why you didn't and then what you're doing about it, which is remarkable to me. And so I feel grateful to hear that sort of real

motivator that's in there. The second thing I heard in that timeline was the idea of you were in a leadership scenario as a woman and it had a negative experience, where these stereotypical things that we say happen happened. And that was sort of one of these another piece that you're chunking in to motivate the situation that you're dealing with now. And then I just heard that you're building a big tent. You're expanding leadership as a term to allow all kinds of different people to be integrated and involved.

in the situation that you're creating now through women in leadership. There are five podcasts that we could do right now, right through if we actually had the chance to to walk down all those lanes. But I'm just gonna sort of step in here for a second and sort of say if women lead in leadership gets it right, what happens?

Doris Paquette (07:11.404)
Yeah.

Doris Paquette (07:25.728)
If we get it right, the feeling

And the atmosphere and the actions of women will change across our community. It is all about confidence. So you hear it all the time where women are just afraid to make that first step, or afraid to make that first mistake, or afraid to apply for that job because of the fear of judgment and failure. We are high performers and we want to achieve. However, when you look at

An example like Elon Musk. How many times did he fail before he got it right? And it's easy to say that, but it's hard to put into concept. And so creating that confidence around women so that they can be the first, you don't have to wait for somebody else to do it and then learn from their mistakes. Be the first because most things can be undone. And we learn through trial and error. That's how we get better, that's how we become stronger, and that's how we become.

Become more resilient all around.

Gordon Sheppard (08:32.397)
You can hear the multiplier effect. If I was in the room with you for I this is a few minutes in. If I was in the room with you for an hour at one of these women leadership gatherings, for example, you can hear the multiplier that you're leading with your own sincere background and then intention that you're see getting through there. We've had some terrific women leaders on the podcast. Teresa Spinelli from the Italian Center was on. I mean, they're going on their sixth store, north of $130 million in revenue from that family business that she took over.

probably just over twenty, twenty five years ago, she said, Gord, one thing to be a woman in a Italian family, try being y you know, and then to move on to see and one of her key observations that I can't stop saying repeating, this is right from her, is she said, you know, Gord, guys won't admit their faults and women won't admit their strengths.

Doris Paquette (09:19.052)
Yes. Yes.

Gordon Sheppard (09:20.109)
Does that make sense?

Doris Paquette (09:21.472)
That is and I and I got to listen to the episode, which she was brilliant on, but that is exactly right. There's this sense of fear that we don't want to fail. And we and so we don't tell people. Like for myself, when I was going through my personal situation, I didn't want to tell anybody because I thought it was my fault. And when I was going through my workplace struggles, I thought I was losing it because I thought it was something to do with me.

And when we step back, and that's why having a network is so important, when you step back, you realize, what was I doing? I was in a

Gordon Sheppard (10:00.673)
And I hope so I hope so many people invest in your network. Cause I can give you another story. There's a woman coming up, Krista Rabidu works for Anderson, works across Western Canada in the accounting field. And she one of her comments, when I mentioned Theresa's comment to her, was you know, that's interesting. The guys, when we hire the guys, they always negotiate their salaries. She says most women don't. And she says, funny, when one does, that's the one I want to work with because they've got that step up in terms of what they're doing.

But again, I'm just picking up things in my own sort of networking conversations that are part of it. I've also coached women leaders as well. And I'm amazed at women in with titles, just like you said, you know, VP or whatever these and accomplishments. those that 12-year-old inner voice is still carrying strong. Funny enough, it does for the guys too. Like don't I'm not trying to fully gender it that way, but there's that young, that voice that is contributing to the theme that you're tackling and tackling in a really

positive manner, sharing vulnerably your own story to allow people into your world, to see your sincere motivation to get this going. And in just eight months, this women in leadership chapter in Edmonton, you said is thriving. That's just wonderful. So we know what the win is, we've got the clear motivation kind of behind it. I always like to say, you know, let's look at the anatomy of this win and talk about the strategy, work plan, people, operations, and results. Strategically, there was sort of a vision, mission, values, goals that you would have had because before you started the women in leadership chapter here,

You know, what what's the strategic highlight for getting this up and running?

Doris Paquette (11:28.812)
Well really it

It's exactly that gourd. It's strategy is create how do we create a better Edmonton? And I know there's so many deserving and wonderful organizations that are doing the same. But this one was focused on, although I want everyone to succeed, and I think all of these struggles are not male, fe female, or or anywhere in between. It's really women in leadership is about focusing on on women's advocacy and women's rights. And so how could we create a place

Where women are feeling elevated and comfortable. And so that was the strategy. Is you know, we used to be at Women in Leadership, we had an Alberta chapter. And so we would get together and we would meet, and we had people from all across Alberta, which was phenomenal. But post-COVID, we thought we need to get in front of people. The virtual meetings have their place, virtual functions have their place, but

We know particularly Edmonton is thriving connection. And so we did make that decision to break up into a southern chapter based out of Calgary and then a northern chapter in Edmonton. And since that time, it's been absolutely game-changing is to get in front of people and see them and have these similar conversations that we're having right now and and sharing our stories. And some of these folks I just met, but we have

Or what we're trying to do is create a comfortable atmosphere so that you're comfortable in sharing this is what's happening at work or this is what's happening at home. Does anybody in this circle have have some advice? And nine out of ten, and I have witnessed this, someone has gone through the exact same thing that another individual is going through. So what rather than you know, suffering or going through it alone, if we're brave enough and we tell our stories, then there are

Doris Paquette (13:28.246)
people in our community to support you.

Gordon Sheppard (13:30.977)
I love it. The you're supporting individuals. You're getting a chance to sort of exercise your own mentorship muscles in there too. Like there's you that self-motivation would be in there, I'm sure, for yourself. The capacity building that's in here is it's it's internal voice, it's external voice, it's community building. There's gonna be an economic impact from this because as we grow the confidence in women leaders.

'Cause statistically we've still got the non parity wage gaps that we have. So when they move into their leadership roles, they get the more confidence to sort of help with that issue, which again, it's ridiculous in twenty twenty six, but it's a reality. That's sort of what's we're we're dealing with there. So it's a capacity building thing. And you just gave me a bit of an insight into one of your moments. I was gonna say, like, what's it like to be at one of these events? Is it hootin hollering or is it more quiet conversations, or what h like if I walked in the door and I was at your event, what would happen?

Doris Paquette (14:05.622)
I guess.

Doris Paquette (14:19.724)
Well, you know, really it's a mix. So what's really important to us, so we've all been to some networking events where we walk in and right off the get-go, you feel uneasy, you feel like it's a bit that clicky scenario, or you don't feel very welcome. And so I've personally been to many of those. What it is for us is we want to ensure that everybody who walks into one of our events feels welcome. And that is the feedback I always look for. And so far I'm gonna knock on wood.

That is the feeling that most people are feeling while they walk into the room. So that's one. So the welcoming piece is very important. Secondly, it's to have an event that that is intentional. So at Women in Leadership Eventon, we're not having an event just for an event for a checkbox and say, we had five events this year, we're doing so well. I would rather have two people in the room than a sold-out event any day if it is impactful. And that's really what

What we're going for is impact and listening to our members on what do you want from us? What how what can we support you with? And then further to that is we want to ensure that we're different. There's a lot of amazing women organizations out there that we partner with in various ways, and and and they're phenomenal. But at the same time, we want to be unique. So, well, many groups have more of a niche that may they might be more focused on.

and leadership at a higher level or focus on advocacy.

Women in leadership encompasses all because we don't want to leave anyone behind. So I don't care if you are an owner of a company or you just started your first job at a university or even high school. There is something for everyone. So again, creating those events that are intentional and informative. And what I like about our events, and I try to tell everybody, just come out, just check it out, is you walk in, you feel welcome, as I mentioned, and you leave.

Doris Paquette (16:24.232)
inspired with those goosebumps. And we just had an event a couple weeks ago and it was actually for Women in Leadership Day, which every chapter across Canada was celebrating on May 27th, which is phenomenal.

But as I was leaving, there were still people two hours after the event in the parking lot exchanging conversations with new colleagues and new friends that they had made at that event. And that's what really warms my heart is it's not just about an event. You are learning, you are networking, but you're doing it in a manner that is not, there's no pressure, right? There's no sales pitch. There's no, if you want to hand out your card, go for it.

But there's nobody, you know, trying to sell you something when you walk in. And we want to hear our membership's feedback. So if there's something that we miss the mark on, you know, I'm a big girl. Tell me, tell me straight up. I I you know you don't have to you don't have to fluff it up. If you didn't like the event, please tell me and tell me why, and tell me how we can do better next time because that's really what we're trying to do.

Gordon Sheppard (17:33.889)
I wow. Like it it makes you want to go, of course. And I love again this big tent idea. And it really sets, you know, you're setting the tone for people when they hear this one, when they choose to go to your event, they can they're gonna get a good feel for that welcoming presence. Strategically, I heard let's build a better Edmonton, northern Alberta, like make that occur. Let's make an impact if we dug into your value set. And we go on and on, I'm sure, about the what that is. So strategy we got a really good sense of. There's always a work plan if we're gonna get something to happen. You said eight months ago, this was not you know.

Women in Leadership Edmonton was not the idea. So there's a starting point to sort of when it was, and then there's the eight months and kind of highlights along that timeline. When was the decision made to have this chat? What was the first day? what did that look like? And what are some of the highlights on that timeline through this time?

Doris Paquette (18:17.486)
Yeah.

Absolutely. Eight minutes eight months has flown by. But when this idea about creating women in leadership emitting came, we were the you know end of August, early September of 2025, and there was this great idea, but that's all it was. It was an idea. So there's myself and another individual. And we thought to ourselves, okay, well, there's two of us. We're gonna need more more women to help bring this vision alive. And we did

didn't really know where to start.

But we knew we needed to start. And so what we did is we just reached out to our network and we said, look, this is what we're thinking. We have an idea. We're gonna host a virtual, don't worry, you can stay in your pajamas, you don't have to leave your house, a virtual information session to tell us, to tell you all about what we're thinking women in leadership edmitting could be. And then, you know what? Hit us with your questions. Ask us some, you know, provide some feedback. And so again, we did that in September.

September of last year, we had about 35 people come. So that was that was great. The feedback was really positive. It was a lot of, you know, we can do this and inspirational thinking and and grand concept ideas. And so after that, we took it little bit further. Okay, well, people were were willing to attend virtually. Now let's have a what we'll call a meet and greet. So people come out and we'll we'll talk about this a little bit more. And we started talking a little bit.

Doris Paquette (19:51.279)
as well about okay, we want to build a board.

So is it one? Is people interested in our board? what do we need on our board? Because we didn't want to, we didn't need a chair, vice chair, treasurer. We were we're very different, but we wanted to have positions that were flexible so that women with busy schedules can still be part of it without saying, you know what, I don't have the capacity to do that. And so we had this meet and greet, people came out, but about 45, 50 beautiful ladies came out and it was a blast. And then

I knew I had a you know, I was sitting in my chair just watching all of the great conversation happening around me, and I thought to myself, we got it, we got it, this is gonna happen. And through that, we built a board, and so we worked in collaboration on what type of positions would we want on our board, and so we have lead positions, and people said, Well, can I have can I be a co-lead? Because I only have an hour to give a month. Certainly you can. And we talked as a board.

about how

All individuals in their life have peaks and valleys when it comes to their capacity, right? So, for example, if you're an accountant, maybe tax season's not a good time for you. And so we structured our board to be very much like that. So you help out when you can as much as you can. And if you can't, that's okay. There's no judgment, others will come in and fill in the gap. However, you need to tell us. And so that's the strategy on which we we built this board. And within

Doris Paquette (21:26.032)
A few months, Edmonton and remains to be as well the largest largest board in all of Canada for Women in Leadership Foundation, which I am extremely proud. We've done some incredible work this year. And the number of individuals who want to join our board is is plentiful, and there's a wait list. But at some point, we wanted to just you know cap the number, and and we have it non-board members, we'll call it, that are

are referred to as members at large that help it help whenever they possibly can. And whether it's you know working the the welcome table as you're coming in or helping us set up, we have tons and tons of women who are who are stepping up and we are so grateful for all of their support and all of their help in making this Women in Leadership Emonton possible.

Gordon Sheppard (22:18.976)
Wow, congratulations. I love this idea of meeting people where they're at. Hey, what would you like at a networking event? Hey, what would you like to do on a board that meets you where you're at so you can contribute at the highest possible level? Again, removing the judgment and all those things along the way. We got lucky Nicole Janssen was on the show. Nicole spent time with Richard Branson on his island. And she the the the phrase that she gave was, yeah, it was a quick one sentence, well, a couple sentences. Richard Branson said, say yes.

Doris Paquette (22:40.243)
yeah.

Gordon Sheppard (22:47.114)
And figure it out later. And this is what I'm hearing in your approach. You were like, yep, we're going to get it done and we're going to figure it out as we go. But what a nice way to figure it out in terms of asking people what they want, in a sense, to get that engagement level to be so high. And isn't that a typical Edmonton punch above its weight story? I hear this over and over again with associations and nonprofits out of this region being the largest in the company because there's something about Edmontonians that sort of shows up and gets things done. Wow, we could talk on and on about that too. So here we go.

Strategy, work plan. there's always people involved in a win. So when I say people like yourself, how would you describe your attitude? at the beginning of the process and and to now? How peaks and valleys, easy sailing, what what's it been?

Doris Paquette (23:30.284)
well, you know, with any new venture you're gonna start, there's always peaks and valleys. but I consider myself a very optimistic person. So I'm very much, yes, let's say yes, and we'll figure out the details later. And I'm not ashamed to say we don't know what we're doing. We're we're, you know, we are building the airplane while it's flying, and that's okay. I'm not ashamed of that. And we will be flexible and we will adapt to whatever happening economically or or w just in general.

General with our membership. And so, you know, I would love to have a lot more administrative tasks done, you know, if I can go back, but we'll get to that. Right now, it's really building that momentum around this amazing city that we live in and the wonderful women who reside in it. And that is our main goal. And I'm so happy that we've achieved that. I will say at times you do get discouraged because you think, you know, you're like you think you're heading one way.

Way and then you have to take that left turn. But you know, overall, I am so grateful and so happy with the work that we have done. And we could not have done it because you talk about the people, we could not have done it from the support from our amazing board, our very, very amazing board, as well as our supporters, so our membership who come out and support. And here's a little tidbit about Edmonton.

Is we support one another. And so I talk about other similar women organizations, and we're not in competition with each other. We in fact had an event in April that was all about collaboration over competition. And they, you know, all of these groups, women in leadership will share their events, we will attend their events, they will share our events, attend our events. Huge supporters. People have come out to check it out and share it.

On their social media. And so this is something when I meet with all of the chapter chairs across Canada that is unique about Edmonton. Is we are in it together and we want the same things and we will help each other in whatever way possible. And that is, I'm super proud of that.

Gordon Sheppard (25:48.14)
Well, and it goes right back to your strategy. Let's make Edmonton better. I mean, you said it very clearly at the at the front of this conversation. That's wonderful. So strategy, work plan, people. By the way, I'd love to be a fly on the wall in your board meetings, which would not be typical, right? You you can hear right there they this wouldn't they w they wouldn't be typical at all.

Doris Paquette (25:51.875)
Yes.

Doris Paquette (26:06.336)
No, they're they're not that then that's that's another part that's so amazing is they're not typical because I hear from women all the time that say, I'd love to be on a board, but between my you know my work and my child's activities and making dinner and all of these things, I can't be. And and I'm the first to say, why not?

What if what if a board existed that is flexible? What if we said we have our meetings in an hour or less and we'll never go over an hour? They're like, well, that would be different. And I'm like, okay, well, let's make that happen. And so these are some of the things that we are doing at Women in Leadership to adapt because we should not be saying no because we're too busy. If we're saying no, it should be because we don't want to do it or we have other priorities. That that's fine. But

I I would hate for someone to not be part of something because they think they're too busy. that just isn't there's always the there's always time. It's just figuring out that right balance.

Gordon Sheppard (27:09.803)
Well, and Tom, when we talk about impact, it's not about ours. It would be the contribution of that one person in that one moment who brought up an innovative idea or a collective that came across and a new activity sparked up. We can hear all the different ways, but meeting people where they're at to get the most out of them for whatever they can contribute really carries a wonderful spirit. Again, that's part of the inviting tent in a sense that you've created to set up. Strategy, work plan, people. Op yep, we have to operationalize a win. So there's a are there sort of

Technical issues around the franchise model or this kind of thing, or is it really what you've described in terms of getting people together, seeing where they're at and getting things up and running? Any operational highlights that you'd like to point out?

Doris Paquette (27:46.553)
Well, operational highlights is I can't believe it's been eight months. it it the momentum is unbelievable. In the early onset of 2026, I was working. I see a call on on my my cell phone. Didn't know who it was. I decided to answer it anyways. And it was the Edmonton Oilers calling us to partner on an event that they had a women's and sports night highlighting some leadership

leadership capacity and so

Women in Leadership, amongst other women organizations, because it's all about collaboration over competition, teamed up with the Edmonton Oilers on March 31st when they played the Seattle Kraken to have an event focused all around women in leadership. And so prior to the hockey game, we all met in the Hall of Fame room, which is right at the front. So everybody was walking by and like, what's going on in those rooms? We had a phenomenal panelist, which I monitor.

Moderated right before the event, it sold out within 36 hours. And then just imagine we had all of that, and then 85 women all together go up in our own section to watch the hockey game. I would say when you're looking at results, that was probably one of the biggest ones for us. second to that would be just the amazing partnerships that we have created amongst this niche of women organizations.

Organizations, the support, and and finally, and it might sound a little cheesy, but I have witnessed it. And when you see a room full of women that are supporting each other, it is like nothing you've ever seen. The goosebumps that travel across your body to see that look, world, we are not in competition. There is plenty of seats at the table, or even throw out the

Doris Paquette (29:49.109)
The table for goodness sakes. Women belong where decisions are made. And I love the men who have supported us along this journey because there are plenty of them. We talked a little bit about allyship, and there's, you know, this is not an issue that we're going to solve alone. It is an issue that we need to educate everyone on and find support wherever we possibly can.

Gordon Sheppard (30:15.86)
Wow. That's super congratulations. And isn't that nice to be noticed and then have another moment where again you're leveling up and you're you again talk about strengthening those types, you know, partnerships with the Oilers. I can't imagine how many other partnerships are are going to be involved in your future. one of the guests on the show was Deborah Rosati. Deborah Rosati runs Women Get on Board out of Toronto. They have 850 members. Ten years ago, she noticed and she's in the latter part of her career in a in a give back mode. She's wonderful woman. she noticed that the

Stats wrote on percentage of women on corporate boards in Canada in around 2015-ish was around 12%. That frustrated her. She went, she she went for parody. She said parody is the theme. Let's see if we can get it going. She started up Women Get on Board. 850 members in their 10th year, they closed the Toronto Stock Exchange to celebrate their anniversary, which is pretty remarkable in terms of what they're doing. And they're on that way to capacity building, where it's up around 30% now, apparently, for corporate boards. What you're doing is gonna have a direct impact on corporate boards in Canada. I can already hear that.

Or and again, it's also gonna have that down to that level of that high school girl or that and we met at She Leads for junior achievement. And in that room, the inspiration that I got out of there was watching young, you know, girls that are in that age range in the elementary to high school range as they go through statistically measured issues that may sort of hold them back in a sense from leadership or getting that way, they're creating capacity there. You're picking up part of that sort of, in a sense, supply chain of leadership.

by doing the things that you're doing as well. So again, these multiplying effects that are in play is really, really interesting. And again, you're gonna take it, you're only eight months in. You've got this much done in eight months. I mean, that's pretty incredible.

Doris Paquette (31:52.237)
Well, I I really Gordon, I really hope it continues and it is about building a better future. And and on that on that note, I have a 16-year-old daughter and it's non-negotiable. She comes to our events, and it is so important to me for her to see this type of atmosphere. And you know, at first she kicks and screams and she'd rather do other things. But when she leaves an event, she finally turns to me and says, Mom, I I know why you're doing this.

I get it. And I want her to continue that as well as my son, because he also attends my events, is to see that supporting one another, wherever you are, in whatever atmosphere, it doesn't matter, that supporting people and not judging people for silly things will change, will really impact change. And I think that's something that we all have to know learn as a society. And we're we're guilty of doing it from time to time, but it's important.

That you know someone's always watching you, and there is room for improvement for everyone, and being in a room fill of women who support each other and have each other's backs, and helping people land their perfect job or helping them find different things is so so impactful, and I'm grateful and I'm so happy and blessed that my children get to see it.

Gordon Sheppard (33:16.17)
That's so again, part of I'm sure the mission and vision underneath the way you had it there to get your kids to be participants and build that better world, not just for them, but for the other kids that are coming along the way as well. Wow. So depth. There's so much in it. So strategy, work plan, people, operations. Finally there's results, quantitative and qualitative results. Quantitatively, I don't know if you want to say what you want to say. number of events, number of attendees, impacts. Like is is are there any sort of hard numbers on impact that you like to share at this point?

Doris Paquette (33:46.282)
Absolutely. We had planned on our first year to do three events. We have done nine events in the twenty in from September of 2025 to present. So nine events, so more than double than what we we initially planned. We had no members when we started. We are now at over 200 members in eight and eight months. Again, I'm gonna stress the board, the capacity of the

Board and now being a leader in this sector and having other women in leadership boards across Canada come to us for advice that we're happy to share, although we do not have all the answers. I'll make that very clear. Are some of the few stats or results that I am extremely proud of. Now, over the summer, we aren't going to do a lot of events. That's a time for us to spend with our families, but we're looking forward to pick up in September.

Another fun-filled year. And in January, we just launched a newsletter for our members as well. So that's something that we're we're extremely proud of. And you could, if you're following our newsletters, you can tell that every month they're getting like better and better and better because we're learning as we go. And so I hope to keep that going and again continue to partner with many organizations and spread the word as much as we possibly can. If you come to a will event, that's one.

If you you attend another event, that's okay too. It's just getting out there and and finding a circle and a community that works for you. But I encourage all women at any level in their lives is is find that network. Find that network because it can be career changing, it could be life-changing, and it's just great to get out and hear what other people are doing and and learn and and go through all the things that you need to go through in order.

to become a better a better mother, a better wife, a better friend, better daughter, a better employee.

Gordon Sheppard (35:52.81)
Well, and I'll just extend the betters. Better Edmonton, better for relationships, better for helping men learn what they need to learn. It long there's all kinds of good stuff that continue like that checklist is super long in terms of all the impacts. That's great. Qualitatively, how's it feel to reflect on this?

Doris Paquette (36:07.863)
You know, as I'm talking about it today, Gord, it it feels pretty amazing. It i I I I have high standards. anybody who wor ever works with me, they know that, you know, we've raised the bar and then we have to raise it again. But I'm very, very blessed with everything we've done and I hope it continues to to grow.

Gordon Sheppard (36:28.297)
Sounds good. Well, you know, anytime we get wonderful women leaders on like yourself. sorry, hang on a second.

Gordon Sheppard (36:39.793)
Okay, sorry. I'm just gonna I just need to do a pickup. This will sound funny. I think we're still recording. There was something that went funny with the internet there. So just I'm gonna I'm gonna backtrack on this and I'm gonna lead you in with a question. I'm just gonna I'm just I'm just gonna start in and we'll just pick it up. So and we may need to repeat a little bit, but I'm gonna say qualitatively, how did it feel?

Gordon Sheppard (37:39.903)
This sounds like a plane that a lot of people are going to want to put parts on as you build it as it's flying through the air. Anytime I get wonderful leaders like you on the show, I always like to say if you had a few sentences, maybe for that young woman, that super experienced, you know, leader or whatever, that you would talk, you know, from a leadership perspective, what are a few sentences that you like to leave behind to be encouraging to that next woman in leadership?

Gordon Sheppard (38:27.123)
Love it. When there's a will, W I L, Women in Leadership, there is a way. Doris, thank you so much for being on the show.