Denlinger, president of Wake Education Partnership, shared stories from her personal and professional lives last week at the inaugural Women of Western Wake Luncheon, held at the Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary.
Denlinger and a panel of four other honorees — Mary Lou Powell, Nellie Shipley, Lucy Daniels and Barbara Mulkey — discussed their careers and offered advice to the more than 175 people who attended the event. ABC Channel 11 anchor Angela Hampton was the emcee.
The five women, who were chosen by the editors of Cary Magazine because they were accomplished in their fields and well-respected in their communities, answered questions posed by Hampton and fielded queries from the audience.
Mary Lou Powell, chief nursing officer at Rex Healthcare, advised audience members to find meaningful work, foster excellent relationships and find something to look forward to.
"The phrase carpe diem comes to mind," she said. "If you look at that through that lens, then you'll probably do all right."
Daniels, who founded the Lucy Daniels Center for Early Childhood, a preschool program that promotes the emotional development of young children and their parents, said that one step to success in life is to do the best you can and stay positive. She speaks from experience: one year after being released from a mental hospital, Daniels was on the Today Show promoting her new book, Caleb, My Son.
"I think success starts by knowing what you want to be successful at," she said. "Find out what you want to do and do it well."
The panelists also discussed some of their greatest professional challenges and how they overcame them. Denlinger said that taking her first job as school superintendent was extremely difficult.
"It just about destroyed me in a lot of ways," she said. "It's challenged me to see if I could remain focused on the children's education or allow political issues to derail me.
"It taught me about who I am, and how I could stay focused on the children."
Shipley, a real estate attorney and partner at Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice law firm, said her greatest professional challenge is the fear of failure.
"It really takes putting up everything you have," she said. "Fear of failure can make you stay in something too long if it's not working ... listen to the people who love you."
The women also discussed how they balanced career, family and time for themselves.
Powell encouraged professional women to blur the line between work and family. She said she doesn't compartmentalize the two; if she needs to take a phone call from her husband during the workday, she does.
"If you do what you love, it will all blend together," she said.
Powell also told women that sometimes, they can't do it all.
"Saying no is the hardest thing to do," she said.
Mulkey, founder of Mulkey Engineers & Consultants, said that being a woman in the male-dominated profession of engineering hasn't always been easy, but she encouraged the women to stay true to their dreams and seek positive mentors.
"Looking back I noticed that some co-workers had a problem with me, but there is nothing wrong with that," she said to laughs. |
