Thrive Women in Business

THRIVE is a new Chamber initiative with a mission of empowering women on the North Shore to succeed both professionally and personally. THRIVE creates meaningful and inclusive opportunities through mentorship, networking, programming, education, inspiration and support. The vision differs from that of a typical women's business group and is not designed to gain leads or market one's business. Rather, THRIVE is built around the spirit of both professional and personal development and accomplishment. We hope you will join us to THRIVE together.

The THRIVE STEERING COMMITTEE, pictured, includes, from left, Co-Chair Mary Anne Clancy, Institution For Savings; Bernadette Butterfield, Groom Construction; Betsy Merry, MerryFox Realty; Co-Chair Karen Andreas, North Shore Chamber; Gia Page, Davio's; Hannah Ginley, WIndover Construction; and Melisa Gillis, Gillis Consulting.

'Finding Your Voice'

Thrive panel empowers individuals to project confidence,
advocate for yourself and know your worth

We all need to find our voice, especially in uncomfortable situations — whether asking for a raise, having a difficult conversation or offering criticism.
The Chamber's Thrive initiative treated breakfast guests to a master class in the art of communication, offering tips on public speaking, advocating for oneself and navigating difficult conversations during a panel program on May 17 at Root North Shore in Salem.
Karen Andreas, president and CEO of The Chamber, moderated a panel that featured three experts in their industries: Samanda Morales, CEO and co-founder of Ahora Inc.; Karen Nascembeni, chief operating officer for Bill Hanney's Live Theaters, including North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly; and Janet Santa Anna, CEO and co-founder of The Resource Connection Inc.
Morales shared her experiences in gaining the confidence that has enabled her to succeed in her professional career. She encouraged guests to "articulate their passions" and "be comfortable with being uncomfortable."
She offered five principles that have assisted her on her professional journey:
1. Understand your value and your professional worth.
2. Be confident. You belong in the room and at the table.
3. Prepare yourself with the skills and expertise that add value and enable you to compete.
4. Be present and visible; network and build relationships.
5. Be kind and respectful to everyone, no matter who they are.
Nascembeni sought to take some of the fear out of public speaking by offering strategies that have served her well in her years in radio, TV and live theater. She stressed the importance of preparation and projecting personality and passion as keys for captivating an audience. Whether speaking to a handful of individuals or hundreds, Nascembeni said knowing your material and your audience are instrumental for being an effective speaker.
Santa Anna, who has 35 years of experience as a certified staffing professional, provided her expertise on handling difficult conversations in the workplace. First and foremost, she said, understand the purpose of the conversation and be prepared to listen. Then, she said, watch for the "Four D's" that can derail a challenging interaction with an employee or colleague — denial, disruption, deflection and dumping on the boss. Santa Anna also stressed preparation as being integral to a successful exchange.
The panelists also discussed "Imposter Syndrome" — a phenomenon that has been gaining attention in the professional world in recent years — and ways to overcome the feelings associated with it.
Imposter Syndrome is defined as a psychological occurrence in which an individual doubts their skills, talents or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud. Despite external evidence of their competence, those experiencing Imposter Syndrome do not believe they deserve their success or luck.
Mary Anne Clancy, co-chair of the Thrive Steering Committee and senior vice president of marketing and communications for the Institution for Savings, highlighted the role of mentors in assisting individuals who lack confidence in their abilities. She said Thrive is launching a Mentorship Program that will address some of the challenges associated with the phenomenon.
Thank you to title sponsor UniCare and presenting sponsor Windover Construction for their support of the breakfast program. Thank you also to Ahora Inc. for sponsoring tickets to allow students from Salem State University's Bertolon School of Business to attend the breakfast as our guests. And a round of appreciation to Root — a nonprofit social enterprise that helps young adults gain workforce readiness and life skills through food service training and employment — for hosting Thrive in its beautiful venue overlooking the Salem waterfront.

A show-stopping Thrive After Hours at North Shore Music Theatre

The Chamber's Thrive initiative enjoyed a super evening Networking for a Cause on April 21 at North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly. We were overwhelmed by the generosity of our members, who donated nearly 100 scarves and hats to support the patients of Mass General/North Shore Cancer Center in Danvers.
Thank you to Chamber Director Karen Nascembeni, general manager of the North Shore Music Theatre, and her team for hosting, and to Rev Kitchen & Bar in Beverly for providing the light bites. And much appreciation to all the members of Thrive and of The Chamber for attending and making the event a smashing success.

Got 5 minutes?
Take our Thrive Mentorship Survey

Help Thrive get its Mentorship Program underway. Tell us how you'd like the new program designed, how you'd like to be involved and what types of opportunities you would like to see offered. We'll use the results to help us frame our exciting new initiative.

click for the survey

A Heart to Heart about Heart Health --
and a call to equip the workforce with life-saving skills

'Being heart healthy is not rocket science ... it is harder than rocket science.'
— Dr. Sohah Iqbal, chief of cardiology, Salem Hospital

The Chamber's THRIVE initiative got straight to the heart of the matter Feb. 18 at an inspiring luncheon held at the Boston Marriott Peabody that ultimately served as a call to action for the businesses community.
Ashley Lucchese shared the life-altering story of the day her heart stopped without warning in 2017 at the age of 33. The young mother and former Salem resident went into cardiac arrest while at work at the Boston Marriott Peabody. She spent the next several days in a coma before defying the odds and regaining her life.
Ashley was joined in the program by Tara Bassett, the general manager of the Boston Peabody Marriott and a member of the North Shore Chamber Board of Directors. Tara performed CPR on Ashley after she collapsed and is credited with helping to save her life until paramedics arrived. What’s even more remarkable is Tara had just undergone CPR offered through her workplace just two days before Ashley collapsed.
Tara says she leads with the philosophy established by Mr. Marriott: "Take care of your associates and they will take care of the guests." She promotes safety and well-being and ensures that her staff has the training and tools to do their jobs. The Peabody Marriott, she says, offers CPR training annually to all employees — in both English as well as a bilingual program. She urged business owners who are able to provide their staff with the same training opportunities.
Dr. Sohah N. Ikbal, chief of cardiology at Salem Hospital, offered steps that individuals can take to maintain heart health, which includes adopting an active lifestyle and healthy diet and maintaining routine medical care, and underscored the importance of CPR training for everyone.
Dr. Ikbal also stressed the importance of mindfulness and meditation. She led attendees in a breathing exercise and encouraged the group to incorporate the exercise into their daily routine.
After polling guests on whether they were CPR certified, Karen Andreas, president and CEO of the North Shore Chamber, said The Chamber would look to host a CPR training course for businesspeople and their employees. Andreas also said The Chamber would explore available resources to help equip businesses with automated external defibrillators, which are considered a key component of a safe workplace.
Ashley — who today lives in Westminster with her husband, Joe, and 6-year-old son, Connor, and works in global sales for Marriott— has also been on a quest to raise awareness of heart disease in women and the importance of CPR training in the workplace since her experience.
She has been an advocate and public speaker for the American Heart Association, and has run the Boston Marathon for Tedy’s Team, named after former New England Patriot Tedy Bruschi — all in an effort to help save lives. Her biggest lesson? "Live in the moment. Be grateful for what you have," she says. "Life is short. Do things that make you happy and bring you joy."
Mary Anne Clancy, senior vice president of marketing and communications for the Institution for Savings, co-chair of Thrive and a member of the Chamber's Board of Directors, served as moderator for the program.
The Thrive luncheon was made possible through the generous support of Title Sponsors Windover Construction and the Institution for Savings, Presenting Sponsor AgeSpan and Supporting Sponsor Groom Construction.

THRIVE forms Advisory Council

As part of its governance structure, the Thrive Steering Committee has created a 20-member Advisory Council to assist with guiding the work of this new initiative for women in business.
The purpose of the Advisory Council is as follows:

To provide advice, feedback and new ideas to Thrive's Steering Committee regarding the group's activities and offerings
To assist in the development, delivery and implementation of Thrive’s programs
To be an ambassador for Thrive in the community

Advisory Council members will serve a one-year term, with meetings held at least quarterly. Each Council member will be asked to commit to working in one of three key areas of focus subcommittees: 1) Mentorship; 2) Education & Personal Development; and 3) Events & Networking.
Congratulations -- and thank you -- to the following Advisory Council members:
Patti Beckwith, Alan Berry, Bethany Blake, Christine Boncore, Sarah Burke, Erin Calvo-Bacci, Deb Flohr, Melisa Gillis, Kasia Loor, Bill Luster, Dr. Raminder Luther, Jessica McLaughlin, Samanda Morales, Kristen Menzone, Nicole Mitsakis, Dianne Palter Gill, Jennifer Raymond, Joe Riley, Sara Stanley, Kathleen Walsh

Energy abounds at THRIVE events

75 enjoy networking night in Ipswich

IPSWICH -- The Chamber's newest initiative, Thrive, kicked off June 9 with a night of networking under the tent at the Hellenic Center.
   As designed, women of all stages of their careers mingled and offered thoughts on how Thrive can present a diverse array of programs that will appeal to a broad group.
Mary Anne Clancy, co-chair of the Thrive Planning Committee, noted that what makes Thrive so special is that much of the programming will come right from our own membership.
"This initiative is about you. It is about all of the women in the Chamber and it’s actually about all of the women on the North Shore — no matter what stage of career you're in," said Clancy, senior vice president of marketing and communications for Institution for Savings.
   "What we want to do is put together an initiative where the conversation goes around in a circle. Instead of us telling people and educating people in one direction and letting them go, we want us all to educate each other. We want us all to work together and share the experience."
    The Thrive Steering Committee has surveyed members and will soon announce a full slate of programming.
    Special thanks to our generous sponsors who made the Ipswich kickoff event possible:
TITLE SPONSORS:

Institution For Savings
Windover Construction
C.P. Berry Homes
Groom Construction

PRESENTING SPONSORS:

MerryFox Realty
International Protective Services

Calling all Mentors

One of the goals of Thrive is to create a mentoring program for women to help other women in all stages of personal life and career.
Are you looking for a mentor to provide inspiration, emotional support, professional training?
Or, are you willing to mentor others? Please click the mentor button and tell us your thoughts.

MENTOR

Virginia Buckingham offers poignant message for kickoff

"My story is my own to do good with, if I can, and so is yours."
— Ginny Buckingham, author,
"On My Watch"

Listen to your own voice. Be your own hero. And go out of your way to be kind and compassionate. That was the takeaway from Virginia Buckingham — the head of MassPort overseeing Boston’s Logan International Airport on Sept. 11.
Buckingham shared her story of being made a scapegoat following the terrorist attacks in an appearance before a crowd of nearly 200 on Sept. 9 at the kickoff luncheon for THRIVE.
Buckingham compared her life to sea glass — broken apart and not what it once was, but still beautiful and valuable. She says she hasn’t moved on from Sept. 11, but has managed, after much struggle and reflection, to move forward.
A special thank you to our many sponsors who supported this luncheon, including:
PLATINUM SPONSORS:

Institution For Savings
Windover Construction

GOLD SPONSOR:

The Resource Connection

SIVER SPONSORS:

C.P. Berry Homes
Gillis Consulting
Groom Construction
Johnson O'Connor
People's United Bank
TD Bank

View photos of the LUNCHEON

Thrive lands at The Landing for seaside after hours in Marblehead

Click Here to view pictures from the Thrive After Hours at The Landing.