DREXEL HILL, Pa. (WLVT) - Main Line Today magazine held its eight annual Women on the Move luncheon Oct. 25 in Drexel Hill. Since it launched in 1996, the monthly lifestyle magazine has covered the Main Line and Philly’s western suburbs. In recent years, it began honoring women who live or work in the region and have found professional success.
“When you wake up in the morning, you start with a clean slate. During the course of the day, you basically add the moments of your life,” said Joe Breck, Main Line Today publisher. What these women have done have been adding some incredible moments to their lives, so we’re celebrating them through the pages of our magazine and through this luncheon today.
The event honored 20 local “Power Women,” including Ashlyn Bassiri, an immunology researcher who studies hemophilia, Eileen McDonnell, CEO of insurance company PennMutual, and Jess Edelstein and Sarah Ribner, co-founders of natural deodorant company PiperWai.
More than just a chance to learn from the speakers, the event was also an opportunity for attendees to work toward professional success of their own.
Hundreds of people—mostly women—attended the event, where they had a chance to network and make other professional contacts. Some women said they find they can better relate to other women in the workforce because of similar life experiences.
“It’s a kind of a unique scenario, because we have other responsibilities, a lot of the time. So how to balance all that,” said Upper Darby resident Laurie Taraborrelli.
Taraborelli knew exactly who she was looking for: “I’m trying to network with some local women professionally. I’m looking to start a business, a consulting business, so looking to network and make some contacts.”
Meanwhile, others were just getting a feel for the professional culture in this area.
“I’m here to observe what has changed since I came up through the ranks, which is several years ago. I just recently retired, and when we were coming up, we didn’t have this luxury of networking,” said Valley Forge resident Joann Hunsicker. “This looks like a perfect atmosphere to network if you’re of the younger generation.”
The event’s two keynote speakers were retired 6ABC news anchor Lisa Thomas-Laury and NBC10 anchor Tracy Davidson, who spoke on the specific challenges women can face in the workplace, such as a focus on what clothes they wear. Thomas-Laury said in her early broadcasting days, her news director didn’t think her outfits were professional enough.
“The ratings came out. And I got an early lesson in the power of ratings, because there was a spike in viewership,” Thomas-Laury said. “It appeared that people were watching me just to see what I would wear.”
Organizers said the event focuses on women because of challenges like these, and due to the longer odds that they’ll rise to the top of a company. Women remain underrepresented in corporate leadership positions; just one in five senior leaders is female, according to a 2018 study by McKinsey and Company.
“I think it’s important nowadays, with what’s going on in the world, that we highlight people first, and women make up 50 percent of that,” Breck said. “So I think it’s important to highlight them.”
This was the first year the magazine hosted public online balloting for “Power Women” nominations Honorees were featured on the cover of Main Line Today’s October issue.
