Emily Painter and Maddy Quast both starting attending the Women in Business Society at BYU-Idaho because they found a support system.
The group is just over a year old. Its mission is to “empower, uplift and prepare women to fulfill their full potential within the workplace the community and the home,” Painter read from the mission statment.
Painter said their overall goal is to show men and women they can have a career, be a parent or do both.
Quast said they have had many guest speakers show they can do it all.
“Here at BYU-I we have these family values that are taught in church and in our classes so a lot of women aspire to be mothers, but a lot of us have career goals too,” Quast said. “So we try to provide examples of women who are doing both, and show the ends and out and nitty gritty of how to make that work.”
People from all different backgrounds come to speak to the society. Quast said they try to get people to come in who can show women the different paths they can take.
“So it kind of… helps us decide what our paths can be and show us what that could look like in the long run.”
Painter said a speaker who came and really impressed her was Beth Vanderwalker.
“She is a mom, but she also just became COO of a hospital and so she is just super inspiring to have that work and family life balance,” Painter said.
Painter says they support any goals women have.
“It’s really inspiring to see that it really is possible… it is possible so many others have done it so why can’t I do it too?” Painter said.
The society also has resume workshops and interview panels, where people can come and get help crafting their resume or learn best practices in an interview.
The society meets every Thursday at 5:15 in the Smith Building on campus