A View from the Top: Private Sector CEO Panel

• Sylvia Hampel, President, Clearview Cleaning Services
• Connie Miller, CEO & President, ICON Credit Union
• Julie Taylor, CEO, West Valley Medical Center
• Moderator: Amy Moll, Interim Dean, Boise State University College of Engineering

BSU Interim Dean of Engineering Amy Moll kicks it off with a plea to the crowd: “If you know a girl, please talk to her about engineering. If you don’t know what to say, send her to me.”

Connie Miller ‘s path to leadership

• When I look back at my career I never aspired to be a CEO. I really feel my career fell into place for me – but what I always did is aspire to learn and work hard.
• She overcame a rough childhood of abuse tIf I got the position it was my job to prove that I could do this. And if I didn’t get it – I would prove that I was capable
• A participant tweeted: Connie Miller is a great example of overcoming adversity, rising to the top, and serving as a community role model!
• Thinks that women have a much more peripheral view of things. Men are task oriented.
• Among the advantages females bring – compassion that is critical to an organization. Also, our radar is very wide and we can pick up on things that men just don’t see.
• “I think females are more willing to hire people smarter than them”

Julie Taylor

• Was mentored by a female CEO who took me under her wing and gave me every opportunity to grow
• “I started as a nurse practitioner  –  I went from wiping butts to kissing butts.”
• Being in the  boardroom, you learn how to get a male’s attention in his brain span
• To me the most important thing as a leader is that I’m trusted, so the ability to pick up on the subtleties in relationships and interactions and address them is key.

Sylvia Hampel

• Her path began when she got pregnant at age 15 and she found herself out on her own.
• She had a phenomenal math teacher who asked what she would do and pushed her to achieve greater things.
• She wound up majoring in aviation management (but her height ended that career goal). Sylvia vecame an air traffic controller and wound up in Boise. After a divorce she had to reinvent herself and started her company. Clearview Cleaning Services now has 170 employees, works throughout the state of Idaho and was named the 2010 Business of the Year.
• Don’t speak out unless you really are informed on what you are to speak on.
• Women have that ability to connect, to read what the client is looking for and what it is I can do to help them.

Learn more about Idaho’s new Women’s Business Center and their grand opening next week