Conferences are a common occurrence on college campuses, but perhaps not as common are conferences created by student organizations. The Miami University Women in Business held their first Embark conference late last month in the Armstrong Student Center.

“We wanted to take some time where we're intentionally devoting our attention to the goal of our organization to unite, enable, and inspire women in their effort towards reaching a higher level of business excellence so that we don't let that goal get lost in day to day life that we all feel better equipped to head into our professional lives,” vice president of events Sophie Adolay said.

To that end, the conference began with a keynote address from Andrea Abell, Chief Information Security Officer at Eli Lilly. Abell told attendees about her career path from Lockheed Martin and NBC Universal to her current role.

“My job did not exist when I was graduating college,” she said. “My job is never static and it's never dull. And what I love about it is that it's like this because it's the intersection of technology, the business process, and then the most unpredictable part — the people.”

Abell noted that her willingness to take on ‘pluses’ — some job or task that was added to her existing role — gave her more opportunities to grow.

“By raising my hand and following my curiosity, I kept getting these pluses. Very often these pluses are things that aren't always glamorous, but if people know that you're willing to work hard and that you'll bring some creativity to it, you often get involved in these really interesting things,” she said.

That trait allowed Abell to be part of projects ranging from damage assessments of security breaches to being given a blank canvas to build a cybersecurity strategy from the ground up.

“I often think women don't speak up often enough — you're willing to let other people ask questions. Raise your hand, be curious, push back, make your ideas known, and do it early and often. There is no substitute for hard work, but sometimes you have volunteer to get that opportunity,” she said.

In the panel discussion with FSB faculty members Anne Farrell and Gina Dutro that followed Abell’s talk, Jessica Bhadauria, Head of Partner Operations and Store Experience at Amazon, told the students that a pivotal part of her experience at Miami was when she took part in a study abroad program.

“It was the single best thing I've ever done, not necessarily because I went abroad, but because it showed me that I could.  I still remember walking down the streets in this city in Spain, and feeling like, ‘If I can do this, I can do anything,’ and everybody deserves to have a moment like that,” she said. “So many things have come to me later in life because of the confidence that I gained while studying abroad.”

She told the students that she left her first job after college after only six months because it wasn’t the right fit. “I did have to explain to other people, when I was interviewing for the next job, why I only was there for six months because that comes with a little bit of a question mark,” Bhadauria said. “It was a very easy explanation that I didn't enjoy it, and I'm too young to waste even one extra month doing something that I don't enjoy. So my advice would be to pick something that you think you can learn as much as possible, but don't fret if you get there and you don't like it, it's not the wrong decision; It's just the jumping off point.”

Bhadauria said that before she joined Amazon, she had been looking at two other positions in other companies and struggled to decide which of the three to take. “I thought about what was important to me. What could I learn? What could I give? Where could I feel like I was adding value and getting value, which I recommend you do as much as possible,” she said. “Think, “Am I going to get value from this or add value to this?’ If the answer is no, don't do it. If the answer is yes to at least one of those, then it's probably worth your time.”

“I have a lot more gray hair than I did before, but I wouldn't change that decision. It launched me into a totally different path in my career, and I was able to reflect on what was important to me at that moment, at that period in my life, and make the right decision for me,” Bhadauria said.

By the end, the event’s organizers said they hoped that the attendees would be inspired by what they’d heard.

“The example of these women who spoke today that they set for us is that success is so attainable, and that success isn't this static thing. It's not a title or the highest salary, it's fulfillment, and it's an ever-evolving definition that we make for ourselves,” Adolay said. “I hope people now feel like they can decide that for themselves and that they are ready to do so.”