Description

Join us on Wednesday, June 22nd, for Women Who Work: A Balancing Act - Day Conference.

Sponsored by Georgia Power and hosted by the Valdosta Chamber and Valdosta State University Alumni Association, we will hear from inspirational speakers, learn practical steps to building work-life balance, and engage with women making an impact throughout our region.

• Jeanine Boddie-LaVan, VSU Chief HR Officer - “Battling Burnout!”
• Panel: "Empowered Women Empower Women" - A panel that discusses how we have and can support other women in our workplaces and lives. Featuring: Keyara Hamilton - Career Center Manager at Goodwill Industries, Tammy Borders - Realtor with Real Living Realty Advisors, and Dr. Karin Roland - Dean of the VSU Langdale College of Business
• Keynote Speaker - Ciji Townsend, Torinity Consulting Company - “Building a Balanced Toolbox”
  • Raised by multiple generations of busy people, Ciji didn’t realize there was life beyond an over-programmed schedule full of commitments, responsibilities, and obligations. She learned at an early age how to “do” and realized in her 30’s she didn’t know how to just “be.” That revelation sparked the journey of learning how to live balanced not busy. Balanced Not Busy is a lifestyle brand and social movement empowering go-getters with a full plate to step outside their comfort zone and tap into their full potential. Ciji is a sought-after public speaker delivering practical ways to stop glorifying busyness and embrace balance. She’s passionate about her community and serves many Atlanta nonprofits in various leadership positions. Additionally, she solves problems, provides counsel, and executes strategic communication tactics as a corporate communicator while keeping her own, her team, and her partners well-being top of mind. Ciji is a radical advocate for rest and shares how she navigates her own balance as a content creator, storyteller, and host of the being BALANCED podcast. Ciji lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband Travis and children, eight-year-old Tripp and six-month-old Trinity Lacey
• Dena White, owner of Sweet Cacao Chocolates, Thomasville, GA - “It’s Never Too Late”
• Panel: "What I Wish I Was Told" - A panel that discusses all of the things from the light-hearted to the serious that we wish had been shared with us at various stages of our lives and careers. Featuring: Police Chief Leslie Manahan, Ashley Mock - Director of Marketing & Communications for Langdale Industries, and Lisa Register, co-owner of Comfort Keepers South Georgia
• Jessica Walden, Rock Candy Tours, Macon, GA - “Am I Talking Too Much? Define Your Voice"
  • Rock Candy Tours is a guided tour company that specializes in showcasing the spirit and legacy of Macon, Georgia’s rich music history. They also offer guided food, beer, and ghost tours of Downtown Macon. Jessica Walden and Jamie Weatherford officially founded Rock Candy Tours in June 2011, the day after the Georgia Music Hall of Fame closed. They founded their company on the passionate belief that Macon’s storied history didn’t have to live in a museum but already existed on its sidewalks, street corners, and historic structures. And if our walls could talk, they would sing! Macon native Jessica Walden was raised in the shadows of rhythm and blues and the after-shocks of southern rock, a music legacy credited to her late uncle Phil Walden and his younger brother (her father), Alan. Jessica shares her life and passion for Macon with her husband, Jamie Weatherford, a third-generation, local candy manufacturer and passionate music historian.