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Do You Know How to WiRC?

ASEA Monthly

We all know what APPA Annual is, but do you know what WiRC is? The Women in Retirement Conference (WiRC) is an amazing conference held each January where women “WiRC” together with members from all five sister organizations: ASEA, ASPPA, NAPA, NTSA and PSCA. 

WiRC’s main goal is to address the challenges and opportunities of women in the retirement industry, both personally and professionally, with a focus on leadership, marketing, practice management, advocacy and personal growth. 

I recently attended my first WiRC and let me say this: It didn’t disappoint! The conference was fast-paced and packed a ton of content in a short amount of time. Hosted in sunny, warm Ft. Lauderdale, FL, attendees arrived Wednesday afternoon and the evening kicked off with some intentional networking and social gatherings. The following 2 days included presentations on impactful goal-setting techniques, actionable steps to get involved on non-profit boards, being a mentor/mentee, understanding behaviors that directly impact our lives as women, and the power of persuasion to name just a few. 

Following are a couple of my takeaways.

Our very own Lynn Young spoke on “quiet leadership.” While Lynn is not one to draw attention to herself, she has made immense contributions to ARA by not only giving of her time, but also by making connections to get others involved. And how does she make those connections? Lynn takes time to get to know fellow members and identifies opportunities that match their interests. (How do you think I ended up on the WiRC Committee?) All of us have different experiences and strengths, and drawing on our wide array of uniqueness is what will strengthen ASEA, as well as ARA. 

There was a session on “How to Build a Bill” with Kelsey Mayo from ARA’s Government Affairs Committee. If I’m going to be honest, I wasn’t really looking forward to this session, but it ended up being one of my favorites! The session elicited input from attendees on the importance of various retirement issues. An example of one topic was how to help people “catch up” on missed savings when they have been out of the workforce for a couple of years while taking care of someone. What was fascinating was that everyone from our five sister organizations had different thoughts, perspectives and solutions for each retirement issue. I learned that gathering well-rounded feedback is critical in crafting a successful bill. 

There was so much gained both personally and professionally by attending WiRC. I walked away with new connections, exhilarating ideas and a new passion to engage in our industry. The next WiRC is a year away, but it’s not too soon to put a placeholder on your calendar. 

I look forward to meeting more ASEA women at the next event! And guys, if you are reading this, please encourage and support one of your women colleagues to attend next year.

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