The Young Women in Business Fall Conference offered an opportunity for PV girls who are interested in the business field a unique experience at Iowa State University last week.

The girls first heard from women majoring in business at Iowa State as they discussed their passion for the field and why they chose to pursue it at Iowa State. The girls also had the opportunity to ask the students any questions they had regarding the major and field, as this part of the conference was in a panel format.

The students then proceeded to attend breakout sessions based on the areas they were interested in learning about. Some of these included Supply Chain Management, Marketing, Management Information Systems, Accounting, and Entrepreneurship. Sophomore Gabby Mowbray attended the breakout sessions regarding Marketing, Accounting, and Entrepreneurship.

In the Marketing session, Mowbray and the other girls heard from a woman who works as a Marketer at Disney. She shared her expertise, advice, and the unique endeavors she has had from planning many events at the theme park.

At the Accounting session, she was able to participate in an activity that has real world application in the career of accounting. They did a simulation in which they calculated profit based on the cost of production and how much they sold the goods for. Lastly, Mowbray got a taste of what it would be like to start a business from the Entrepreneurship session by creating and pitching a product idea to the other girls.

Danielle Davenport, a business teacher at Pleasant Valley, comments on the importance of this conference. “It doesn’t seem as though there as many girls interested in business as boys, and I think that has kind of been a trend. So they [those in the business world] are trying to get more girls interested.” The conference has done just this.  

Before going to the conference, Mowbray was not completely certain that she wanted to pursue a career in business; this is no longer the case. “After attending the conference, I now know that I for sure want to go into business. I liked every aspect about business, and I now know a lot more about it.” Mowbray is just one of many girls that left the Young Women in Business Conference more informed and inspired to pursue a career in business.