The hot topics of self-care and managing individual and family wellbeing were shared with more than 60 women at the Kāpiti Chamber of Commerce’s latest Women In Business event featuring guest speaker Madeleine Taylor.
Speaking to a packed house, Madeleine Taylor from People Skills Consulting offered an interactive, informative yet light-hearted look at areas of modern life, where women can often experience burnout.
Taylor is a people skills expert, and has worked as a social worker in hospitals as well as helping teams, managers and staff navigate stressful or difficult situations in the local government sector. She also specialises in training, supervision, facilitation, coaching and conflict resolution as well as supporting parents with raising resilient children.
She shared her tips and tricks related to women in business, where the multiple demands of career and family can be highly impactive on wellbeing, heightened even more so in recent times by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Self-evaluation techniques and the physiological link between breathing and stress or anxiety were part of the presentation, with participants taking part in exercises, including one illustrating the remarkable human ability to slow breathing rates.
Jacinda Thorn, Co-Chair of Kāpiti Chamber of Commerce, says the events of the last 12 months have highlighted the need for everyone to practice self care.
“Taking time to breathe is one simple but highly effective way to relieve stress – and one tool in our tool kit many people overlook. When we look after ourselves, we can look after our businesses and families. We all need to remember to put our own oxygen masks on first, otherwise everything fails,” says Jacinda Thorn.
Co-Chair Monique Leith said the Chamber’s long term vision was updated earlier this year to include a focus on fostering well being, so it was timely to bring an inspirational speaker on this topic to the event.
Women in Business is a sub-committee of the Kāpiti Chamber with the goals of supporting business women to grow and expand their businesses, providing an opportunity to meet with like-minded women, accessing support, knowledge and experience and providing personal and professional development including inspirational guest speakers.