.png)
Good Neighbor Podcast: Palmer
Bringing together local businesses and neighbors of Palmer. Good Neighbor Podcast Palmer MA hosted by Liz Lemon helps residents to connection with local doctors, lawyers, financial advisors, insurance agents and other business owners in and around Palmer, and other Massachusetts Communities. Helping neighbors to become friends while introducing them to local businesses and charities is my goal.
With 29+ years of hard work, my career began in Graphic Design. Evolving to TV Production, Newscast Directing, Technical Producing, and Filmmaking. In addition, Sales, Marketing, and Advertising across various platforms, while always exceeding expectations. Then transitioning to the Entertainment and Sports Industries, I specializes in Special Events, Promotions, VIP Services, Live Events and Security, expanding Nationally at various Stadiums, and Concert Venues.
Passionate about learning and diverse topics, I love sports, especially the New England Patriots, the NFL, and NASCAR. An avid outdoors enthusiast, I also enjoy swimming, hiking, and exploring new places while photographing, digitally recording each one . Excited about my new role as PPM Area Media Executive at Podcast Plus Media, I'm ready for this new Adventure of a Lifetime, continuing to connect with people and exceed expectations in the local community.
Is your business serving the residents of Palmer? Then, we need to talk! Visit gnpPalmer.com or to schedule your free interview.
Good Neighbor Podcast: Palmer
EP# 74: Empowering Together: Loretta Stevens' Journey with the Senior Executive Women's Network (SEWN)
Loretta Stevens, the powerhouse behind the Senior Executive Women's Network (SEWN), joins us on the Good Neighbor Podcast to discuss the impactful community she has built for women navigating their professional journeys. From an impromptu dinner with fellow women leaders to a thriving network that hosts quarterly dinners and monthly leadership lunches, Loretta shares the evolution of SEWN and how it has become a cornerstone for women leaders to share their challenges, celebrate successes, and form lasting bonds.
Throughout our conversation, Loretta dispels common myths about women's networking groups and highlights the unique, community-based approach that sets SEWN apart. She emphasizes the significance of staying active in such networks for long-term professional and personal growth. Beyond her professional endeavors, Loretta cherishes the friendships and camaraderie fostered through SEWN, proving that this network is not just a career booster but a pivotal part of her social life. Tune in to discover the transformative power of women's networks and how they can enrich your career and personal life.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Liz Lemon.
Speaker 2:Welcome to Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of real conversations with women leaders that thrive, get involved, get known, get networks? Today, I have the pleasure of introducing your neighbor, loretta Stevens, with Women's Network. How are you today, loretta?
Speaker 3:Hi, liz Good, how are you today? Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 2:Great, we're excited to learn all about you and your business. So please tell us about Women's Network.
Speaker 3:I'm so glad you have a platform to share with listeners about business ownership. The Women's Network that I run is called the Senior Executive Women's Network and we're also known as SONE. We use the acronym SONE because we are actually threading each chapter of our life together, from the beginning of our career all the way to retirement.
Speaker 2:Wow, I like that SONE and that really just informs the attachment that you guys have networking. That's fantastic. How did you get into?
Speaker 3:the business, life transition and also seeking my next career path, and I was chatting with other women who were in a similar space and we decided to have get together and have dinner one night and the discussion was so lively and we felt amazing when we left that the women asked if I would host another dinner next month, the following month, and and I was absolutely thrilled to do that and the next dinner we had.
Speaker 3:Some of the women invited their friend you know a friend and it just grew into a boutique community of women leaders who would share about their challenges and opportunities in their life and career. And we are still actively doing that today and it has also formed into other things. So we do host a quarterly dinner now, once a quarter, and then in between we have leadership lunches and we will meet once a month for lunch with about 12 of us at a golf club or a nice restaurant and we just keep ourselves updated with what's going on in our career, our leadership leading our teams, what's going on at home and just all kinds of interesting things that women learn from each other about.
Speaker 2:That's fantastic Women networking, women getting together and staying in it for sure. What are the myths and misconceptions within the women's network industry?
Speaker 3:Well, when I started so 10 years ago, there wasn't many women networks at the time. There was maybe one other or two, maybe national networks, at least in the state of Connecticut. I reside in Ellington, I should note. I grew up in Western Mass and, you know, went to Cathedral High School and AIC College and I still have my family there and lots of friends. So when I started we were just a grassroots network and we still are.
Speaker 3:We're not nationally funded by anyone. We are community-based and women who want to build a community and have deeper relationships find us and love to be a part of our network. We also have a LinkedIn group called Senior Executive Women's Network. That is a thriving, vibrant group and I encourage anyone who's interested and curious to check us out there. We also have a Facebook group, senior Executive Women's Network. It's a private group for women leaders as well that you could find us out there. Both groups are private and we don't do a lot of mass marketing about our network.
Speaker 3:You have to be invited in or sponsored in by one of our members and I think that has been our secret sauce for being so amazing for 10 years, and our consistency level has always stayed the same throughout the years, even through the pandemic, and so I think one of the myths about, or misconceptions about, being involved in a network is that you really want to stay in the network and not, you know, and thinking that not staying in is a good thing, because over the years the women in my network have become very good friends. They do business together, they go out together and they are trusted advisors to one another, and so over time, that's the benefit of staying a part of a community like ours, like Zone. That will really change your life, and so not being a part of that is just something that you would miss out on in your life.
Speaker 2:Outside of work? What do you do for fun, even though it sounds like a lot of these events are fun, but outside of that, yeah, they're really super fun.
Speaker 3:The community, we've become friends. So, yes, I am blessed with many friends as a result of building this network. I love, especially this time of year in the summer. I love going hiking and being outside as much as possible. You know I certainly have different hiking trails I like to go to. I definitely love day trips to the beach. I am traveling down the shoreline in Connecticut, go to Clinton or Old Saybrook in Madison Beautiful, really quick trips to the beach, like an hour for where I am is really easy to get to. And I love just traveling around New England. I was in Boston, you know, twice this summer and spent time down the wharf and you know we just live in a beautiful area in New England so that's fantastic we do.
Speaker 2:We live in a beautiful area and so many different ways to explore, so many different experiences to be had, and it's great, great summer weather around here to enjoy it all, that's for sure.
Speaker 3:Yes, the next few weeks are the best.
Speaker 2:Yes, I agree. Let's change gears just for one moment. Can you describe one hardship or life challenges that you rose above and can now say because of it, you're better and stronger? What comes to mind?
Speaker 3:well, I think I alluded to it before that 10 years ago I was in a life transition and finding this network really helped me get through some of my own hardship and it really has changed my life, because I never thought I would be still running sewn 10 years later. But I really see how the impact has made a difference in women's lives and also my own. So I'm really blessed that I was fortunate to find this community and have it thrive for so many years. That has really supported me as well.
Speaker 2:That's inspiring and you know it definitely makes sense to kind of go through it with the Women's Network and empowering and embracing it yourself. How can our listeners learn more about Women's Network?
Speaker 3:I think, too, like it's really important to not feel alone when you're in any kind of transition and that there is a community of strong women and who are ready to support you and ready to have your back in some of the most difficult times um that someone, a woman, could be facing in her life, and certainly we're easy to to be found on the web. Our website is wwwsewnus it's an acronym for sown senior executive women's network, and you can find my contact information there on my website and book a call with me if you'd like to learn more, and there's also many pieces of information about what we do as a community for you to learn about that's great.
Speaker 2:Do you have a phone number you'd like to share as well?
Speaker 3:Sure, the phone number you can reach me at is 860-463-1165. And you can text me there as well and introduce yourself, and I'm glad to schedule a call with you.
Speaker 2:Great, that's fantastic. And, loretta, from one woman to another. We appreciate your women's network and collaborating with fellow women leaders. We wish you and your business the best moving forward.
Speaker 3:Thank you, Liz. I love the work you're doing as well. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnppalmercom. That's gnppalmercom, or call 413-414-5940.