Sage's 2nd Annual Women's History Month Panel: Empowerment Through Empathy

By Cynthia Constantinou, Senior Content Developer at Sage Communications

During times of uncertainty and instability, it's more important than ever to lean on one another and celebrate our unique strengths. To that end, Sage Communications hosted its second annual Women's History Month Panel on March 7, 2025.

This year's theme was "Balancing Personal and Professional Identity," a topic designed to help Sagers get to know our panelists better as individuals and spark conversations around women's ever-evolving role in society and the workplace.

At Sage, we're fortunate to have many inspirational women on our team. Our panelists come from all walks of life yet share several core values that anchored the discussion in a place of positivity, curiosity and compassion.

To kick things off, our delightful moderator, Emily Rosa-Wood, asked the panelists about their passions outside of their careers. These passions include taking art classes, learning new languages, and exploring the great outdoors. With such worthwhile and enriching passions, we wanted to learn about how our panelists balance these interests with their personal and professional responsibilities.

How do you balance your career, personal life and passions?

"You don't want to drop anything. You want to be the person that's there for your colleague. You want to be there for your kids. You want to be there for yourself because that's important as well. A lot of the time, this looks like having a good support system at work and at home."
—Dawn Wilson, Accounting Assistant

"One of the most important things is prioritizing what matters most to you and knowing where your limitations are. That way, you can take a step back to figure out where you're going to put in the extra effort to make sure you have time for all the things that are important to you."
—Sara Lanphere, PR Vice President

How has your level of confidence progressed throughout your career? Is it linear? Or does it ebb and flow?

"I think the important thing when it comes to confidence, both in your personal and professional life, is to reflect on yourself and take a moment to think about the things you're proud of. I believe that everybody brings some value, and so if I extend that courtesy to others, I definitely want to have it for myself as well."
—Emily Ergas, Account Manager

"Overall, I would say it ebbs and flows. There are good days and bad days. But I think as lifelong learners, that's the nature of things. If you're always confident in what you're doing, you're probably missing out on something that you haven't learned yet."
—Natalie Dow, Senior Account Executive

Have you ever felt "imposter syndrome," and if so, how did you navigate it? For those who have never felt imposter syndrome, why might that be?

"One of my clients shared this piece of advice that really stuck with me: If you're not failing sometimes, you're not reaching your full potential."
—Sara Lanphere, PR Vice President

"When I started at Sage, I felt a little bit out of my element because I'd never held the title of 'copywriter' before. Then, I realized that I was the only one getting hung up on semantics. Just because you don't know everything when you start, doesn't mean that your skills aren't transferable or that you don't bring unique value to your role."
—Kelley Newman, Director of Content Development

"Everyone is their own harshest critic. It's very easy to fall into this mental downward spiral of 'I'm no good.' What's helped me the most is acknowledging that feeling and actually facing it head-on. If you don't, it can easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy."
—Natalie Dow, Senior Account Executive

What does "empowerment" mean to you? How do you empower yourself and the women around you?

"To me, it's about challenging the status quo in my thinking. Once you do that, you'll often find that it's based on arbitrary rules, assumptions and unconscious biases. So, it's teaching yourself to ask questions like: Why? Why not? According to who? Based on what?"
—Kelley Newman, Director of Content Development

"There are two things I try to do to empower others. One is to explain my actions and thought process as much as possible so someone else can follow those steps. The other thing is leaving space at the table. Even if I have a plan, I'm still going to open it up for discussion because everybody's voice is valuable and that's how people build confidence."
—Emily Ergas, Account Manager

How do you define professional fulfillment? Personal fulfillment? What do you do when the two are at odds with each other?

"I think the two are very related and affect each other. A solution that's been helpful for me is being physically active. Just going for a quick run or walk in the sun helps to clear your mind and get prepared for what's next."
—Lauren Neff, Senior Account Executive

"For professional fulfillment, I think it's important to find something that you really enjoy doing and that plays to your strengths...Personal fulfillment is also about being true to yourself and making sure you live as authentically as possible. Whenever personal or professional fulfillment are at odds, I think you have to take a step back, assess what's important in that moment and go with your gut."
—Dawn Wilson, Accounting Assistant

After our panelists shared these wonderful words of wisdom, we opened the conversation to a live Q&A, where fellow Sagers posed questions. When asked about advice for their younger selves, our panelists shared encouraging insights, like "it's ok to fail" and "confidence doesn't equal competence."

Finally — my personal favorite topic of the day — an audience member asked our panelists where they find inspiration. Once again, the answers varied, including fictional characters, friends, colleagues, peers, mothers, and grandmothers. However, all our panelists were inspired by other people. Likewise, I think our panelists inspired all the attendees.

Inspiring, uplifting and empowering one another is precisely why we engage in this annual tradition. We truly have so much more in common with each other than we realize if only we take the time to find out.