Strong leading women can be found far and wide, from the nursery industry to Oregon’s state capital. That was the big take-away from the Women in Leadership discussion panel, held at the 2023 OAN Convention Annual Meeting October 28 at Brasada Ranch Resort.
OAN Past President Kathy LeCompte (Brooks Tree Farm) moderated the discussion. Participants included the 2022 Republican nominee for governor and former House Republican leader Christine Drazan; Oregon Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis (R-Albany); Oregon Business & Industry CEO and President Angela Wilhelms; OAN Past President Leigh Geschwill (F & B Farms and Nursery); and current OAN President Amanda Staehely (Columbia Nursery).
Staehely’s leadership path started with being invited to help her OAN chapter, and she hasn’t looked back, even with the commitments that come with being a parent and owning a nursery with her husband, Wayne. The nursery lifestyle requires a strong commitment while allowing her the flexibiility to balance it all.
“My kids are part of what I do,” she said. “They get to come with me to work. I get to drive them to school. I get to go on their field trips. I love it. That’s a big part of why I choose to do what I do. They get to be involved and they love it. Family support is vital. It is hard. There are not enough hours in the day, for sure.”
For some panel members, leadership has been something taught and encouraged from generation to generation.
“I’ve been in ag my whole life, the fourth of five kids,” Boshart Davis said. “When I see more and more women — and it has gotten more and more in the agricultural community — I’m going to give the kudos first to my dad. He treated me like any other person, and then the ag community has been extremely welcoming and encouraging of women in leadership.”
Gescwhill agreed.
“There was definitely a strong culture of leadership in my families,” Geschwill said. “My grandparents were leaders politically in work, my parents did the same, and my husband and I are leaders. That culture of leadership is so important, and it takes a commitment to do that. Those are values we have passed on to our daughter, Alex.”
For Drazan, it’s been a willingness to answer challenges and try to make things better, however possible.
“I always need a hill to climb,” she said. “That’s my personality. It’s made for the challenge. Just bring it. But that’s not always the thing that needs to be done. Soemtimes you don’t need to bring the fight. Sometimes you need to bring the hand of friendship …. And sometimes you need to do the thing you can, not the thing you hoped for.”
Boshart Davis joined the Oregon Legislature in 2018, the same year as Drazan, and has likewise found persistence is important, particularly when operating in the minority party.
“The ability to keep going is so difficult,” she said. “Believe the people around you. Believe the support around you … that you have to keep going.”
That web of support is reciprocal. It also needs to include encouraging other leaders.
“You do have to invite other people to be involved,” Geschwill said. “I showed up at retail chapter as a brand new person. I didn’t really know everybody. Carol Finley was the leader of the chapter and just welcomed me right in. I think we do a good job here of encouraging the next generation and encouraging new leaders. The broader we build our base of leaders, the better off we are.”
Wilhelms benefitted from the encouragement of others taking a chance on her.
“I grew up in a political family,” she said. “I have started to appreciate the privilege growing up with the chance to observe the state’s best political leaders. I was encouraged to soak it up. Pretty soon you find yourself at those very tables …. It was about people taking a leap of faith on me well before I proved myself. Now, I try to do that same thing for other people who maybe don’t have that resume or experience.”
Drazan encouraged nursery people, in particular, to continue getting involved as leaders, so their views and experiences are reflected in the decisions that get made.
“There is no other you,” she said. “You are the ones that can tell your own story the best. Your unique story is the one that needs to be heard.”
Boshart Davis agreed.
“You matter and you all matter together,” she said. “So many decisions in this state get made in an empty board room or an empty committee room.”
