GALLERY: Women inspired to keep 'pit crew' of allies at JBH Foundation event

Women get yourselves a pit crew and some red lipstick.

In a sold-out, well-attended event to celebrate International Women’s Day, Joseph Brant Hospital  Foundation’s (JBHF) Women’s In Leadership attendees heard inspiring, encouraging and meaningful words from several strong women leaders.

The panel discussion took place at the Pearle Hotel and Spa downtown on Thursday morning where more than 200 people enjoyed a light breakfast and a chance to mix and mingle.

JBH's Leah Martuscelli, chief human resources officer, said being resilient, compassionate and having emotional intelligence are key attributes of strong leaders. She thinks of it with the acronym RED – red lipstick.

“R for relationships: women are natural relationship builders,” she said, using their interpersonal skills. “Relationships are so important in building team, resolving conflict and looking at that personal and team resilience.”

E for empathy, the ability to connect with others, see things from another’s point of view is something that becomes special with building trust.

“It’s great for conflict resolution; it’s great for customer service.”

D is for diversity.

“I mean diversity in the broadest sense: diversity of thought, bringing different perspectives to the table, cooperating, and creating that culture of belonging,” she said.

“We all have these things innately as women,” Martuscelli said. “We can lean into the ones that come to us naturally…really cling to our strengths.”

Moderator Anna Iacobelli, senior vice president, TD Bank Group, overseeing 170 branches and JBH board director, said she had a lot of team members in the audience. “I love that; I love RED,” she said. “I have a number of female leaders with TD here today – all of you are getting red lipstick.”

Panelist Brenda Hunter, who joined the JBHF board in 2008, serving as chair, and as co-chair for the $60 million Our New Era campaign, said she approaches life by every 10 years she reinvents herself and she’s stuck to it, but as she ages, she’s shortened it to every five years. 

“It creates a lot of opportunities,” she said.

“Being a philanthropist is really just being a humanitarian,” Hunter said. “I think sometimes philanthropy has this elitist connotation and I certainly thought that when I began that philanthropic part of my life. But it certainly isn’t the truth because of all the exposure I had to people who were just doing good doing it for all the right reasons and not necessarily all billionaires, although it’s very helpful to have a few of those,” she joked.

Really, though, she said,”the underlying current in my life is to not to live for myself, it’s to live for others.”

That’s how she was raised as a young person and it has stuck with her and allowed her to spend a lot of time on philanthropic pursuits.

“I feel really good about that part of my life,” she said, adding it started when she was raising her small children, volunteer reading at their school.

“The feather in my cap was being asked to take on the leadership role in the capital campaign,” Hunter said, noting she believed the community really needed to have access to excellent health care and the hospital just couldn't keep up with the growing demand.

Further she said women need to figure out how much time they have, what talents they have and what treasures they have and pursue those. She said there’s a generation behind us and sometimes, it’s the smallest things we do every day to demonstrate leadership. “They inspire people; they help people. I encourage everyone to be very aware of that.

“Knowing that you have the opportunity and the platform to inspire people on such a scale, you shouldn’t waste it,” said Hunter. “ You should use it; throw yourself into something. Be inspired by it. Inspire others. Honestly it changes lives and it will change yours.”

Also on the panel was Jessy Samuel, director of pharmacy at JBH, and  just prior to the pandemic, she took on the additional responsibilities of Laboratory Services, Diagnostic Imaging and Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC). 

She shared about how clinical support services are integral to the patient journey.

“It really speaks to the team of high-skilled clinicians and regulated health-care professionals who really work together to support each other,” she said, adding every single one of those individuals has a critical role in the patient care journey, and together they make the health care team. 

“How do they work together? Nothing exemplifies teamwork like a crisis,” Samuel said. “We had 

Such solid relationships and solid understanding and mutual respect for each other.”

“It was truly amazing to see how we all came together,” she said. “Every single one of those health care teams relied on each other because they didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “But they do know a patient is in front of them and their obligation was to provide safe care.”

Samuel said having a crew of people around you who are invested in you is the team you need. “If they’re invested with you and you in them, that’s the team you need. That’s your Pit Crew.”

Panelist Wendy Bennison, SAXX Underwear CEO shared what it was like only one of a few, around a table of men (board room).

“I could absolutely keep pace in terms of contributing ideas, and contributing my skills, but the edge that I think I could bring to the table that perhaps wasn’t there, was the perspective around 

how the decisions made around the table impacted people,” she said.

As a female around the table, her pronounced emotional quotient gave her an advantage and allowed her to bring something unique to the table.

I discovered I like to be in a progressive environment.

“If you can find yourself in a growing, progressive environment, what it does is it creates opportunity for yourself,” said Bennison, who in the past held multiple senior executive positions at Canadian brands such as Mark’s Work Wearhouse and Roots Canada, where she was president. “If you show up and be curious and ask questions and be curious and surround yourself with really smart people, which I’ve had the blessing to be throughout my entire career, you can learn from what’s going on around you and you show up that way and do that humbly, there is opportunity for growth for you in the organization.

From that point forward, Bennison remained determined to always look for opportunities that had growth associated with it.

“I also encourage people to be looking for your next opportunity and be an equal partner to ensure the business you're expressing interest in is in an environment where progression and growth is part of it. Because first of all it’s a lot of fun and it creates opportunity.”

As far as her personal favourite chapter, she said “this last chapter’s been really fun. I know my esteemed panelists….but (referring to health care leaders), I sell underwear. I came out of a large corporation, but I realized it was an opportunity for me to pay it forward, my passion about leadership and building culture.

“In a smaller business you can shape it into something that you hope will be a phenomenal experience for everyone that’s there,” she said, adding she’s passionate about creating a culture.

Later in the discussion Martuscelli spoke about the importance of health and mental health and making wellness a priority in our lives. She said it’s important to nourish your body whether it’s reading, eating an apple, going for a walk, listening to a podcast or dancing in your kitchen.

Samuel agreed, adding that it’s important to set realistic expectations.

“My kitchen’s never going to have the colour-coded food systems in my cupboards,” she laughed, adding she has three daughters, two dogs and aging parents. “Balance is hard.”

For her, she said it’s important to set boundaries. “Be intentional about where I want to be.”

Hunter said having a strong role model in her father (who died when he was 52) was important. He showed his family how to live their life. “My children are my best and biggest accomplishment.”

Proceeds from this event will support women’s mental health and addictions care at Joseph Brant Hospital. Investment in mental health has never been more important and all donations received through this event will be matched by TD Bank Group up to $10,000.