Austin Sheroes Panel Showcases Women’s Paths to Success
Female business leaders in Central Texas discussed their rise to the top, as well as barriers to entry and tips for avoiding burnout
While it’s easier for women to get ahead in business now than it was several decades ago, female executives in Austin still noted barriers to entry, growth hurdles and challenges that they experience along the way.
The ACG Austin “Sheroes” Summit, held Nov. 6, 2024 at the Westwood Country Club, hosted senior business leaders and entrepreneurs across real estate, law, technology and other industries who spoke about their paths to success, obstacles they’ve encountered, role models and tips for self-care.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the panel:
Starting from Scratch
When Becky Beaver started her own law firm in 1977, it was only a decade after women in Texas were able to get credit in their own name. “As I was getting out of law school, I knew there was no model for a practice that looked like what I wanted. I was fortunate that it was an environment where I could just decide what I wanted my practice to look like,” Beaver said.
Overhead was cheap at the time and the costs of law school were low, which made starting the practice easier. “I happened to be at the right place at the right time in several different stages of my career,” Beaver noted. “I couldn’t have imagined that, in a world where women in 1977 were expected to stand down and shut up, I would have been able to maintain, grow and forge what I’ve been able to achieve.”.
Event Recap
WHAT: ACG Austin/San Antonio’s 3rd Annual Sheroes Summit
WHERE: Westwood Country Club, Austin
WHEN: Nov. 6, 2024
THE TAKEAWAY: Even though some barriers to entry and growth still exist for women entrepreneurs, attending support groups, learning from strong role models, managing expectations and investing in self-care can drive success.
Several decades later, Adelle Archer co-founded Eterneva, a company that turns people’s or pet’s ashes or hair into diamonds, in 2017. She recalled meeting with diamond scientists and coming up with the business plan after taking care of a friend and mentor who was dying from pancreatic cancer. “I was one of the people taking care of Tracy as she was passing away, and like a lot of us when you’re faced with that, we think about how we can honor this person.”
She said she was trying to come up with options and doing research and not finding anything that resonated until one of the diamond scientists she knew suggested turning the carbon from her ashes into a diamond. “That was the coolest thing I had ever heard, and I said, ‘yes, we’re doing that!’” She was wearing a ring made from Tracy’s ashes at the panel. “I think it’s an area that needs innovation. And it’s about giving people something joyful and bright and hopeful to look forward to,” she said.
Getting out of Your Own Way
When asked about obstacles or challenges along their career paths, the panelists said they’ve encountered doubts, anxiety and inertia but persevered through it.
Joyce Durst, CEO and co-founder of Growth Acceleration Partners, recalled when her company’s revenue was in the $15-$18 million range in the past, she was trying to get it up to $20 million but it kept bouncing around the high teens.
Durst was in a group of women’s presidents at the time and recalled telling them about her struggles to get to $20 million. “And you know what they said? ‘You may never mention $20 million to us ever again. You may only talk to us about your plan for $50 million,’” she recalled. “It changed everything about the way I thought about it. That I’m the one putting barriers and limits on what is possible.”
After evaluating the people, processes, systems and products to achieve that growth, she said it did the trick. “As soon as I changed my mindset, we sailed past $20 million like it wasn’t even sitting there, so I would encourage all of you to really open up your mind to what’s possible and go 10x bigger than what you’re thinking is possible right now.”
I would encourage all of you to really open up your mind to what’s possible and go 10x bigger than what you’re thinking is possible right now.
Joyce Durst
Growth Acceleration Partners
Another panelist said she struggles with anxiety and likened it to a dog gnawing on its arm. “You do it to yourself and it’s about getting out of your own way and stopping gnawing on yourself,” said Holly Tachovsky, CEO of Sabine River Partners. She added that focusing on delivering for clients helps. “The way I have always found works for me is to be in service of other people because then I forget to gnaw on myself,” added Tachovsky, who previously co-founded BuildFax, a national database of historic construction permit records. “If I could be of service to you, be on the team with you, then all of a sudden we’re on this magic mission together,” she said.
Passing the Torch
Panelists were also asked about some of the advice they’d give women starting out in their industries. “Be accessible and available and willing to listen,” said Beaver. The clients her firm advises might be going through divorce or business transitions or other matters where they need more information frequently and not having information is a source of anxiety for them.
“For me it was about: whatever I did, I wanted to be the best at it,” said Durst. “I’ve been in engineering, in sales. in marketing, which I think prepared me unknowingly to run a company,” she added. “It was hard work, luck and saying ‘yes’ to things all the time,” Durst said, adding that people were puzzled when she went from engineering to marketing, but she wanted to learn a different field.
Yvette Flores, co-founder and broker at Realty Austin, said starting out as a female realtor in Austin when she was from San Antonio and didn’t know many people in the city was hard at first, but she looked up to several women that were making waves in the field and getting to know people through local women’s organizations and events. “Any time you have a seat at the table, you have to lean in and speak up, even if your voice shakes,” she advised, noting that Sheryl Sandberg’s book, Lean In, helped her.
Several panelists said their mothers and grandmothers were trail blazers in different industries at the time and served as role models along their career paths.
Self-Care Tricks
Rachael Wyatt Aaron, senior director of development for Venturi Private Wealth who moderated the panel, noted that starting and growing businesses is stressful, especially when you have to be “on call” with clients all the time, like Beaver. She asked the panelists about some of their self-care strategies.
Flores said quality sleep is important. She also enjoys yoga and meditation. Flores goes on a meditation retreat once a year where she’s met many other successful women.
Beaver said she exercises, plays pickleball and basketball and spends time with her grandchildren to take the edge off. “I have to also remind myself that I can’t save everything and I can’t change everything, but I can save some things and I can change some things. And everything I save is worth saving and everything I change is worth changing.”
Durst added that finding quiet alone time is important to her. “I’m a ‘big I’ introvert, so I have to find a little bit of time where there is just quiet, whether that’s a walk by myself or watching a show” she said.
The event included lunch at the Westwood Country Club, where attendees played “musical chairs” and sat at different tables for their salad, entrée and dessert courses. One of the panelists sat at each table and this gave participants a chance to talk to several of them and ask questions. Venturi, Comerica Bank, TriNet and Fidelity sponsored the summit.
Anastasia Donde is Middle Market Growth’s senior editor.
Middle Market Growth is produced by the Association for Corporate Growth. To learn more about the organization and how to become a member, visit www.acg.org.
