Celebrating Women’s History Month

This March, we celebrate Women's History Month—a time to reflect on the achievements, resilience, and lasting impact of women throughout history and in our daily lives. To honor this occasion, we asked our employees three questions about the women who have inspired them, the advice that has shaped them, and how they recognize this important month. Their thoughtful responses highlight the influence of women—past and present—and the many ways we can continue to celebrate their contributions.

What is one piece of advice from a woman in your life that has stuck with you?

Krysta Krippaehne-Stein: Kathy Lombardi recently shared the following quote with me that she tries to embody, and it has really stuck with me: "Be who you needed when you were younger." I think of this especially in regards to relationships with junior staff—mentoring with empathy and compassion. Kathy excels at this.

Rebecca Laoch: "It's all about relationships." Dr. Pearl Sims, Professor at Vanderbilt University

Kathy Lombardi: After more than 30 years in consulting, I'm grateful to the many amazing women leaders I've crossed paths with. A couple of years ago, one of them sent me a card as she was transitioning to her next leadership role.  The card said: Be Who You Needed When You Were Younger.  I keep that card on my desk and I think of it often.

Rachel Philbrook: One piece of advice that has stuck with me came from a women’s studies class, where our professor had us look around the room at how people were sitting. The men sprawled out, taking up space, while most of the women made themselves small—legs crossed, arms tucked in, barely using the space they were given. The professor pointed out how we’re often conditioned to take up as little space as possible, both physically and metaphorically. That day, she challenged us to take up space, to own our presence, to make noise, and to stop apologizing for existing. That advice has stuck with me. It’s a reminder to show up fully—whether in a meeting, a conversation, or life itself—because we belong here just as much as anyone else.

Steven Chapman: Be yourself and treat others how you want to be treated.

Has there been a woman in history who has inspired you and why?

Allison Roberts: My mother’s family survived the Great Depression on the income of a Weyerhaeuser breadwinner and Civilian Conservation Corps wages with 17 relatives living together in a 1700-square-foot house with a large attic on Lombard Street in Everett. Everyone pulled their weight, and self-sufficiency was the name of the game. My grandma made the money last, locked the bread box, canned food, raised chickens, and washed and repaired hospital linens to pay off medical bills. Every purchase down to the penny was documented in a palm-sized ledger my grandmother kept during these hard times. Being able to support herself was very important to my mom, so she entered nurses training at age 20. This independence was so important that she even broke off an engagement (not to my dad) because the rules would require her to quit if she got married. Throughout her life, she saved, and a part of mom’s savings helped me and my husband start our company, Peak Sustainability Group. I’ll always be grateful for my mother’s investment in our company and her trust in us. 

Abbi Russell: Mary Breckinridge served as a public health nurse during World War I and founded the Frontier Nursing Service in 1920s rural Kentucky. The FNS employed nurse-midwives who rode on horseback across all terrains, in all weather, to reach families and save lives in the poorest and most remote areas of this region. Mary was the original "angel on horseback" for the FNS and originally funded it herself. Within five years, the FNS grew to serve more than 1,000 rural families in a 700-square-mile area.

David Roberts: After marrying and raising four kids, of which I was the eldest, my mom took a job working the graveyard shift as the head nurse at Enumclaw Hospital. She also ran for the school board and was a well-known League of Women Voters lobbyist in Olympia for several decades. One of her proudest achievements was the passage of Washington’s Public School Earthquake Retrofit Program in the 1970s. I still get chills when I think how her legislative efforts saved the lives of her grandchildren a decade after she died. When the Nisqually Earthquake violently struck 34 years ago on February 28, 2001, her grandchildren (my two kids), were in the basement of the oldest brick school in the Olympia School District. While the building was heavily damaged, her grandchildren—Ryan and Rachel—survived uninjured. I hope she knows just how much her life mattered because of her dedication to community health and resilience and passing legislation into law.

How do you celebrate or acknowledge Women’s History Month in your personal or professional life?

Allyson Bailey: I honor the past by examining my own life and aspiring to be a better woman today than I was yesterday. And I make a diligent effort to retain and pass on the stories, skills, and wisdom I learned from the amazing women that came before me to my own daughters. 

Kate Doiron: I never take for granted the moment in history that allows me to have a career, own my own house, and be responsible for my own finances—sometimes, I feel I am living the dream of my great-great grandmothers!

Kathryn Murdock: I try to make space in the month to acknowledge how far we have come and how far we still have to go. I remember my grandma telling me about how rare it was for her to pursue a master’s degree and my mom talking about the first time in her adult life that she opened her own bank account. While we have the independence that so many generations fought for, it is also important to me to think about the ways I can continue to pay it forward in every month of the year. That sometimes looks like making time to discuss career journeys with young women early in their careers or learning from other women leaders how they are using their unique skills as women to lead inclusive and supportive teams.