CRANBERRY TWP — One leader at the Women Shaping Our Region event Thursday, Oct. 12, urged others to use a “ladder down approach” to help elevate and inspire the next generation of leaders.

Karen Riley, president of Slippery Rock University, was one of five women with business ties to the Pittsburgh and Butler areas who discussed issues women are facing in the workforce and ways to combat them.

“A ‘ladder up approach’ is (when) people pull the ladder up behind themselves,” Riley said. “You don't make it easier for the people who come behind you. When you are a ‘ladder down’ woman, you continually place the ladder down for those behind them to have a smoother path.”

The event, which is in its fourth year, took place at the RLA Learning & Conference Center and served as a way for women in varied industries to talk about their experiences to help further women in the workplace and their respective industries.

The Butler County Chamber of Commerce hosted the event in cooperation with The Pittsburgh Business Exchange.

Panelists for the event included Riley; Emily Sheetz, vice president of strategy at Sheetz; Corina Diehl, CEO of Diehl Automotive Group; Huma Mohiuddin, Pittsburgh market president of BNY Mellon Wealth Management; and Stephanie Sciullo, president of MSA Americas.

Before the panelists were brought to the stage, Butler County Commissioners Leslie Osche and Kim Geyer addressed the capacity crowd to share their thoughts on what the event means to them.

“The Women Shaping Our Region forum has marked a time to appreciate and celebrate women in their accomplishments,” Geyer said.

KDKA anchor and TV personality Kym Gable served as moderator for the event.

Gable first asked the panel some questions specific to certain panelists. Sheetz was asked about the advantages and challenges of being part of a family enterprise — her uncle, Bob Sheetz, and his brothers started the business 1952.

“We are so privileged to have all the brothers of the family still be very engaged and involved in the business,” Sheetz said. “It's always been about family, never business. I think that set a really good tone for continuing great relationships between the family.”

Riley was asked about key industries present in Western Pennsylvania and how SRU could collaborate with them to help their academic programs.

“What was necessary many years ago is different than what’s necessary now,” Riley said. “What we need to be looking at is not only what are the industries’ needs right this second, but how do we prepare people for the jobs of the future. We are looking at professions that are going to grow like health care and engineering.”

Mohiuddin talked about changing demographics within her industry, such as race and more women entering a male-dominate financial industry.

She told a story from 20 years ago about a time when she first started with the company, trying to convince a group of people to trust her with their life savings as a young person.

“My biggest challenge was youthfulness,” Mohiuddin said. “I did joke about it, but I did consider dying my hair gray. There are challenges, and I look at it that everyone is going to have obstacles. Do what you do and do it with a good heart.”

Sciullo, who has been in her role at MSA for 100 days, said it is important to ensure future leaders have access to decision-makers as an avenue for success and professional growth.

The first question addressed to all the panelists was regarding how they see women shaping the future of the region.

Mohiuddin responded to the question by addressing a trend she has witnessed within women in organizations called crab syndrome, which means that sometimes women will bring other women down.

“If you have a bucket of crabs and they are trying to get out and a crab is at the top, other crabs will pull it back down,” Mohiuddin said. “This is a phenomenon that is a challenge. When you are in an organization, we should want to help each other, but we also have this competition. Just be mindful of these biases.”

The second question Gable asked had to do with making decisions in the public eye, particularly ones that are not that popular.

Riley shared a story about an experience at one of the former colleges she worked for about a racist message that found its way to the college website.

She was out of the country at the time and had to initially deal with it from a distance, but had to answer some serious questions once she got home.

“I got back to a college that was completely divided,” Riley said. “The faculty were mad that I hadn’t publicly shamed the person. My approach was be open and honest and to not hide in my office.”

Her hard decisions inspired a young student who she said later approached her about what had happened.

“She said she had been watching me and she said she was going to do exactly what I had done,” Riley said. “She said I had showed her what to do in a crisis.”

The third question was related to how personal adversity affected their professional role and how to stay resilient.

Diehl, who found herself in charge of the company when her husband died, went on to tell a story about a time a man made a rude comment to her while she was at a business meeting as a car dealer.

“This husband and wife are sitting next to me and the guy looks at me and asks ‘Where’s your husband?’ Diehl said. “Like I was not capable to make a decision.”

She said women need to assert themselves.

“Be who you are. Have a say in the world,” she said.

The final question aimed to emphasize what steps need to be taken to further the effort for women to succeed in the workplace.

Mohiuddin said she thought about the answer to this question on her way to the event because there have been challenges, but there has been some progress made and she hopes these topics will one day be a thing of the past.

“My utopia future would be one where we don’t have to have these conversations anymore,” Mohiuddin said. “We are simply treating people like a human being no matter what they look like. I hope we can get past this conversation.”