Chicago Women in IP (ChiWIP) co-founder, Molly Keelan, attended the Chicago Women in IP Event at Winston & Strawn on October 6, 2015. Over 100 women professionals gathered for ChiWIP’s Fall 2015 program, “Personal Branding Strategies for Women in IP: Differentiating Yourself from the Competition.” The second ChiWIP’s event for this year was moderated by Jan Anne Dubin of Jan Anne Dubin Consulting and featured panelists Paula Hudson Holderman, Chief Attorney Development Officer at Winston & Strawn; Aimee Nolan, Associate General Counsel and Chief Intellectual Property Counsel at W.W. Grainger, Inc.; Kyle Harvey, Partner at Stadheim & Grear; and Paula Krasny, Partner at Culhane Meadows, PLLC. The panelists shared their personal experiences and insights into the importance of self-branding and how it can help women in IP succeed in today’s legal market.
Molly’s Key Takeaways:
- Create a Personal Board of Directors – Surround yourself with key individuals who will support and offer cooperative feedback during your career path
- Have an answer to the What’s new? question – Use a success story or informative response when you encounter this question in the elevator, airplane or networking event that allows people to understand your personal brand and business offering
- Develop a Realistic “Perfect Career” – Many successful women commented that personal and career failures, when approached as a learning opportunity as opposed to a smudge on a perfect resume, often positively influenced their professional future. Taking this approach also helped with relate to others and vice versa
Watch for upcoming ChiWIP events:
- IP Patch Community Involvement with Chicago-area Girl scouts – Date TBD
- ChiWIP Progressive Dinner at Nacional 27 – January 21, 2016
For more information on future ChiWIP events or to join this group, contact Molly Keelan at [email protected] or visit www.chiwip.org.