Mike Wolanin | The Republic Women in Leadership honoree Kim Bennett, treasury management at German American Bank, gives speech about her life and career during the Women in Leadership luncheon at the Hilton Garden Inn in Edinburgh, Ind., Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023.
A snapshot of success can make achievement look deceptively simple when it is in reality often a much tougher path.
And it requires the help of a circle of supporters and more — especially when the one aiming for success in a particular realm has no previous gender role models to look toward.
Therein was a unifying message from the four honorees at Tuesday’s Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce 10th Women in Leadership Lunch before a capacity audience of 200 people at the Hilton Garden Inn in Edinburgh. Attendees ranged from Columbus’ first female mayor Nancy Ann Brown from the 1980s to current leaders in local nonprofit, business, media, legal, finance and other sectors.
Chamber president Cindy Frey told the crowd that the event was to spotlight “the grit and determination of four unstoppable women.” Frey also highlighted the fact that even the venue was female owned by the Sprague Company, with plenty of females in its overall leadership.
The honorees’ approximate seven-minute speeches included considerable emotion, such as when bank executive Kim Bennett, holding back tears of gratitude, thanked her family. Plus, they included elements of stark vulnerability and humanness, such as when Luz Elena Michel initially pushed against the very idea that would lead to some of her greatest personal growth: leaving her Mexican homeland more than a decade ago and moving to the United States when her husband’s job with Cummins Inc. brought him to Columbus.
Michel is the Latino outreach manager of Tu Futuro, a program of the Community Education Coalition. Her work involves improving the educational outcomes for Latino students — and was recognized by the Indiana Human Rights Commission in 2020 when Gov. Eric Holcomb presented her with the prestigious “Trailblazer Award.”
But her charismatic nature had her listeners laughing at her wit, such as recalling when she first moved here and found herself “needing to clean my house, iron the clothes, and mow the grass. This was not my Mexican-American dream.”
Two others mentioned the added challenge of being the first woman in their post: Courtney Metzger, chief executive officer at Bartholomew County REMC, and Lindsay Holden-Kay as Bartholomew County prosecutor.
And though Republic editor in chief Julie McClure didn’t mention it in her inspirational-themed remarks at the close of the 90-minute gathering, she is the first female editor in the 151-year history of The Republic.
Metzger, who praised her board of directors among others, summarized her success as succinctly as anyone.
“The three key attributes are being a lifelong learner, having and building a comprehensive and solid support system, and consistently being able to see adversity as an opportunity versus a challenge,” she said.
She even turned the trauma of being struck by a bus into a positive during surgeries and her recovery years ago. Plus, she credited her parents with emphasizing that she could amply tackle any project her brothers did — including roofing a house.
Holden-Kay relayed a heart-wrenching, “imperfect story,” as she unflinchingly called it, of struggling with career uncertainty in college and afterward until she landed an internship in the Marion County prosecutor’s office. Her role involved prosecuting cases connected to drugs and gangs, including going out with the police during raids.
“I thought, ‘Whoa. Nobody told me I was going to be going out and kicking in doors,” Holden-Kay said.
She mentioned with pride that the opportunity to “make my own community right here safer … that’s a whole different ballgame (than before). That feels like a calling.”
Bennett, German-American Bank’s treasury management vice president, spoke of a lifetime in banking that began as a teller at Irwin Union Bank years ago. Her more recent community involvement includes committee and board leadership with United Way of Bartholomew County and also serving for a decade as one of the lead organizers of the Mill Race Marathon’s Kids Fun Run, which attracted more than 1,400 youngsters last week.
“I’m so thankful to those leaders and mentors along the way who have included, challenged, and believed in me when I didn’t,” Bennett said. “I love being part of our community, where for-profit and not-for-profit organizations work together.”
