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Editor’s note: Frances McKim, editor of UK-based Pest magazine, filed the following report after attending the latest PWIPM-UK event in London.
LONDON, U.K. — No one is good at everything, so identify what you do well and develop it, then get out there and market your skill. That was the advice from Judy Dold in her address to the second national meeting of the UK’s Professional Women in Pest Management group held on April 22, in London, during PestEx 2009.
There were plenty more tips in Dold’s talk, some specifically for women but others equally relevant to the ‘honorary women’ (otherwise known as men) who came along to the UK’s Professional Women in Pest Management (PWIPM-UK) gathering.
Dold is president of Rose Pest Solutions and a former president of NPMA, shared some of the experiences and challenges she has faced in her career during an inspirational presentation. Speaking with no PowerPoint presentation to get in the way (or many notes for that matter) she told her audience that if they wanted to be taken seriously they must come prepared. “Don’t try to wing it, as a woman you don’t have that luxury,” she warned. “And remember, the appearance of power is power,” she said as she entered the room in two very different ways to illustrate her point.
She also advised her audience to develop their listening skills and she concluded: “Every person in this room has the ability to do what they want to do. If you are held up by something then take a good look at the obstacle and then find a way round it. Get rid of it and keep focused.”
The formal proceedings were followed by a wine and cheese social. The event was sponsored by AgriSense, Bayer Environmental Science, BPCA, Ecolab, NPTA, Pest, Pest Control News and Sorex (now BASF Pest Solutions).
PWIPM-UK was launched in January in London and is based on the highly successful PWIPM group in the U.S. Spearheaded by Sabra Fearon from Killgerm, it aims to provide support encouragement and mentoring for women within this industry.