LEADERSHIP and seizing opportunities was the theme of this year's annual Women in Agriculture Day, hosted by the Facey Group at the Wickepin Community Centre last Wednesday.
The event brought women from all sectors of agriculture together to listen to businesswomen with stories to evoke inspiration, motivation and humility in the achievements of all women in agriculture.
One of the highlights was showing the Conversations with your Community video, which shared some of the memorable moments of being a farmer and what they enjoy about that way of life.
Featured in the video were Joanne Doncon, Audrey Bird and Cheryl Lang, from Wickepin and Peta Astbury, from Harrismith.
An agronomy update was delivered by agronomists Hilary Wittwer, Planfarm and Helen Wyatt, Elders, who is also chairwoman of the Facey Group's Women in Agriculture committee.
Sharing their stories of being leaders and businesswomen - all in different industries - was Grubs Up founder Paula Pownall, Coolup, author, chef and co-owner of Lamont's, Kate Lamont and keynote speaker CSBP Fertilisers general manager Tanya Rybarczyk.
Ms Rybarczyk shared six stories which have shaped her career and being a leader.
Throughout her career of more than 20 years' working in industries including retail, chemicals, transport, mining and resources, Ms Rybarczyk gained a strong background in finance, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, accounting and investor relations.
While her career has included many achievements, she said there have certainly been moments of doubt and many tough challenges.
With a love for numbers and a passion for education, Ms Rybarczyk has tried to say 'yes' to most opportunities that came her way.
"Seizing opportunities has definitely been a theme that has run throughout my career, but it's true that opportunities do come up that don't feel like great opportunities, that might not be what you thought was the next step or the timing is not quite right," she said.
"But when I reflect back on all those decisions, I now realise that you never know where they might lead to.
"I have always been someone who by default says yes to opportunities, unless there is a real reason not to - sometimes you just have to listen to gut instinct about that.
"Saying yes to everything is not something that comes very naturally to me, but I have trained and pushed myself to do it.
"I'm often asked if I still doubt myself - absolutely."
Ms Rybarczyk said there have been opportunities where she's thought "I couldn't possibly do that", which she denoted as human nature for many.
"I know that is it better to look confident than not and fake it if you have to," she said.
"I like to channel the little engine that could and tell myself 'I think I can, I think I can', until I can.
"I also ask myself 'what is the worst that can happen' and often when you really analyse that, you think, 'I could probably live with the worst that can happen, so why not give it a go?'."
She said that learning to and having the ability to trust other people was really important because "sometimes they see things in you that you can't see in yourself".
Ms Rybarczyk is an example of how being a mother doesn't have to affect your career and a successful career does not mean you have to sacrifice spending time with your children.
But she said it requires a lot of support.
"I wouldn't be the leader, mum, wife and friend that I am today without the support of my husband, family, workplace and team," Ms Rybarczyk said.
After her first child was born, she decided to return to work and her husband, a teacher, took on the job as full-time dad for a year.
When their second child was born, Ms Rybarczyk wanted to work on a part-time basis.
"I wanted to be as involved bringing up our children as he was and I have a passion for education - I couldn't be integral in pulling out of the educational system, someone who is an amazing teacher and a male role model - it just didn't sit well with me," she said.
At the time, Ms Rybarczyk was the chief financial officer of the division in which CSBP sits - Wesfarmers Chemicals, Energy and Fertilisers.
But she had doubt that her employer would see the possibility of her being able to perform such a senior role in a part-time capacity.
The support Ms Rybarczyk had felt from the company since she started at Wesfarmers in 2001 was again reiterated.
Her supervisor suggested she continue to fill the role as chief financial officer but this time in a part-time capacity and job share with three other people.
"So for the next four years, there were three of us women and at any given time, two of us were in the workforce and one was on maternity leave and we had six children among the three of us," she said.
"And it was a huge success.
"It was great for us professionally because we were able to continue our careers but obviously because it meant we could spend time with our children, particularly when they were very young.
"It was also proof of concept for the business - this was not done anywhere else in the business at senior levels - so we set a bit of a benchmark, which I'm really proud about."
During this time Ms Rybarczyk and her husband shared 50:50 all the responsibilities of family and home.
She recalled some of the defining moments of her career, that helped shape her professionally and personally.
Some of these opportunities have been presented to her and others she has chased.
After finishing university, Ms Rybarczyk worked in the United Kingdom for four years, which she said was quite steered towards gaining "life experience" or "having some fun".
But it sowed the seeds for her career, as she worked at Ernst & Young.
Upon returning to Perth, Ms Rybarczyk had her sights set on working at Wesfarmers.
In the 18 years she has worked for the company, she has filled six different roles - all of which were very diverse opportunities and taught her a great deal.
"Early on in my career at Wesfarmers, I was given the opportunity to join our private equity venture, which was in Sydney," she said.
"Private equity in the early 2000s (before the global financial crisis) was fast paced, deal-making and very much a boys' club.
"When I started there was no other female in the private equity industry in Sydney that I had met, but by the time I left, there were a few."
Aged just 30-years-old, Ms Rybarczyk was given a lot of autonomy in the business and led big deals.
"It was definitely the first time I found myself around a boardroom table and in deal rooms as the only woman and at that, 30-years-old," she said.
"So was I intimidated? Absolutely.
"But not so much about the gender imbalance, it was my own self doubt - the voice in my head questioning whether I could do this."
In describing her leadership style, Ms Rybarczyk said she aims to be an authentic leader, which means being honest.
"My idea of a good leader is someone who is authentic and honest, empowering, collaborative and can be decisive, supportive and adaptable," she said.
"You have to be honest with others and yourself about who you are, particularly what you stand for, what your strengths are and where your gaps are, as at the end of the day no one is perfect.
"I have found that by showing people that I have vulnerabilities because I'm human, is actually OK and people respond very positively to that and have been more inclined to support me in filling those gaps where I need them.
"It's important to empower people, get out of the way and let them do a really good job."
"I'm also very collaborative - I like to promote the sharing and challenging of ideas and bring together diversity of views.
"But don't get me wrong, workplaces are not democracies - at some point, you need to make a decision and it's important as a leader to where that point is."
According to Ms Rybarczyk, leadership style can change, in fact should change as you learn more and change roles.
"I used to be quite analytical and detail focused but as I got into more senior roles, I had to be more strategic and engaging," she said.
Ms Rybarczyk encouraged women to continue talking about women in leadership or powerful positions in agriculture.
"Whether our roles are on-farm or off-farm, we play an increasingly important role in a growing area of farm diversification, sustainability and a host of other issues," she said.
Having conversations about leadership is really important - looking at leadership in our industry, communities and about women in leadership more generally."
