Women in Las Cruces gathered at the Arrowhead Center at NMSU for the Women’s Career Success Conference hosted by Senator Tom Udall.
Businesswomen from around Southern New Mexico discussed challenges they’ve faced in their career and strategies to overcome them. Miriam Baca Kotkowski is the President of Omega Trucking Incorporated, the business she started.
“It’s a men’s industry,” Kotkowski said. “So, sometimes it was difficult to be able to talk to the officers at DOT, but there was a point where I didn’t care, I didn’t care if I was a women or not.”
Kathryn Hansen, director of the Arrowhead Center at NMSU says women face many common challenges when looking to start a business.
“Having mentors and the support network,” Hansen said. “And access to resources, including capital, money, to get their business started, and sustain them.”
Hansen says many perceptions of women in business are untrue, and women have many qualities that make them better business owners.
“I think women are great business owners,” Hansen said. “There’s a lot of attention to detail, they have leadership skills, and running a business that put’s all of that to use.”
Senator Tom Udall says it’s important to support economic opportunities that will help women succeed, like the creative economy.
“The CREATE act takes all the government agencies that are out there,” Udall said. “And has them intersect much better with the private sector. So, you have artists, the museums, and all the arts, cultural arts throughout New Mexico and have them work better with the government. And it really gives those government agencies a mission to work very carefully with the artists and the artistic community in New Mexico.”
Miriam Baca Kotkowski says it’s important for conferences like this to bring women together to help each other.
“We all have common challenges,” Kotkowski said. “And once you hear somebody going through one that your going through then it’s not like misery loves company, but it’s like, ok I can do it.”
