Women Who Lead Speaker Series
Women Who Lead is facilitated by Karas Wright, a retired banker, certified business coach, and master’s candidate in counselling psychology. This combination is rare and it is the foundation of what makes this series different from every other professional development offering for women in Calgary.
Each 90-minute session is built around one problem statement the attendee already knows is hers. The content is grounded in evidence-based psychology, real business experience, and honest conversation. This is not a presentation. It is a working event. Nobody leaves with a binder full of notes. They leave with something that changes how they show up the following week.
Format: In-person after hours working sessions and panels
Time: 4 to 6pm, monthly
Dates: September 24, 2026 through February 18, 2027, skipping December
Location: BBB Alberta and East Kootenay, 1709 8 Ave NE, Calgary
Ticket price: $75 per session or $350 for all five
Food: Appies and light food included
Buy all sessions and save or choose sessions that appeal to you
All five sessions please https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/C3V4MPHNSBWFQ
Session 1 — From Operator to Owner
| Session 1 | September 24, 2026 | From Operator to Owner
Entrepreneurs, sole proprietors, small and mid-size business owners |
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| The Problem This Solves | You built this business around yourself. Now you are the thing standing between where you are and where you want to go.
Whether she runs a service practice or sells a product, if the business stops when she stops, the business is running her. This session examines the identity, psychological, and practical barriers that keep business owners stuck in execution mode, and what it actually takes to lead rather than just do. Karas brings her banking background and counselling psychology training to a problem most business coaches only skim. |
| Format | Facilitated working session, 90 minutes |
| Pay here | https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/GRVYGMN2F52NC |
Session 2 — Visibility, Voice and the Executive Table
| Session 2 | October 22, 2026 | Visibility, Voice and the Executive Table
Mid to senior professionals, managers, VPs, team leads, and senior HR |
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| The Problem This Solves | You are doing the work. You are getting the results. And somehow, someone else keeps getting the recognition.
This session examines the psychology behind why high-performing women get overlooked, the organizational dynamics that create that pattern, and the evidence-based strategies that shift it. This is not tips on speaking up more. It is a real examination of influence, credibility, and what it takes to get to the rooms where decisions are made. |
| Format | Moderated panel, Karas Wright as moderator, 90 minutes |
| Pay here | https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/NXDU9H9CN29E4 |
Session 3 — From Capable to Confident
| Session 3 | November 26, 2026 | From Capable to Confident
Emerging and aspiring leaders, high performers, young professionals |
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| The Problem This Solves | You know you are ready. You just cannot seem to make anyone else believe it, including yourself.
Confidence is not a personality trait. It is a skill set with a specific architecture, and it can be built. Using self-efficacy research and identity development frameworks from counselling psychology, this session equips emerging leaders with tools to deliberately build confidence rather than waiting for it to arrive. |
| Format | Facilitated working session with guest contributor, 90 minutes |
| Pay here | https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/Z62U9CF5RY9WJ |
Session 4 — The Reinvention Session
| Session 4 | January 28, 2027 | The Reinvention Session
Women in transition, career change, mat leave re-entry, layoff, caregiving shift, industry pivot |
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| The Problem This Solves | Your career made sense until it did not. Now you are trying to figure out who you are professionally when everything that defined you is gone or changing.
Career transition is one of the most psychologically complex experiences a professional woman navigates, and almost nobody in the professional development space addresses it with the depth it deserves. Karas brings her own career transition story into the room as the thread that runs through the session. |
| Format | Facilitated session with guest voice, Karas Wright as lead, 90 minutes |
| Pay here | https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/GWLF42XZTPDFW |
Session 5 — The Long Game
| Session 5 | February 18, 2027 | The Long Game
All four audiences, cross-series closing event |
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| The Problem This Solves | You have been so focused on building a career that you forgot to ask whether the career you are building is actually the one you want.
The closing session brings all four audiences together for a larger, more expansive event centred on values, sustainable ambition, and the actual cost of building a career worth having. A cross-stage panel of women at different career stages, an honest conversation, and a powerful close to the series. |
| Format | Moderated panel with full cross-stage speakers, 90 to 120 minutes |
| Pay here | https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/8HZWNGXZTM8AG |