This week was an important one for women business leaders in the southern county as they were celebrated and honored for their efforts in bringing and establishing businesses in the city.
The Zapata County Chamber of Commerce’s Successful Businesswomen Awards event was held on Tuesday at the Zapata County Museum of History as part of their “Recognizing Zapata Past and Present Business Women” Event Gala. The women honored at the event included nominees Sara Garza and Claudia Garcia and past nominee honorees Hortencia Medina Barragan and Janet Villarreal.
Texas State Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-21) was a guest speaker at the event and offered a speech reflecting on how women’s empowerment has increased in recent decades and how this continued spirit of entrepreneurship is high in the region.
“We had a wonderful gathering of business people, community leaders, elected officials and religious officials at the Zapata County Museum of History, and they were celebrating successful businesswomen as they had four honorees and each one is an outstanding woman who has accomplished so much,” Zaffirini said. “It is important to not just emphasize the business accomplishments of these women but also their characters, their leadership and their success with families.”
According to the state senator, real success is demonstrated by the fact that these individuals were able to lead successful businesses while also leading good personal and family lives. Zaffirini states that anything, even success, at the “expense of family is failure.”
Zaffirini said she was glad to see all of the tables where the women nominees sat and that they were filled with their families, as all the women were either wives, mothers or even grandmothers.
“I think it is very important to recognize women, because they are role models for the boys and girls of today, and before most of the people that were recognized were men,” Zaffirini said. “If you think about an honor such as Mr. South Texas, yes we have honored women such as Gov. Ann Richards and the Sisters of Mercy and Sen. Hutchinson — and I received the honor in 1999 — but the vast majority of the honorees have been male, and this is why it is important to recognize women on every arena and activity of work.”
Zaffirini said that these women also served as role models for men and women of all ages, no matter how young or old. She also thanked the role men have had in empowering women.
“The No. 1 reason for the changing attitude for women in the workforce is that male CEOs wanted equality and wanted opportunities for their daughters and their wives, and it was the men’s change in attitude that was so significant to the success of women in the workforce,” Zaffirini said. “As we recognize women, we have to also recognize the contributions of the men and just that so both men and women can succeed in the same ways in the different areas of activity.”
Zaffirini’s speech at the event also focused on the importance of equal standards for both men and women so they can succeed in the business world.
“My message was that men and women can accomplish the same in business today, and that the boys and girls of today can grow up to be anything that they want to be,” Zaffirini said. “Success and to succeed in business, that is what is important for today’s businessmen and women, to be held to the same standards.”
Additionally, she said the role of women’s empowerment has grown so much that women are now in the leading roles in almost all types of industries and arenas of business.
“Women are at the forefront of every area including business,” Zaffirini said. “There are women entrepreneurs, there are women CEOs and there are many women who have successfully created their businesses, there are also women who work in business. They might not be the CEOs or the presidents, but they are executives and business managers, and they are workers as they excel in business. That is where their heart is, and at the same time, women also excel in any other profession and in any other arena of activity.”
All women who succeed in anything from the home office, to teaching at local schools, to health professionals and any other field demonstrate how women can do anything that men can also do, Zaffirini said. She added that much has changed for the positive in terms of the role of women in the workplace and the world of business.
“When I was growing up in Laredo, it was basically men who were at the forefront of all of these arenas. A rare woman or two would be seated in a professional area or in a business,” Zaffirini said. “It was rare, and so they were role models for many people, and today it is just prevalent.”
Amid the increase of women in the workplace and also in charge of business, the state senator credits the higher educational attainment of women as the main reason for this growth in women entrepreneurs.
“At some universities today, there are more women than men. When I went to school at the university, there was significantly very few women in my study group, and for my doctoral degree I was the only woman,” Zaffirini said. “But now, there are more women than men that carry themselves to succeed through higher education.”
jorge.vela@lmtonline.com
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