CLM brought its women’s session back to the 2025 Annual Conference, with this year’s distinguished panel discussing the theme of authenticity. “I think that’s something women bring to the workplace that is maybe a little bit more than other populations,” explained Susan Wisbey-Smith, president, CLM. “We bring our whole selves; [who]…we are—wives and mothers and sisters and friends…When I first started working, work was separate from personal, but it just can’t be. We are who we are, and we try to do the best that we can…in every role that we play."
The panel consisted of Christa Johnson, team lead—cyber, Gallagher Bassett; Avery Barrett, director, legal & risk management, Brightwild; Denise Anderson, managing partner, Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP; Michelle Krone, equity partner, Kubicki Draper; and Kirsten Kaiser Kus, capital member, Downey & Lenkov LLC.
The panelists shared defining moments in their lives in which they missed or took opportunities to be their authentic selves. “There are things that we go through, and what that taught me is you don’t know the person who is grumpy and angry with you—you don’t know what they’re dealing with in life,” said Wisbey-Smith. “It could be a simple thing; it could be a big thing. So, I always focus on leading with kindness.”
Johnson shared her journey with confidence. Having grown up in small-town Wisconsin, she decided that she was going to get straight A’s and leave, which she did. She wanted to go to a school where people were “smarter than [she was]” so that she could learn and grow from them. Having enrolled in a prestigious college in North Carolina, after a couple of months, she asked her mom if she could leave that college. She felt she was not smart enough to be there because she was not getting A’s like she did in high school, and the school placed a major emphasis on test scores.
However, she did extremely well on her ACT test, and everything changed when she overheard someone talking about their own ACT score, which was significantly lower than hers. She remembers thinking, “What have I been doing thinking that I don’t belong here just because I’m telling myself that I don’t—because I look different, because I came from a small town, and [because] there were not very many women of color at the school? And so, a lot of things were impacting my confidence and therefore my motive to be my authentic self.” After reflecting, she excelled in her classes and became active in the school’s theater department. “I did the work. I deserved to be there just as much as anyone else sitting at that table, and I take that with me every single day.”
Kaiser Kus shared her journey of balancing her career with IVF treatment, pregnancy, and being a mother. She knew soon after entering the field that she wanted to be an owner. Right before being considered for income member, she began IVF treatment. “That was the hardest thing in my life, and I didn’t want anyone in my firm to know—not because I thought it would be a bad thing, [but because] I thought, ‘Can you have both?’ It was this internal struggle; it’s not because anyone told me I couldn’t do it.” She had to travel to Chicago three days a week at 5am for treatments, and she confided in her partner at her office so that they would not think she was slacking off. They had no issue, despite her internal struggle.
She went through four rounds of IVF treatments and eventually had a son. She made income member, and then equity owner, and she balances being a mother with enjoying her career. “This is what I want. I want my career, and I want my family. You have to have a great support system…don’t be shy, ask for help.” She is always available for her clients by phone, even if they hear her child in the background. “I don’t want anyone to feel like they have to choose. You can do both.”
Anderson shared about an event from Fall 2023, when she decided to run for managing partner of her firm and took a “slight step away from [her] authentic self…in the way [she] handled the election.” Friends, colleagues, and partners reached out to her and told her she should run for the position. It took her time to consider their recommendations and she did not announce her candidacy until two weeks before the election, which led to many questions about why she waited so long.
“I focused my responses on some excuses that were true, but I didn’t focus on the real [reason], which was support, encouragement, and people telling me they thought I would be [fair and] good at it…that backfired a little bit in the sense that it was used by the opponents to say that maybe I hadn’t thought it through enough, or maybe I changed my mind too much.” She did not bring up the real reason because she thought she may come off as braggadocious and she wanted to save others’ feelings; however, she ended up winning the election. Anderson advises others to not step away from who they are or make excuses; the truth sometimes hurts, but it is the right avenue to take so long as it is delivered appropriately, she stated.
After the panelists shared their stories, the audience had its own vibrant discussions at breakout tables, answering prompted questions about challenges they have faced and overcome in being their authentic selves.
CLM will be hosting a half-day women’s event in Chicago on Dec. 3 in advance of the Focus Conference.