Inspiring, Intriguing and Insightful: AgStar’s Women’s Seminars

French Novelist, Marcel Proust once said, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.”  Presenters at AgStar’s recent Women’s Seminars, Jolene Brown and Kathy Brown, recently led nearly 800 women on this type of voyage. They helped AgStar clients, guests, and team members view their lives from a whole new perspective: “From the Inside Out.”

Speakers Jolene Brown and Kathy Brown showed women fresh, new ways to put their strengths to work, and how to keep themselves and their families healthy to achieve happiness and success. They led their audiences through the process to increase their confidence and motivate others. 

At each of the six sessions held throughout AgStar’s service area, the crowd laughed, cried, and learned together as Jolene and Kathy shared uplifting stories about the power of the human spirit, and the enduring strength of family. They motivated participants to utilize their strengths, work with others, and improve their quality of life through better health.

Presenters with Pizzazz

Jolene Brown is an AgStar favorite.  Her presentation, “Stand up, Step out! Achieve!”,  had participants hanging on her every word. Along with her professional speaking, Jolene blends many different roles: farm partner with husband Keith, mom of two daughters, and an avid supporter of community and church activities. In her high-energy session for AgStar’s Women’s Seminars, Jolene gave participants concrete examples and tools to help them get things done and achieve their goals. She discussed specific themes, and encouraged everyone in the audience to identify and harness the power of their strengths, take a look at circumstances from a new perspective, and find their passion.  The women in attendance found Jolene to be very inspiring. Attendees shared how much they enjoyed her presentation in survey comments, such as, “Jolene had really good ideas on how to become more confident. I need to get my life going by taking charge of myself.” Jolene believes every woman can increase her confidence and learn how to present herself, position herself and partner with others. It just takes practicing and understanding the following principles:

  • You must know your strengths or the world will tell you your weaknesses.
  • Value is in the eye of the purchaser/consumer.
  • You don’t find yourself, you create yourself.
  • People like doing business with people who like what they do!

Jolene also gave details on what she calls the “profile” of a successful achiever.  A successful achiever:

  • Develops a positive and confident commercial, based on strengths
  • Positions for opportunities through defined goals and calculated risks
  • Partners with others to get things done

Kathy Brown, RN, CSP, is billed as a “motivational humorist with a message,” and “a timeless speaker who is ‘out of this world.” Kathy's background as a communications coordinator, development and training specialist, RN, corporate recruiter, author and business owner brings a wealth of information which she turns into practical steps for living with power, joy, and purpose.

Through humor and real-life stories, Kathy’s session, “Laugh, Live Well and Learn,” stressed the importance of health.  She challenged attendees to become more aware of their health and the health of their families. Her dynamic style and in-depth content reinforced her philosophy: “Our health is our wealth, so why not get rich?” As one, participant put it, “Kathy was wonderful. She was very funny and amusing, and made serious topics entertaining.”

Kathy discussed warning signs of serious health situations like heart attacks and strokes, and shared helpful hints on managing every day pressures such as stress, relationships, and insomnia. She also discussed the vital importance of taking care of oneself and one’s family.  According to Kathy, only 10% of today’s population:

  • Get enough exercise
  • Do not smoke
  • Manage their weight
  • Have not been diagnosed with diabetes (or has their diabetes under control)
  • Have their cholesterol under control

If you’d like to learn more, click here for a copy of Kathy’s seminar hand-out [PDF].

Empowering and Inspiring Information

Attendees left feeling more knowledgeable, empowered and inspired. A whopping 93% of the women in attendance found the presentation informative, and planned to incorporate what they learned into their farming operations. Jolene called these “keepers,” and we’ll be sharing more of those tips in the coming weeks. Emotions ran the gamut — from laughter to tears — as participants enjoyed interacting and bonding with other farm women.  Many attendees took the time to share how they felt about the experience. Below are a few of their comments:

“Thank you for the informative, fun and intriguing day. I will put my new found knowledge to use not only on the farm, but with my family and in my personal life off the farm. Thank you for a day away!”

“Hearing other women grow is something we very seldom get in our daily lives. AgStar’s efforts to improve relationships with women in farming are a real boost to me and other farm women who don’t always feel recognized. “

“I left feeling great about my life and myself. I’m motivated and ready to change everything into positives.”

Overall, it was a day filled with connecting, collaborating, renewing and refueling. As one attendee put it, “The sessions were inspiring and the positive energy was contagious.”   Virtually, everyone agreed, it was a fun and enlightening voyage that taught them to view life from the inside out.


(All smiles in Fulda)




(Crowd in Mankato)


(Jolene Brown and Kathy Brown)

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