T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM — Michelle Brown and Nancy Avila serve as panelists at the International Women’s Day celebration at Marshalltown Community College on Tuesday. They, along with Misty Smith, Taylor Bear and Suzanne Reed, answered a variety of questions from almost 50 people in attendance.

International Women’s Day yesterday brought a panel of local women to Marshalltown Community College to answer a variety of questions on Tuesday over the lunch hour.

The floor was open to the audience to ask the questions of female business owners Nancy Avila, One Love Barbershop; Taylor Bear, Soul Magick; Michelle Brown, Ma Brown’s Cookies; and Misty Smith of Wild Spirit Counseling along with Marshalltown Police and Community Team (MPACT) advocate Suzanne Reed.

One of the first questions was what advice panelists would give someone just starting to work. Brown said it is important for a person to understand how they work.

“Identify how you’re going to learn the process of whatever job you’re going into,” she said. “Not everybody learns the same. I’m a hands-on kind of person. I don’t do well studying and reading books. I’m trial and error. I make a lot of mistakes, but that’s how I learn.”

Brown encouraged people to try different fields. If someone is already working and they decide to go into something completely different, she said they can do that. She used herself as an example, having worked in a variety of different jobs. They all gave her experience Brown has used throughout her life and she said it has been a blessing.

Another question was how women can thrive in male-dominated fields, such as eSports. Avila was the first to respond, being one of the few women barbers in the field. When she started, some customers refused to have her cut their hair because she was a woman, something which led to tears.

“But when you keep showing up for yourself, no one is going to take that away from you,” she said. “You just block those negative thoughts. As long as you know that this is your calling and it’s what you want to do, you’re doing it, girl.”

Reed, who works with the Marshalltown Police Department, said most of the people she works with are men.

“If the men give you trouble, show them up,” she said. “Show them that women can be just as strong as they are.”

Another question asked was regarding tangible things that can be done everyday to ensure gender equality.

Smith said networking is important for that to provide a space for people to come together.

“We all have niches, and we have to find those niches,” she said. “If you want to provide a safe space, who can you reach out to and say you want more of this? I want one thing — support groups. How do we make that happen? For community changes, sometimes we have to step up and go to those city council meetings and have those conversations.”

Bear told her that making equality an everyday conversation, rather than once per year, is important.

“When we hear hateful language or ideals, we challenge those with compassion and knowledge and truth,” she said. “When we get down to it and start having these really challenging conversations, someone who might be racist might not have as much hate as they think they do. We can touch that compassion. I don’t mean take abuse. Don’t do that. . . . In these honest conversations, are we always going to agree? Of course not, but we can get to a space where we can touch each other at a heart level, with human-to-human compassion. Maybe not everyone appreciates that approach, but in my own experience that has touched people more than getting angry.”

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.