"There is today a great need for leaders who live their lives with integrity, courage, and commitment," declared Dean Kim B. Clark in his welcoming comments at the Women's Student Association's (WSA) eighth annual business leadership conference in late January.

The conference is the yearly centerpiece event of the WSA, a fifteen-year-old organization whose mission is to foster a supportive environment for women at the Business School and to provide services that help them to succeed as students and in their careers. The event is cosponsored by the Committee of 200, an organization of the nation's top businesswomen.

Held at Burden Auditorium, the theme of the 1999 conference was "Women Enriching Business." To that end, the WSA gathered together a host of prominent women from the public and private sectors to participate with attendees in panel discussions, speeches, and receptions. From Judy Haberkorn (111th AMP), president of Public and Operator Services at Bell Atlantic, to Pamela A. Thomas-Graham (MBA '88/JD '89), a partner at McKinsey & Company, to Joan Helpern, president and CEO of Joan & David Shoes, the conference featured a rich diversity of knowledge and skills, not to mention style.

In fact, the business side of style was the subject of a rousing keynote address delivered by Martha Stewart, chairman and CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, and Sharon L. Patrick (MBA '78), the firm's president, that kicked off the day's events.

Widely touted as a cultural icon and arbiter of domestic decorum, Stewart said her business owes its success to the "respectability and trust" she has built with her audience over the years. From rewiring a vintage lamp to baking the perfect pie shell, "we're intent on encompassing style in its highest form," she said. "We're reaching out to get the audience to believe that homemaking and gardening are an art form, not drudgery."

Stewart and Patrick have worked to bring their vision of style to an even wider audience, as their newest venture with strategic partner Kmart illustrates. Stewart reported that her soon-to-be-launched "everyday garden" line is expected to exceed $1 billion in sales within three years. Based on the success of her two-year-old bed-and-bath Kmart product line, which has already surpassed the $1-billion mark, that lofty goal seems realistic.

After the keynote address, conference-goers fanned out to attend sessions on topics such as "Launching Your Career," a discussion between HBS professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter and McKinsey's Thomas-Graham. Afternoon sessions delved into industry-specific interests, from finance to public policy to marketing.

Joan & David's Helpern gave a particularly moving presentation on "Career Transition: Doing It All." She exhorted the world's future business leaders to consider that "you have a chance to become what you want to become." In an age of mass production and cost cutting, Helpern spoke of her personal commitment to providing products that stand out for their quality and style. "I believe in designing things that have value and make you feel unique," she said. "Better to go with longevity than be a sheep following the herd.

"I encourage women to dare," she told the rapt crowd, "and to believe that everything is possible."

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