Career Education & Professional Development Center located at the David Nazarian College of Business and Economics hosted its 13th annual “The Women in Business” seminar on Nov. 14. in the Grand Salon.

The seminar consisted of outstanding women executives sharing their perspective and insights working in often male-dominated fields.

Panel members consisted of Abby Helfgot, vice president of Integrated Media at iHeartMedia, Jessica Wheeler, senior manager of Talent Acquisition at Hulu, Kelly Riddle, director at Rubick Partners LLC and Marisol Espinoza, public affairs manager at SoCalGas.

CSUN students were attracted to this seminar for the candid Q&A sessions. Brenda Huerta, majoring in global supply chain management, chose to attend this event because she felt like she was able to learn a lot through what the women were speaking about. Huerta was among many students who came to this event equipped with questions regarding their career.

CEPD intended to make networking less intimidating for students when organizing this event.

“You’re in this huge group setting, people tend to be less scared to raise their hands and ask a quick question and get that answer,” Danielle Rodriguez, programs coordinator said.

Questions from students ranged from topics related to the role of diversity in the workplace to asking for advice on landing the perfect internships.

The event took over three months to plan, and among the few students who helped organize the event was Eden Rubin, a marketing student and an ambassador for Passport — a professional development program offered by CEPD.

“[CEPD] took the census given by the college of business,” Rubin said. “They filtered it out for juniors and senior to give them priority, and sent the first email blast. We wanted to make sure that we included all the business students. We have a platform called handshake, and we informed the students through there as well.”

Some of CSUN’s professors were also present in the audience. Among them, Bob Sheridan, managing director and adjunct professor, queried about the essential skills that women particularly bring to the workplace. The executives answered said question by sharing their unique qualities and skills that enables them to better their work.

Following the Q&A session, students were eager to interact one on one with the executives. Crowds of enthusiastic students surrounded every executive. The formal setting then turned into a causal interaction among peers and professionals present.

Attendees left with confidence and clarity regarding their career path.