Vancouver Women in Male-Dominated Industries

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In 2026, The WIMDI Speaker Series is inviting engaging speakers each month to give interactive talks on topics that help women kill it at work.
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Welcome to Talk 1 of 13 - Managing Up with Challenging Bosses

Managing your career growth can be an absolute delight if you have a skilled manager that you get along with. But if your manager is…a little more difficult? Well, yikes.

Challenging bosses present a big obstacle to your success. It can be hard to get your achievements recognized, difficult to get your ideas heard, and almost impossible to perform and grow.

Even though it’s tempting to minimize your interactions with managers who drive you to distraction, It’s essential to your long-term career prospects to learn how to manage up so you can turn your most challenging leaders into supportive allies.
This talk will focus on how to effectively manage up when dealing with difficult, reactive, or tricky leadership.
We’ll cover:

• The 5 most common types of challenging bosses (and how to handle them!)
• How to speak up and self-advocate while maintaining your professionalism
• Strategies for diffusing conflict and creating emotional distance with difficult personalities
• When & how to turn your challenging manager into your biggest advocate

The goal of this talk is to give attendees practical tools and emotional clarity for navigating tough leadership dynamics, so they can advocate for themselves, stay in integrity, and move forward with purpose.

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Mary Connelly
Mary Connelly transforms high-performing professionals into influential leaders who advance their careers without sacrificing their authentic selves. Drawing from her proven background in media and sales management, Mary partners with senior executives at industry giants like Amazon, PepsiCo, AbbVie, and Hyatt Hotels, as well as ambitious leaders at high-growth startups.

Her coaching approach cuts through corporate noise by combining emotional intelligence with practical strategy. Whether navigating complex leadership transitions, mastering high-stakes communication, or accelerating career momentum, Mary's clients don't just succeed—they do it on their own terms.

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Attendance Notes:

1. Gender:
   This event is open to individuals of any gender identity.
2. Code of Conduct:
   By Attending this event, you agree to adhere to WIMDI's code of conduct, which you can find at wimdi.com/code-of-conduct-and-policy.
3. Privacy, Photography and Recording*:
   Online WIMDI events use Zoom, and we will be recording this event in the hopes of eventually releasing replays of the speaker portions of our events. As such we cannot guarantee that no photos, screenshots, or recordings will be taken of you during the event by event organizers or by other attendees. We love it when our members connect at our events using both video and audio, but we understand if our members prefer to participate with their video turned off to preserve (more of) their privacy.

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https://wimdi.com/cafe-night-event?utm-source=&utm_medium=Meetup&utm_campaign=CafeInPerson&utm_content=260129

It's our much-loved café night -- this time in an actual café!

Join us for a night of in-person networking, chit-chat, and strategy sharing between women in male-dominated industries.

This is an IRL networking event for all of our Vancouver-based WIMDI members.
Here's the plan:

1. Meet at Pane e Formaggio Cafe - 868 Beatty St
2. Order delicious mochas, jasmine tea, muffins, etc.
3. Meet some cool women and chat about our work lives
4. Exchange cards, phone numbers, facepages, myfriend accounts, tiktaks, instapics, snaptexts, or whatever it is that the kids are using these days to stay in touch
5. Stay in touch! Or....failing that, we'll do it all again in four weeks, so don't worry, we've got your back.

Hope to see you there!

Holly Burton
WIMDI Founder & CEO + Executive Coach for Women in Male-Dominated Industries
e: hello@wimdi.com
w: wimdi.com
p: she/her

Location:
Pane e Formaggio Cafe - 868 Beatty St

Parking: There is limited paid street parking or parkades on the streets surrounding the café.
Transit: The nearest mass transit hub is just two blocks away at Yaletown-Roundhouse Skytrain Station (on the Canada Line) or Stadium-Chinatown Skytrain Station (on the Expo Line). Additional information about planning your trip via transit can be found here: Translink Trip Planner

Accessibility & Covid Precautions

Seating Accessibility:

• The café as a whole has an accessible entrance. Please consider whether this is a fit for your mobility needs.

Accessible Washrooms: The café has an accessible washroom.

Covid Precautions:

• This in-person event is being held indoors.
• Masking is encouraged for any WIMDI members who prefer to wear them for their own safety and/or comfort.
• Worried about being the only one in a mask? You won’t be alone! WIMDI’s founder Holly is committed to wearing a mask with any WIMDI member who wants to so you have an automatic friend and ally.
• Need anything else to make it as safe as possible for you to join us at Café Night? Drop Holly a note at hello@wimdi.com and we’ll make a plan so you can have a great (& safe) time with your fellow WIMDIs!

Attendance Notes:

• Gender:
  All WIMDI Café Nights are restricted to those who do not currently identify as cisgender men. These events have limited attendance and often involve personal discussion, debate, and advice specific to dynamics underrepresented minorities in these industries experience. We are happy for cisgender men to learn and participate in WIMDI conversation at most of our other events, but we reserve the Café Lunches as a space for women***** to connect with each other freely and openly.

*****WIMDI uses an inclusive definition of women that means "people who are in a gender minority in their field". This includes trans individuals, genderqueer, agender, intersex, two spirit, and non-binary folks. If you are not sure if you are included, please err on the side of attending our events! Feel free to reach out to the Organizer, Holly Burton, with any questions and for an automatic welcoming face and first-friend at any WIMDI event.

• Code of Conduct:
  By attending this event, you agree to adhere to WIMDI's code of conduct, which you can find at wimdi.com/code-of-conduct-and-policy.
• Children:
  WIMDI events are for parents too! We know childcare can occasionally be a challenge, but we don't think that should stop you from connecting and learning with us. WIMDI doesn't offer childcare at our events, but we'd love you to bring your little one along with some quiet activities to occupy them. Suitable for ages 0+.
• Photography:
  This WIMDI event does not have photography.