How can Park City see more women in leadership? That was the underlying question of a Women in Business Summit event last week, which hosted a collective of female leaders in the area’s nonprofit, business, media and politics spheres.

But first, a celebration, because Park City already boasts more women in leadership positions than most communities. Just look around the room — Park City Mayor Nann Worel, Park City Councilor Tana Toly, Park City Chamber/Bureau President and CEO Jennifer Wesselhoff, KPCW Senior News Director Leslie Thatcher, Alpine Distilling Co-owner and distiller Sara Sergent, Holy Cross Ministries CEO Mary Emmie Gardner, Summit Community Gardens and EATS Executive Director Helen Nadel — the list goes on.

And yet, not nearly enough.

“Last year we had a city council election. We had three seats up. We had eight candidates on the ballot. All eight were white males,” said Worel in a welcome to the group. “Where were the women? What were the barriers that kept women from stepping forward?”

The first female to occupy the mayor’s office in Park City, Worel was sworn in in January 2022 — 138 years after the area became a city. “What’s wrong with that picture?” she asked.

For Sergent, the organizer of the event, one major solution involves starting at the beginning — mentorship for young women. That was the goal of bringing this group together, to start the conversation around how and why mentorship is the key to a gender-equal future, not just in Park City, but in Utah as a whole.

Wesselhoff moderated a panel made up of Gardner, Toly and Meisha Ross, co-owner of Twisted Fern. They talked about their experiences in Park City, their journey to leadership roles, and the mentors who have helped them along the way.

“I worked at ski resorts … a very male-dominated industry. And in Park City was the first time that there were many women leaders in the room, and I felt that all throughout the community,” said Ross.

Toly, who grew up in Park City and whose family owns The Red Banjo, the oldest restaurant in the area, felt similarly. She named her grandmother and Tina Lewis as two strong longtime female leaders in the city. 

Gardner, who started with a career in health care before joining Holy Cross Ministries, had a different experience.

“When I think about women in leadership, especially in health care, it’s very fascinating because when you think about health care, the vast majority of care providers are female,” she said. “I spent my last three years in health care as an executive position, and boy do the tables turn. They were all dudes.”

While they celebrated the successes of many, these women said they often are still the only women in the room.

“Only 17% of our elected officials in Utah are women. That’s way below the average,” Toly said. “We rank last in women’s equality as a state.”

So what are some of these barriers? Burnout, and the lack of self care, was one thought.

“Women, I think a lot of the time, we’re really hard on ourselves. We just think that there is more to be done and that we could be doing more,” said Wesselhoff. “It’s so interesting. My husband never feels like that.”

Gardner’s comment echoed her sentiment.

“Self care is a value that is needed and, I think, so many times minimized in a woman’s mindset because you’re supposed to be able to do it all and then 150% beyond,” she said.

Motherhood also poses a challenge for women seeking leadership roles, the panel agreed.

Gardner admitted to her own battles with working-mother’s guilt and moments when her work-life balance became detrimental to her family. Don’t learn from the school of hard knocks like she had to, she said.

Despite these obstacles, women still lead.

“You lead with your heart — and I think that’s a unique thing of women — versus your head, which tends to be the dudes in the room,” Gardner said. “I think that passion gives us the energy to overcome incredible challenges.” 

Keep at it — the room nodded in agreement — and teach the young ones to do the same.

“Young women need to know that they too can do it. Sometimes they just need to be encouraged,” Worel said. “They need to understand that it’s OK to fail, that you can just pick yourself back up, and you get back out there and you start again.”