Abi Reiland opened the 2026 Taking Up Space event with a quote from Elizabeth Gilbert.
“When women are gathered together with no men around, they don’t have to be anything in particular. They can just be.”
Reiland said this quote captured the essence of what she hoped her annual event would be — a place where women could just be themselves. This was the fourth iteration of the event, which is a panel and networking event that seeks to elevate and empower business women in Central Iowa.
This year’s panelists included:
- Vanessa Andersen, owner, Pink Couch Wellness
- Chrissy Brabandt, store leader, Scheels
- Ngozi Igbokwe, senior manager of learning and development, Bright Horizons
- Liz Lidgett, art adviser, author and gallery owner, Liz Lidgett Gallery and Design
- Dr. Lauren Patrick, founder and owner, Blanc Dental Aesthetics
- Jaclyn Taylor, owner, Taylor REP
The panel was moderated by KCCI anchor Alyx Sacks.
Questions for the panel were divided into four themed sections: leadership and influence; growth, confidence and ambition; wellness and sustainable success; and relationships, community and taking up space. Panelists shared the lessons they’ve learned over the course of their careers, how they juggle the many aspects of their lives and what it means to them to be authentic and unapologetic.
Here are 13 memorable quotes from the event.
These quotes have been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
Leadership and influence
“I learned in leadership that it’s really not about having all the answers. I, as a leader of the team, thought, ‘OK, if I give them the answers to help them, they’re going to grow, they’re going to develop.’ But what happened over time is that this person kept coming to me all the time for everything, and I was like, this cannot be it. What I need to do is teach her how to fish. So that’s what I’ve done in leadership over the years is tried to teach people how to fish and find answers for themselves.” – Igbokwe
“Early on in my career, I wanted to become a master of copying. So I was watching every movement, the nonverbal body language. How did they say this? I’ve had a lot of mentors in my 25-year career at Scheels, and most of them have been men. So I thought, I’m just going to copy what makes them successful, and it will make me successful as well. It wasn’t working. Then I had the epiphany that it didn’t feel natural to me. So when I started leading authentically, it just started to click, and it was magical.” – Brabandt
“The listener creates the speaker. A lot of it is open door policy. If that is not what’s happening, it can be countercultural. There needs to be some sort of humanity here. It’s the people-first mentality. If you don’t have authenticity leading, how you show up, they don’t know how to speak with you and you don’t know how to listen. The listener creates the speaker and creates space.” – Andersen
“I’ve had to build a litmus test. I’m running and building a values-led business and hopefully a values-led life, and so that’s my litmus test. I go back to every new opportunity and I say, ‘Does this build off of what I’m already doing and where I want to go? And does it align with my values?’” – Lidgett
Growth, confidence and ambition
“About 20 years ago, one of our corporate buyers decided we were going to make Scheel’s shoes. We thought it was an amazing idea. We bought hundreds of thousands of dollars of Scheel’s shoes. As you can imagine, it sucked. It was awful. We sold them for like $5 on the clearance rack. After we had gotten rid of all of them at the end of the year, Steve D. Scheel lined up a bunch of champagne glasses, filled them with apple cider, and we toasted the Scheel’s shoe mistake. Being part of a culture where you can make mistakes – we have a lot of young people who work for us. They’re going to make mistakes. But we have an environment that it’s OK, and so we don’t just slide it under the rug.” – Brabandt
“I won’t apologize for the things I can’t control. The things I can control? Heck yes. I will apologize for any misstep that I make. But I will find a way to correct that. Accountability is so important in a career and in your personal life.” – Taylor
Wellness and sustainable success
“I don’t have a shortage of grime or grit. There’s not a shortage of, ‘I can get this done.’ It’s only been fairly recently that I’m like, ‘What about the option of contentment?’ Because sometimes, more is more, and it’s not a value add.” – Andersen
“Every single day, even for five minutes, I try to do something for myself. Have some quiet time for myself, like the gym, or in the summer it’s in the garden. I take some quiet because the world and our responsibilities are noisy, and they require so much of our energy. But there is no one that is going to prioritize you more than you prioritize you. I can’t show up as a mom or a coworker or anything unless I’m taking that quiet time for me.” – Patrick
“When I was 20, I would tell you I worked out because I wanted to be hot. Now at 41, I do it because I want to be strong. I want to feel good in my body. I want to be a great example to my kids. I find directness and clarity in what I need to be doing for the day then. – Lidgett
“Just because I can, doesn’t mean I should. I don’t always need to be the one that makes the time commitment because there are other people that are capable of doing it.” – Igbokwe
Relationships, community and taking up space
“It’s good to have cheerleaders, but in a meaningful way beyond that. So I ask myself, is this just going to make her feel good, or is this going to move her forward? There are so many ways to show up for people as a friend and as supporting their business. One of my rituals is when I sit down at my desk for the day at the office, I send out a text or I write a note or email encouraging someone in my life. But it’s also buying their book, posting about it, sharing things with my audience, making that email and that connection. So many people in this room, on this panel, have done that for me, and it’s karma, and it comes back.” – Lidgett
“I have come to realize that success means nothing without the people around me. Hiring a new team, one of the questions I asked them was, ‘What are your long-term goals?’ It gives me a different kind of satisfaction when my team, my friends, the people that I am connected to win. Be a champion of your community, I think it always comes back to you.” – Patrick
“You don’t need everyone to agree with you, stand behind you, to take a step forward and take up that space. There’s never a right time. There’s never a perfect moment. But if you don’t take a step, you’re never going to know.” – Taylor
