Member Spotlight: Johanna Kuffner

After YWiB BCIT’s Dress for Success fashion show, a new member of the club showed her extreme dedication and her work ethic in making the fashion show a major success. 

Johanna Kuffner has been travelling and working for a small independent company for the past few years however, she has always had a passion to further her education to fulfill her dream of owning a sustainable company. 

“My mum owns a company, so I have seen women in charge and it has motivated me to challenge myself.”

Johanna acted as the Director of Volunteers for the Dress for Success event which, for a new member, is a very loaded role. 

“I like to be in charge, so when I was assigned the job I was excited and knew I would be fine.”

Originally, Johanna had not planned on joining YWiB yet, as she witnessed the members in action she decided to give the club a chance. Johanna says, “YWiB is applying everything I am learning in class to the real word and it is so much more rewarding than just school.”

Due to her spontaneity and drive to succeed, Johanna believes being a member of YWiB will be her outlet to surround herself with like-minded business oriented women, and learn new skills along the way. 

Besides YWiB, Johanna is an overall well rounded young woman. If she isn’t at the park with her nieces and nephews, Johanna is travelling in Europe.

YWiB BCIT is incredibly proud to have a member like Johanna on our team as we know she will do justice to her role as First Year Liaison. 

Women in Sustainable Business

As business desires and perceptions evolve, the average consumer went from wanting cheap and fast products to affordable and environmentally friendly. This means women in the corporate world must shape their business model and ethics around the desires of the consumer and the best interest of the environment. 

A local business woman is following this model by creating a sustainable business model and targeting the modern day consumer. 

Tessica Truong is a sustainability specialist and is the co-founder of CityHive, a non-profit mission meant to transform the way that young people are involved in decision-making in their cities. Tessica also helped kickstart Youth4Tap, an anti-plastic water bottle coalition of high school students whose campaign resulted in the installation of one filtered water refill station in every single public high school in Vancouver. She was also named Top 30 under 30 by the North American Association for Environmental Education. 

Tessica says her passion for sustainability was sparked by taking road trips across Canada with her parents. “We would drive across Canada in the summer and see Turtle Lake, and that really cemented my mind the beauty of nature, and I was like oh my gosh, how can we not protect something beautiful!”

Although many businesses, large and small curate excuses as to why implementing an environmentally friendly model is time and money exhausting, Tessica wants people to understand the simplicity and vitality of doing so.  

“We all have to be unafraid to try. There are so many resources to learn. I have no background in sustainable business or even business but that didn't matter, there are ways of learning this intuitively.”

As the physical and corporate world continue to change, women in business must be willing to adapt and excel. Promoting sustainability in the workplace is critical and as young women in business, we must be willing to take that leap. 

A TED Talk recommended by Tessica Truong for women in business.

Dress for Success: Tips from Women In Business

As women transition from students with a passion for business to young women in the workforce, our wardrobe morphs with us. Often, we think that at a certain age or with a certain career there are aspects of fashion that we need to give up, such as bright colours, short lengths, intricate patterns and textures, and the list goes on. However, after hearing from the three guest speakers at Dress for Success: Thuy Nguyen, Sierra McNeill, and the keynote speaker Veronika van Wollen, the common misconceptions of fashion in the workplace were torn to shreds. 

Thuy Nguyen, the Founder (She-EO) of Boss Babe Lashes, explained how her fashion sense and beauty is a reflection of how she feels about herself and her confidence level. Nguyen explained how often women rely on clothes and makeup and to give us confidence when in reality our inner confidence is what makes the clothes and makeup look good! Nguyen stunned the audience in her dark-toned floral blazer layered over a little black dress. The outfit was a perfect testament to Thuy’s message: Do not be afraid of patterns, textures, and most importantly statement pieces. 

Although Sierra McNeill’s expertise is directed towards male suits, her tips on choosing the perfect fit and professional patterns are valid for both men and women. McNeill’s experience and education with suits shone bright in her presentation as she explained the importance of fit; not too tight, but not baggy. How do we know the best fit for a blazer? Well, as McNeill explained, one must be able to cross both arms over each other without restriction, however, when one’s arms are relaxed there should not be more than 3 inches of extra fabric in the back. Oversized blazers are in style, yet a well-fitted blazer is ideal for a professional work environment.

As for the keynote speaker, the Vice President of Sales for Market One Media Group, Veronika van Wollen spoke about the importance of maintaining uniqueness and personal style whilst still dressing professional. For Veronika, working in a very corporate environment means playing with colours and textures, rather than cuts and lengths. Her full pink suit showed off her love for monochrome outfits while simultaneously maintaining very professional attire. Veronika explained that no matter the occasion she will always match the dress code with a touch of personality to make her feel confident, sexy, and powerful. It is critical to embody the culture of the office/company yet, to still always maintain one’s individuality, you do not have to wear black everyday!

Overall, the powerful women who presented at Dress for Success allowed each young woman in business the opportunity to understand how to dress professionally while still promoting inner beauty, confidence, and individuality. Clothes are not meant to disguise who we are, rather they are meant to express our true selves.