Commercial Integrator August 2022 - 29

fruits of that labor are visible for all to see:
There are now 60-something Women's
Council groups worldwide - a fact that, if
you ask Schaeff er, was " ...mostly driven by
Brandy. " But it's evident that Schaeff er, too,
takes immense pride in what her fellow AV
women and she have created. She beams
when she reports that the Women's Council
is the largest of the councils, by far; the
most active of the councils, by far; and is
the council that brings in the most sponsorship
dollars, by far. " I have two daughters, "
Schaeff er says, " and I have two granddaughters.
The story I'd like to tell them is, 'I
created change - signifi cant change.' "
Advisor and Counselor
Apart from her Council eff orts, one of
Schaeff er's most powerful ways of eff ecting
change is to take young AV professionals
under her wing and occupy the same
advisor/counselor role that so many
mentors played for her. As a mentor,
Schaeff er has focused on nurturing young
women. " Certainly, there are a lot of men
who helped me grow in my career, " she
acknowledges. " But I think, with women,
we tend to more self-critical...to be a little
more insecure. " Observing that, Schaeff er
made a consequential decision. " I wanted
to be a woman who helped other women
and helped pull women up, " she declares.
She also has sought, over the years, to push
back against the idea that commercial AV
is a zero-sum game, where one woman's
success must come at the expense of another,
an idea she scoff s at as " ridiculous. " In
Schaeff er's view, women's success - both
individually and collectively - is welcome
and worth celebrating.
Harking back to her request for Dave
Bright to be her mentor, Schaeff er makes
clear that being a good counselor is " ...not
to be warm and fuzzy always. " It's equally
important, she says, to be open and honest.
" Sometimes, " Schaeff er observes, " to help,
you have to let them hear things they don't
want to hear. " She off ers an example: a
highly accomplished young woman with
three degrees who wanted a position where
she'd be paid for each degree she'd earned.
" If they hire me to serve in a role, they're
really getting a three-fer, " Schaeff er recalls
the woman saying. Responding, Schaeff er
commercialintegrator.com
Whether it's for her granddaughters or for all the other girls and young women across the
world, Schaeff er wants to embolden the next generation to push through their boundaries
and achieve beyond their wildest imaginings.
off ered an alternative view, pushing back on
the woman's perspective. " I don't view it as
confrontation, " she explains of pushback. " I
view it as having a good, healthy interaction
and dialogue. " Forthrightness, Schaeff er
adds, is key to the ultimate enterprise -
namely, to help people.
Building a Legacy
Asked about her greatest accomplishments
and her burgeoning legacy, Schaeff er
unsurprisingly points to what she's tried to
do for others. " Being an advocate for and
building awareness of women in the industry
- that's what I want to be known for, "
she states unhesitatingly. But, despite all
her accomplishments, Schaeff er has mixed
feelings about commercial AV's success in
diversifying during her multi-decade career.
When she began in 1988, she says, women
composed about 6% of our industry. " Now,
I'm leaving, " Schaeff er refl ects, " and I
think our numbers are 14%. " This marks an
improvement, but, for her, it's also a missed
opportunity. The U.S. broadly is 51% female,
and it should be our mission, Schaeff er
believes, to remove all exogeneous factors
preventing our AV community from looking
like the society within which it exists.
Auspiciously, Schaeff er sees now, more
than ever before, greater awareness of
the need of diversifying commercial AV.
Thus, she says hopefully, the arc might
soon bend more meaningfully. To facilitate
that bending of the arc, Schaeff er makes
herself available to companies that want to
populate their ranks with talented women.
" I spread [the opportunities] to the AVIXA
Women's Council groups, " she explains.
" I reach out to my tribe of women. " She
underscores that #avtweeps who want to
welcome diverse candidates to their talent
pools must break their refl exive habit of soliciting
applicants via the same old resourcAUGUST
2022 Commercial Integrator 29
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Commercial Integrator August 2022

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