Sumer Rose-Nolen previews The Association's annual Her Impact Conference with "Breaking Barriers" theme. Here is a transcript of her conversation with KC Counts.
KC Counts:
I'll let you describe, as CEO and co-founder of The Association, what it is.
Sumer Rose-Nolen:
Yes, so we're The Association women's group, and we are actually celebrating our fifth year this year and it has exceeded my expectations. We are a women's professional development group that is both tailored for career path women and business owners. And actually about 40% of our members identify as both. So they work and then they also own a business. But the exciting thing that I'd like to talk to you about today is our 2026 Her Impact Conference coming up on March 6th. It'll be our fifth one. It is happening during Women's History Month, and this year's theme is Breaking Barriers. And may I tell you about our speakers?
KC Counts:
Of course.
Sumer Rose-Nolen:
Okay, so first up is Laura Montoya. She is the New Mexico state treasurer. She's the first female in the state of New Mexico to hold this title, and she's the first Latina to hold this title nationwide. I recently heard her speak last year at another women's summit, and she's incredible. I'm so excited she said yes, and it was available on her calendar. Next up we have Shelley Mozelle, who is the founder and editor-in-chief of the City Magazine in El Paso. It's been around for a little over 20 years, and she is actually authoring her first book and is coming in to talk about breaking barriers in the publishing world. And then lastly, you all have probably heard of Miss Kelly Tomblin. She is the CEO of El Paso Electric and the first female CEO of that over 100-year-old company. She's actually spoken for us before as a panel, and I wanted her to come back as a separate keynote this time. So each one of these women is talking individually, and then they'll wrap up at the end of the day as a panel together.
KC Counts:
When I learned about The Association, we had a supporter and a friend who said, “wait a minute, I just heard about this, and we had a group like this.”
Sumer Rose-Nolen:
I love that.
KC Counts:
I know; it was so it was such a coincidence because it wasn't a revival of that group, right?
Sumer Rose-Nolen:
No, actually I came up with it on a cocktail napkin in 2018 and we launched in 2020 and then we unlaunched and then we relaunched in Summer of ‘21.
KC Counts:
I was just about to ask you why unlaunched, but you said the year and then it all made
sense.
Sumer Rose-Nolen:
2020, yeah. But actually, COVID actually did us a huge favor. When we relaunched in the Summer of 21, we had women coming out the woodwork. They just, they were like, we want to come meet in person. We want to get together. We want to hug necks, and we want to, you know, share our experiences. But when I say that we talk about women in professional situations, when I say career and business owner, we are very selective about who comes to talk to our ladies as far as their, you know, bringing in valuable information. I never want to waste anyone's time. So we talk about health and wellness, as many of us are hitting that over 40 part of - season of life. We talk about...
KC Counts:
I'm sweating right now.
Sumer Rose-Nolen:
I know, right? We talk about building your personal brand. Whether you're a professional or a business owner, that's very important. Our resume is now our personal brand. We talk about women in leadership. So we believe the top of the mountain is flat and all there is more room for more women. We also preach very heavily collaboration over competition. It's very important to us. More is more is more. Gone are the days of women like having to step on each other in order to get ahead. It's just how many people can you bring with you?
KC Counts:
There's something about exponential growth. I think maybe in a financial context, you might think of having a bigger IRA, meaning it has more power, right? And in terms of collaboration, making more for everyone.
Sumer Rose-Nolen:
We're now at the point where we have over 200 members and over 40 community partners, and 98% of our members end up doing business together, and that has nothing to do with us. It's just finding the right people to fit your niche whenever you need something.
KC Counts:
What does it take to be a member or to take part in the conference?
Sumer Rose-Nolen:
Conference tickets are on sale. You can find them on our website or social media and at the Association Women's Group. And then membership, we have three different levels now. So we have an online only because we do 3 Zooms a month. And we have a daytime, what I call a daytime or mid-grade. And that's for all of our in-person events plus our Zooms, and we do 3 in-person events a month. They're all workshops and they're all on Friday mornings. And then we have what I call our all-inclusive. And that is because we also do quarterly mixers. We have pop-up events that we do with some of our partners. We have the conference. We have speed networking. We have speed mentoring. And so the $75 is the monthly all-inclusive, but it includes all of your breakfasts, all of your cocktails, all of your tickets to everything. So I really wanted the organization to make women feel taken care of and special instead of where you pay dues and then you still have other things to pay for.
KC Counts:
All right. Well, Summer Rose Nolan, CEO and co-founder of the association. Thanks for telling us about it.
Sumer Rose-Nolen:
Thanks so much for having me.
You can find more information on the organization and the 2026 Her Impact Conference right here.
