50 Leading Women: Courtney Echols
In honor and celebration of our Women’s Division‘s 50th Anniversary, we will be spotlighting 50 Leading Women making an impact, raising their voice, and leading the next generation of women in the workforce and Plano community.
Introducing, Courtney Echols, Vice President of Development for Children’s Advocacy Center of Collin County. Courtney has over 12 years of fundraising and special events experience, having previously worked for Pepperdine University School of Law, the University of Texas at Dallas Jindal School of Management, and My Possibilities. Her skills and experience fundraising are directly impacting those the Children’s Advocacy Center of Collin County serves so that no child victimized by abuse or neglect goes without services and support. Courtney earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of California, San Diego, and her Juris Doctorate from Pepperdine University School of Law.
She is a proud graduate of Leadership Plano, Leadership North Texas University, and Leadership Texas and has a strong commitment to serving in her community through board involvement and volunteering with her husband and children. She previously served on the Plano Chamber’s Women’s Division Board and is still a very warm, welcoming face at our Women’s Division Monthly Luncheons. If you’re lucky, she just may be your fitness instructor at The Barre Code Plano or CycleStar Instructor at the CycleBar Lakeside Market. There is nothing this women can not do!
1. Do you remember your first time attending one of our Women’s Division events?
I remember attending a Nothing but Networking luncheon at Gleneagles back in 2016. It was the first time I had attended something remotely close to “speed networking” and I remember being in awe of how organized the system was. I also learned that day to ALWAYS bring more business cards than you think you could possibly need! What made me come back, time and time again was the energy in the room. You often hear people make comments about how women don’t support each other and the energy at a Women’s Division luncheon is the complete opposite. The monthly luncheons are a refreshing respite to me; a place where I can see women I respect and admire and meet women with the same kind of positive and cooperative energy.
2. Describe your leadership style and how you lead others
My leadership style is trusting and optimistic. I know that I am not the expert in everything…far from it! I love to see my team excel in what they are good at. I am here to support their efforts but also to trust that they’ve got it—unless they tell me or show me otherwise. Someone once told me that you can do anything, but you can’t do everything. I believe that my team is the strongest when we all show up with our own set of skills and talents and when we trust each other that we’re all working for a common goal.
3. How can women develop their leadership skills in the workforce?
Take the leap, ask for more responsibility, say yes. For the longest time, I did not want to manage people. I wanted to “go and do” and didn’t think I could be bogged down with a leadership role. The more I wrestled with opportunities to lead, the more I started to feel like “why not me?” As women, there are some barriers to our advancement in our roles but a lot of times, we believe a story we have told ourselves about what we are and are not capable of. So, take the leap! And if you’re too scared to do it, surround yourself with mentors and a tribe who bring out the best in you by challenging the story you’ve told yourself.
4. What are the most important decisions you make as a leader?
I think the most important decisions I make as a leader are how I spend my time. As a working mother, it’s important to me to find balance in my life; for myself, but also so that I can model that it IS possible for members of my team to achieve the same. Whether it’s taking time to squeeze in a workout for myself or carving out time in my schedule to attend an assembly at school for my kids, you only get 24 hours in the day. How you spend them matters and your time is your most valuable resource so use it wisely!
5. What has been one of your biggest joys as a leader?
Hands down, the best part of being a leader for me, so far, is seeing my team succeed. It’s a proud mama moment!
6. What strategies could be used to promote inclusion in the workplace?
I’m a big proponent of bringing your whole self to work. If I don’t know who you are and what matters to you outside of the office, I don’t know how to support you in the office. Spending time getting to know your team helps in learning what is important to them. Building a place of trust and respect fosters a safe environment for all of us to feel like we can show up as our true selves without judgment or consequence.
7. What advice would you give your 25-year-old self?
It’s often used in parenting, but I think it applies universally: the days are long but the years are short. If you’re not intentional about reassessing where you are in life, the time flies and you may end up feeling stuck in a situation. A related saying that I love: “You are not a tree. If you don’t like where you are, move”. This has gotten me out of a bad mood or a bad, more serious, situation.
8. What advice can you give to the next generation of female leaders?
Cheer for each other, loud and often. Compliment other women and mean it. I heard Pamela Ziegler-Petty say it on a panel of Athenas at a Women’s Division luncheon: open the door and leave the ladder down for the woman behind you.
9. Who inspired you and why?
This is an easy one. My maternal grandmother, Mildred Vivian Jann Pon will be 104 in May. She is an Asian-American woman who graduated from then College of the Pacific (now, University of the Pacific) in Stockton, California in 1939. Can you imagine? I feel so fortunate to have grown up with this kind of female role model who just by her own choices modeled for me that I could achieve anything I set my mind to.
10. What do you want to be remembered for?
I want to be remembered as “the woman who remembered my name and who grabbed an extra chair and pulled up a seat for me at the table”.
