Her Story
About Ann
Ann Kapustiak serves as Conference and Program Manager at an association management company in Chicago, Illinois, where she has worked since 2023. In this role, she provides full-service event planning and management for a medical society, overseeing an annual scientific meeting that involves coordinating more than 170 international speakers, supervising a scientific abstract workshop that receives over 250 applications each year, and organizing smaller in-person learning workshops focused on hands-on experiences within the specialty. She also supports trade organizations and nursing professional associations. Ann graduated from Tulane University in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. Prior to her current position, she worked on the public relations team at the Illinois State Board of Education, gaining experience in state governance and institutional change. She is passionate about sustainability and founded a voluntary employee resource group at her company to promote environmentally conscious practices in both personal and professional settings. Ann attributes her success to the values instilled by her parents, including prioritizing education and building connections, and she volunteers with the Alliance for the Great Lakes.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Ann
01What do you attribute your success to?
My parents are the best parents in the whole world. I grew up in a house where education was really prioritized, and it was always instilled in me to follow those interests but build skills and knowledge around them. There's also some Midwestern politeness, like I mentioned, I'm a Chicago girl, and being able to make friends wherever you go and find ways to connect with people is something I just watched my parents do inherently growing up. Just being able to make connections wherever I go is one of those things my parents instilled in me growing up that has served me very well in all of my personal and professional experiences.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
My former manager at the Illinois State Board of Education, Natalie Nash, told me only take advice from people who are in a position that you're trying to reach a similar role level of. People can only give advice based off of what they've achieved and what they've seen, and if somebody's doing something to their credit that works for them, but it's not of interest to you, chances are that advice is not gonna move you in the direction you want to be.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I work at an association management company that's majority women. I would tell any young women entering associations to seek out the women. There's often sort of an unspoken kinship that happens in those professional spaces. Beyond that, make friends wherever you go. It doesn't pay to not make a connection, so just making sure you're always sharing information with people, connecting, talking about what you're passionate about. All that authenticity usually leads to really promising opportunities.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Events are wasteful. There's a lot of stuff that gets purchased for events on the attendee side and the organizer side that doesn't get reused. There's a lot of opportunity in the waste that is inherent in event planning. I've seen some conference organizers who have started to partner with local organizations to recycle couches and TVs and all these things that are bought that are disposable for the event planners, but can go on to have second lives and make a really positive impact in the community after an event closes.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Thoughtfulness is really big for me. I'm a very enthusiastic person and love to jump and get things started, especially in a professional scenario. But oftentimes I find that being more thoughtful and thinking through not just being a yes man, not just delivering work for work's sake, but really bringing strategy and that thoughtfulness into all work considerations has served me very well. We can keep spinning our wheels and delivering work for work's sake, but what are the goals and objectives of our client organizations?
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