A talk about color theory might seem like an odd topic to hear at a conference for business-minded women. Maggie O’Neill ’99, artist and co-founder of SWATCHROOM, a design and fabrication firm, begs to differ.
“The idea behind color theory, abbreviated, is that no two colors next to each other are ever the same,” she said to a packed Hogan Ballroom for the 14th Annual Women in Business Conference through the Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society.
“People are the exact same way. Everybody in this room has a palette — you’re not just one color, you’re a series of colors. When you are next to somebody, they provoke something in you, they inspire something in you. If you think about how that translates to your professional life, your personal life, there’s beauty in that. That means you should take advantage of everybody that’s sitting to your right or to your left at all times. Because you never know what that person is going to do, or how they’ll bring out the best in you.”
And College of the Holy Cross students and alumnae had the opportunity to — quite literally — learn from those to their right and left throughout the day. Multiple panel discussions allowed students to ask questions about different post-grad fields, while networking sessions built in the time to talk directly with alumnae about the variety of opportunities available after graduation.
“I love hearing people’s paths from their major to their first job to what they do now,” says Sarah Anderson ’20, co-chair of the event and an English major with a minor in religious studies and a concentration in creative writing.