Arizona legends LaRose, Bonvicini preach women’s empowerment

A lot has changed over the years as both have moved on to their second careers; LaRose is a photographer and Bonvicini is a women’s basketball television analyst and an agent at New York Life Insurance.

Still, some things never go out of style.

Early on, both of them understood the importance of building relationships and uplifting others along the way — especially women.

It’s how they succeeded in their careers. Whether it was LaRose, who was the University of Arizona athletic department’s chief operating officer, the school’s first female athletic director and first woman to oversee the UA’s Division I football and men’s basketball. Or Bonvicini, who won more than 700 games as a coach at Long Beach State, Arizona and Seattle.

“I always say to our student-athletes, and we had over 500 of them, was build a relationship,” LaRose said. “It’s because of the relationships that I built, certainly build relationships with leaders — that’s who you want to tag along with — but build those relationships, and that’s what moved my career along.”

LaRose, herself, was hired into Arizona Athletics — initially as the softball coach in 1979 — by another woman, Mary Roby, who was UA’s first director of athletics for women’s sports in 1972.

All of this is why, when LaRose was asked to be part of a panel at a women’s empowerment event put on by Bonvicini and a handful of other New York Life agents — Sarah Eschenbrenner, Aida Castor, India Davis, Stephanie Kidder, Holly Welton and Angela Jurban – it was an easy “yes“

Speaking at The Leo Kent Hotel, LaRose said Wednesday night, “It’s a way to pay it forward and pay it back.

“I’m so grateful to what some of those women did for me and I hope to do the same for them.”

All three panelists — LaRose as well as Vera Minot, creative director at Southwest Solutions, a promotional products firm, and Tania Bradford, partnerships manager at Veregy, a general contractor — cited plenty of reminders that navigating a career path is not easy.

While no one is ignoring issues of equal pay and growth of women in leadership in the workplace, the event took a positive approach to what the 120 women from diverse backgrounds in attendance can do to take control of their careers, especially with a little help.

Bonvicini was the moderator and said she of participating in the event: “I think it’s really important that you build people up and build women up.”

“I really think it’s important that we listen,” Bonvicini added. “It’s really important that you empower players and teams, whether you’re a team in business or you’re a team as a coach. Empowering means that you’re lifting people up. And I believe that’s what a good coach does, and that’s what I try to do.”

The event also had an enlightening environment from the moment an attendee stepped into the room.

Alison Smith, a fifth-grade teacher at Los Ninos in the Sunnyside School District, and a client of Bonvinci, said that this is the second year she’s attended the event and she came back because, “It makes me feel good,” and ” It gives me hope.”

Added Smith: “I look at my girls (her students) and think ‘I want you to have an amazing future.’ I need to make sure the stage is set so they can succeed. And I think these gals are doing it.”

Last year, Kym Adair, executive director of the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin and Juice by Dre and Snoop, was one of the speakers on the panel. Three years ago, after the Arizona women’s basketball team played for the National Championship, UA coach Adia Barnes spoke.

Eschenbrenner said that while the format of the event has changed over the years — from an informal gathering to one speaker and now a panel — the joy for her comes from the women themselves as “They feel empowered; they feel strong; they feel connected.

“It’s so fun to just see the responses and just to see the looks on everybody’s faces,” Eschenbrenner said. “I was trying to walk around and get pictures. You can’t really capture it, but it’s really impactful to see.”

There were many knowing nods on top of laughter and applause as the panelists shared stories that echoed experiences many in the room had encountered.

Most likely the biggest laugh of the evening came from Minot sharing strategy on how to navigate things smoother, especially on how to say, “No and don’t apologize for it,” she said.

“My pro tip in this space because it’s uncomfortable until you practice just saying no with no apology and no explanation,” she added. “There is one best practice for how to get more comfortable doing this.

“Everybody remembers the kiosks at the malls, like ‘here, let me put lotion on your hands right now even though you don’t want it.’ Like, ‘Here, let me put perfume on you.’ This is the best place to practice ‘no.’ Try it ‘No,’ and then keep walking. It is powerful.”

Both LaRose and Bradford looked at mentorship in a different way, more like relationships. They both shared that sometimes formalized mentorships don’t work out as either side intended.

LaRose described her own leadership style as “humanistic. I wanted to be inclusive, interactive, empathetic, collaborative, bring people to the table.”

This approach also flowed into her tips on how to avoid burnout.

“Don’t, don’t confuse your work and your life,” LaRose said. “Remember that your work is just part of your life, right? There’s a difference between making a living and making a life.”

LaRose, a two-time cancer survivor, added that the time after her first diagnosis when she was in her early 40s totally changed her, as well as the direction of her career.

“When you suddenly become aware of the time in your life and that you desperately want to learn, you make choices that are meaningful and that straighten you out,” LaRose said. “I look to you guys and say that I really think about it. It’s easy. It really is. When I came back from chemotherapy, first of all, I told you before I was empathetic. Well, if Joan had a hangnail, I was crying and asking her to take off work.”