My Leadership Journey – Hall of Leaders Inductee 2010

M. Theresa Breining, CMP, CMM, CED, President, Breining Group, Inc.

I have been extraordinarily fortunate to have landed in the meeting industry.  I had no idea when I started working with a small state association in California many years ago, facilitating the meetings and trade show for the group, as well as managing the membership details, newsletters, and all of the other details necessary for a staff of two people, that this job would open the door to an unexpected journey.

I learnt about the intricacies of planning and realised that I had an interest and some skill in the area. From that small association, I continued to move to bigger organisations, with a national focus and more complex events, and eventually started my own meeting management firm, which opened doors to different experiences, new people and an international landscape.

Along the way, I started teaching in the industry and became very involved with meeting industry organisations – primarily, MPI and the Convention Industry Council, since rebranded to the Event Industry Council (EIC). I had no idea how much these organisations would change my perspective of my work, of the possibilities available to me or the leadership skills I had yet to learn.

Within MPI, I served at a chapter level, and then went on to international service, eventually given the honour of serving as the Chair of the International Board. During the same period, I was getting more involved with EIC, and was asked to sit on the newly formed APEX Commission, a body charged with developing standards for the meeting industry. I was later asked to chair the APEX Commission, which was very exciting and also all-consuming, as we worked to get so many different segments of the industry to first identify and then agree to doing business in a consistent way.  As with most big projects, the end result was quite different than first imagined, but we did produce some best practices that are used by many individuals and organisations today. 

Some years later, and much to my surprise, I was inducted into the EIC Hall of Leaders.  I had seen my heroes in the industry inducted in the Hall of Leaders in previous years, so to be included among them was quite extraordinary. 

I know that I am a regular person who has had an extraordinary journey that I didn’t plan and couldn’t have predicted. When asked how I did it, I must say that what I’ve done primarily is pay attention as doors opened, and then made the decision to walk through them, even when terrified. I’ve certainly made some bad decisions along the way, and I’ve experienced plenty of ‘failure,’ but none of it has killed me, and all of it has added to my experience, my knowledge and my certainty about the importance of loving the work I do, and the value of being of service – to my community, my professional colleagues and the industry I love.