Secretary of State Elaine Marshall kicked off Johnston Community College's Women in Action workshop series Thursday, July 9 at the Workforce Development Center in Clayton.

Marshall, the first woman elected to executive office in North Carolina, shared some of the stresses she deals with daily as the leader of the office which oversees many of the economic and business-related operations of state government as well as the personal stresses of divorce and her husband's battle with cancer.

"One of the greatest lessons of stress management is to realize that you have control over no one," she told the audience of about 30 people. "The only person you have control over is yourself. Discipline in life is also very important and will eliminate a lot of stress factors women are coping with."

Marshall talked about the importance of taking care of self, getting a solid education, and making good decisions, particularly with finances, as ways to reduce stress.

Jackie Seare, director of occupational extension programs at JCC, developed the Small Business Center free workshop series in hopes of providing professionals information to help balance their work and personal lives.

"We're always looking for anything new and different we think would meet unmet needs of anybody in community," Seare explained. "Because there are so many working mothers and professional women in our workforce today, we thought that having this series of workshops would meet the needs of women in business and industry."

Despite its name, the workshop series is attracting retirees, stay-at-home moms, and male professionals. "It's called Women in Action, but we're not restricting membership to anybody," Seare said.

Women in Action will continue through the month of July.

Remaining workshops are:

Thursday, July 16, 12 - 2 p.m.
Topic: Managing Multiple Projects and Priorities
Speaker: Deborah Pattison, Human Resources Manager/Senior Vice President, KS Bank, Inc.

Thursday, July 23, 12 - 2 p.m.
Topic: Women's Health Issues
Speaker: Sharron Latta, Instructor, Associate Degree Nursing Program, JCC

Thursday, July 30, 12 - 2 p.m.
Topic: Maintaining Work/Life Balance
Speaker: Elizabeth Gardner, Meteorologist, WRAL-TV, Raleigh

To register, contact Seare at 919.209.2595. Remember to bring your lunch.