First Latimer Lunch speaker urges MC students to remain true to who they see in the mirror

Mary Bass offers insights on developing successful business practices during the inaugural Latimer Lunch at Mississippi College.

One of the nation’s most dynamic and powerful female executives and a tireless champion for women in corporate leadership shared her “traveler’s tips” for success during the Mississippi College Women’s Council’s first “Latimer Lunch” Sept. 23 at the Latimer House on the Clinton campus.

Mary Bass, consultant and executive recruiter for Spencer Stuart, a Houston, Texas-based executive search firm, told the packed house of MC students and special guests how the executive search process works, among other valuable business tips.

“Most people are under the impression I go out and find you a job,” said Bass, a 2024 Texas Women’s Hall of Fame inductee who is slated to receive the 2024 Global Leader of Influence Award from the World Affairs Council of Greater Houston next month. “That’s not how it works. The way you get a job is if we know you.

“When you go out into the world and start your career, you need to be in the database of firms like Spencer Stuart.”

She spent the next half-hour explaining how to accomplish that goal. Make friends with professionals in all age groups. Maintain good spiritual, physical, and mental health. And always take the high road.

“Don’t get bogged down with the riffraff,” she said. “Be that classy person. You want to feel good about who you see in the mirror, because if you don’t like to look at it, you’re not happy about something within you.”

The “Latimer Lunch” series provides opportunities for MC students to hear from accomplished industry leaders and visit with members of the council in an exclusive setting. Students can engage with trailblazers in their respective fields like Bass, gain invaluable insights, and build relationships that can have lifelong benefits.

“If you focus on improving yourself, things you want will come to you,” Bass urged. “We attract things based on who we are, not what we are. So, don’t chase it – attract it.”

The luncheon is a major objective of the MC Women’s Council, which seeks to advance the University’s mission through philanthropic initiatives, growing MC’s endowment for scholarships, and providing mentor opportunities for students.

The council’s founding scholarship will be the Jean Pittman Williams Scholarship. Named in honor of a decades-long leader and board member at MC currently serving on the Foundation Board, the scholarship will be awarded to students who will be expected to live a life of service to others during their college years.

For more information about how to support the MC Women’s Council, visit https://www.mc.edu/offices/giving/womens-council.