"After spending more than two decades in the country music spotlight and racking up 20 No. 1 hits as a solo artist and half of the legendary mother-daughter duo The Judds, some things haven't changed for Ashland, Ky., native Wynonna Judd. She still gets an occasional hankering for the pinto beans and cornbread that were a culinary staple for her while growing up outside Berea. She still needs a garden in her life, and she still prefers to cook in a well-worn cast iron skillet. She's still working to achieve the same balance between career, family and self that every woman strives to find, and she still feels at home in Kentucky.
"There is a sense of fellowship, I think, among the women (in Kentucky)." Judd said. "I feel like I'm related to them in some way, and I think that's just because they remind me of the people I come from."
Judd will have the chance to share that fellowship this month, as the featured speaker at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky's annual women's conference, In the Interest of Women: A Forum for the Women of Kentucky, to be held October 17 at the Lexington Center.
The day-long conference, which includes a slate of workshops on topics from self-defense to nonverbal communication, is designed to educate and inspire local women in their lives and their careers, said Diane Newcomb, community relations assistant manager at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky. By giving employees the opportunity to network and concentrate on personal goals, local businesses can also benefit when women return refocused, with "their saws sharpened just a little bit more," Newcomb said.
"(Participants) want to know how to improve themselves, how to protect their families, ... how to move their careers forward, how to make their businesses stronger if they are business owners - real things that mean a lot to women," Newcomb said. "We've really done a lot to help women who are looking for that balance."
And too often in that balancing act, the first thing a woman drops is her responsibilities to herself, according to Judd. In 2005, Judd went public to discuss some of her own personal trials in life, including her struggles with her weight, on the Oprah Winfrey Show. While she received more than 800,000 e-mails in response to that appearance, she said one particular statement provoked more letters and e-mails than anything else she had ever said publicly.
"I made a comment where I said I had forgotten to put myself on the list today," she said.
It's a sentiment that strikes a chord with most women, both inside and outside of the workplace, Judd said.
"I think that we suffer from a spiritual disease of loneliness of self. It's been my experience in recovery, as well as being a mother and a wife, that finding the time for self is the greatest struggle," she said.
Judd's autobiography, Coming Home to Myself, became a New York Times bestseller in 2005, and she is scheduled to release her first Christmas album as a solo artist this month. For Judd, who lives with her husband and two children on a 1,000-acre spread near Nashville that she shares with her mother Naomi and sister Ashley, her constantly changing roles have brought new perspective and new priorities to her hectic schedule.
"I'd rather have a nap than a Grammy at this point in my life," she said with a laugh.
And in regard to Toyota's women's conference, gathering so many women in one place to connect and recharge creates a powerful dynamic of its own, according to Judd.
There's just something so godly about it," she said. "It's just a sense of plugging into some greater force. It's like we get to take a break away from the world and come and connect in a way that's really sacred, that's hard to do in the workplace and in the home."
If nothing else, Judd said she hopes her keynote address will give attendees the opportunity to laugh and take a well-deserved break from daily life.
"I make jokes about how I go on stage to take a break, and women understand that," she said. "I will go on tour just to get rest. They know what I'm talking about. ... I'm going to go to work so I can be alone - in front of 10,000 people."
The conference is expected to attract roughly 1,000 attendees to Lexington and an additional 1,000 to Louisville's Galt House East, where the event will be held on October 16. Interest in this year's line-up has been strong, according to Newcomb, and attendance could be even greater.
Registration for In the Interest of Women is $75 per person. For more information on the conference, call 859-252-3350 ext. 3813. Interested participants can also access registration information on the Internet at www.toyotageorgetown.com/women.