The Women Empowered Conference is an annual event dedicated to fostering the growth and success of women in business and leadership within our community. It provides a dynamic platform for networking, professional development, and inspiration, featuring engaging speakers, workshops, and opportunities to connect with peers and mentors. The conference aims to empower women with the tools, knowledge, and connections needed to excel in their careers and contribute to the economic vitality of the Ogden-Weber area.
2025 Speakers
KEYNOTE SPEAKER – Tawyna Linsley
Founder of Rise HiER | Global Sales Leader | Advocate for Women’s Growth
Tawnya Linsley is a seasoned sales leader, global team builder, and passionate advocate for career development. With more than a decade of experience leading high-performing teams across the U.S. and internationally, Tawnya is known for cultivating cultures rooted in trust, intentional growth, and heart-centered coaching.
She is the founder of Rise HiER, a career development and coaching platform designed to support women at every stage of their professional journey. Whether you’re launching a new path, navigating a pivot, or leveling up in your current role, Rise HiER provides the tools, mentorship, and community to help you move forward with clarity and confidence.
Tawnya’s work is grounded in the belief that career growth doesn’t have to be confusing or lonely. Through personalized coaching, structured resources, and a powerful network of women, she helps members uncover what they’ve accomplished, define what they want next, and take aligned, meaningful action.
Above all, Tawnya is committed to helping women step fully into their potential, at their own pace and in their own way.
Anna Stariha is the Global Community Growth Manager at the MarketStar Foundation, where she leads efforts to expand education, empower self-reliance, and strengthen communities through strategic partnerships. Over her five years at MarketStar, Anna has developed a passion for training, with a special focus on supporting women in business and helping others build confidence, self-awareness, and a growth mindset.
Her personal journey has fueled her commitment to mental health advocacy and soft skills development, especially for those navigating identity and career transitions. Anna is currently pursuing her MBA at the University of Utah and, when she’s not building community impact, she enjoys reading fantasy novels and spending time with her cats
Anna Starih
Kari Harbath is a marketing and tech professional by day and a passionate advocate, writer, and community-builder by heart. After the unexpected deaths of both her mother Kim and husband Aaron, Kari found herself navigating endless grief while parenting her newborn deafblind daughter Sloan, born with CHARGE syndrome. Rather than shrink under the weight of these challenges, she leaned into them—finding strength through storytelling, dark humor, and a deep commitment to advocacy. Kari now serves on the Utah Parent Center advisory board, the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind advisory council, and the board of the National Family Association for DeafBlindness. She’s also a parent mentor for families with babies new to their own complicated diagnoses at the Primary Children’s NICU. (You can request her by name if you know a NICU family needing support!)
Kari shares her writing and experience with grief and parenting a disabled child on her Instagram (@kariharbath), where she connects with others in grief, disability, and complex caregiving. She also runs Sloan’s Scrunchies with her sister Kassie—a local nonprofit that donates proceeds to the Kim McCorkle-Harbath memorial scholarship at Weber State University. Known for her mix of unfiltered realism and honesty, dark humor, and deep compassion and actionable advocacy, Kari believes that leadership and empowerment doesn’t require perfection—just the courage to show up as your full, authentic self.
Kari Harbath
Nurture Queen Energy
GM of Fitness for
Orangetheory in Weber/Davis Counties
Advocate for Women Who Lift Each Other Up
Bitty has worked in the fitness industry for over 20 years to help individuals progress toward being their best self. She currently manages 4 studios & trains the coaches to bring their very best to the table for a diverse and dynamic team who work to lift each other UP. We each have something special to bring….. & so do you
Bitty Beus
ENDNOTE SPEAKER – Robyn Oguinye
Hailing from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Robyn Oguinye is an award-winning broadcast journalist and graduate of Louisiana State University where she studied mass communications and political science. She has been an anchor and consumer investigative reporter at Fox 13 in Salt Lake City since December 2022.
Robyn started her news career at KIMT-TV in Mason City, Iowa as a reporter, weekend anchor and producer. After nearly two years there, she continued her journey as a reporter and weekend anchor at WFRV-TV in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Her most recent stop was at San Antonio’s NBC-FOX affiliate, where she was a reporter and fill-in anchor.
Her past reporting has helped uncover housing discrimination, exposed the mishandling of sexual assault complaints at a private university and revealed how city inspectors failed to follow through on vital repairs.
As a champion of childhood literacy, one of Robyn’s favorite causes she’s taken up since moving to the Beehive state, is the “If You Give a Child a Book” campaign, which raises money to provide free books and book fairs to students in underserved schools in our community.
