(Rural Roots Canada) – Alberta rancher Ashley Perepelkin will hit the stage at November’s Advancing Women in Agriculture Conference in Niagara Falls, returning to the event that was a turning point in her life.

“AWC was a first for me in the sense that I’m an extroverted person living in an introvert’s body. And extroverted me always signs up introverted me for things,” Perepelkin explained.

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Her first on-stage appearance at the conference happened at AWC West in Calgary, where she talked about imposter syndrome. She says stepping on the stage was intimidating at first.

“I still occasionally have imposter syndrome, which is what my first speech was about,” she said. “We don’t necessarily think that we all worked as hard as we did to get where we are. At the time, I very much thought I was alone. So my mindset has changed on it.”

She credits her experiences with the conference for broadening her outlook and perspective on life.

“I have very much opened my mindset and broadened my horizons. And, introverted Ashley is showing up less and less to the things that extroverted Ashley signs herself up for.”

AWC East 2025 takes place November 23-25 at the Sheraton Fallsview hotel in Niagara Falls, Ontario. To learn more about the event, you can visit the website.