In this week’s episode, we talk to Vanessa LaClair, the Executive Director of ESSAE – theEmpire State Society of Association Executives (aka, the Association for Associations). Growing up as an independent go-getter from rural Upstate New York, Vanessa went from a Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice into Associations, specifically enjoying planning meetings and events. When someone told her, “don’t put yourself in a box,” it inspired Vanessa to accept her current role as an Executive Director.