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President and CEO, Connor Painting
Age: 65
Hometown: Indianapolis
Family: husband, Robert; sons, Nathan and Aidan; five grandchildren
Achievements: Janmarie Connor joined her family’s business 28 years ago and for the last nine has been president and CEO, “uniting our people, brand and customers around a shared purpose while keeping the company strong and growing.” She said she’s particularly proud to have consistently shared company profits with every employee—setting a record last year and looking to break the record in 2025. Connor won the Indiana Chamber of Commerce 2025 Women’s Empower Award, which recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions by empowering and advancing women in business and whose leadership has created meaningful impact within her organization and the broader community.
Career track: From her first job detasseling corn, to selling children’s shoes, waiting tables in college and working in corporate roles with Xerox Corp. and Abbott Labs, “nothing in my career path was a direct line to co-owning and ultimately leading a family business in the construction industry.”
Influential moment: In 1992, Connor had what she called her “Yes, Tony, No, Tony” career moment where she learned to trust her instincts and intuition. She was offered a position with a major corporation that came with a great salary, company car, excellent benefits and a snazzy title. But something in her gut said the price of admission and the sacrifice to her young family would be too much. She wrote two letters to Tony, who would be her boss—the “Yes, Tony” letter spelling out all the reasons the job was perfect, and the “No, Tony” letter that examined her gut instincts. She ignored her intuition and sent the “Yes, Tony” letter. “It was a painful, soul-crushing way to learn the most valuable lesson I’ve ever learned,” she said. “And it set me on a path to a far more meaningful way of living.”
Giving back: board member, Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee, Indiana Chamber of Commerce, La Plaza, Heartfulness Institute; member, National Association of Women Business Owners Indianapolis Corporate Partners Committee, Indy Chamber, Hispanic Business Council, EmployIndy’s Good Wages Initiative Steering Committee
Advice for young women: “Get to know the voice in your head and befriend it, cultivate it, put your arms around it when it’s having a moment and love it.”•
Check out more Women of Influence honorees.
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