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BizVoice/Indiana Chamber – November/December 2017
Stephanie Smithey traces her passion for education
back to childhood. Shy and studious, she was an
avid reader.
“The highlight of the summer was the day of the
week the bookmobile would come to our
neighborhood,” she recalls. “It would park on our
street and you had a limit of 10 books. I’d get 10
books, read them, turn them in the next week and
get 10 more.”
Time didn’t dim Smithey’s thirst for knowledge. She stokes the
fire as an attorney and shareholder at Ogletree Deakins, one of the
nation’s largest labor and employment law firms.
She assists clients primarily in the areas of retirement, health and
welfare plans.
“For someone who’s kind of a lifelong learner, it doesn’t even
feel like work,” Smithey imparts. “The way I explain it to people is
that our clients are job creators – they’re businesses. And a big part of
creating those jobs is making sure that you’ve got benefit packages that
attract and retain the workers you need.
“Unfortunately, the benefit laws are super complex. So, my job is
to break it down and understand what their goals are. Then cut
through the complexity and help them get there so they can continue
creating jobs and running their business.”
She’s also a longtime Indiana Chamber partner in educating
businesses about employee benefits laws and regulations.
“Stephanie Smithey is our go-to-person for employee benefits,”
comments Kerri Begley, vice president of business education and
events. “She identifies topics for the annual Employee Benefits Seminar
and is a presenter at that event. She has a dynamic rapport with our
attendees and helps them feel comfortable about asking questions.”
‘Real people behind every project’
Family photos adorn Smithey’s office. Sunlight streams through a
window. Mementos from children Will (age 19) and Ellen (age 23)
add to the warm ambience.
Behind Smithey’s desk is a poignant pen and ink drawing. It
shows a group of people forming, with their bodies, the word,
‘humanistic.’ ”
“There’s lots of definitions of humanistic, but it’s basically
somebody who’s really focused on human values, human emotion,
advancing humanity – human focus,” she reflects. “My daughter made
that her freshman year at college in an art class.
“I had it framed for my office because I do think that in the
business world, sometimes people can lose sight of the fact that there’s
real people behind every decision. There’s real people behind every
project. Every deadline. That’s one reason why it spoke to me. It’s a
reminder: ‘Don’t forget the people.’ ”
It’s a credo that guides Smithey professionally and personally. She
celebrated her 25th anniversary practicing law in 2016.
Building knowledge, relationships
Smithey grew up in Greenwood and attended the University of
Notre Dame, where she majored in English.
“At that time, I didn’t necessarily have a plan to be an attorney,
but I always thought of law school as an interesting option just to learn
about the law,” she remarks. “Then, I added a sociology major.
Through that, I took some more classes that had some interaction with
the law as a lot of sociology classes do.
“I kept getting more and more interested. Even when I applied to
law school quite frankly, I didn’t know that I wanted to be a lawyer.
But I always had an interest in learning. Learning the law. Learning
about it.”
It wasn’t until she was studying at Loyola University Chicago
Stephanie A. Smithey
IN LOVE WITH LEARNING
AND TEACHING
By Symone C. Skrzycki
VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR