IWIB September ONLINE Meeting

Join us at our September In-Person Brunch Meeting at McKenzie's Barbeque & Burger in Conroe to "Dealing with Stress" with Carol Gooch. 

Carol has a true love for helping women grow, which is the spark that led her to become the Founder & Executive Director of MCABW. She has many post-graduate college hours in organizational and educational leadership and after graduating from Leadership Montgomery County in 2003, she realized there were not many professional networking groups for women in business within Montgomery County. Carol wanted to create an uplifting group for businesswomen no matter whether they were business owners or worked for someone else. Carol wanted an affordable and supportive networking group for all women of Montgomery County. She also wanted to be sure the organization raised money to help other nonprofits in Montgomery County; thus, all funds raised would stay in the community. Carol founded the Montgomery County Association of Business Women in 2005, and as a previous high school counselor, she knew the importance of a trade and/ or college education for young women graduating from high school. The MCABW Foundation, 501(c)(3), awards scholarships to area female high school seniors in Montgomery County. Carol stated, “My passion is to help women grow personally and professionally and to become better communicators for a successful life. We have a mentoring program for our members to help them grow both professionally and personally. I am so proud of our mentors for stepping up to help the MCABW women who choose to participate in this program. It is all about building strong relationships so we can help each other in business or our personal life. That is what we do at MCABW; we build relationships and we are a business sorority. We are truly Women Helping Women.”

Carol is also the Co-Founder of Inspiring Wise Texas Women which hosts the WISE Conference each year. She was nominated as MCABW’s Woman of Distinction in 2011, Inspiring Wise Texas Women’s Woman of Distinction in 2014, and Alliance for Mental Health’s Woman of Distinction in 2018. She was voted as one of Montgomery County’s top 10 most influential women in business and was honored for Faces in the Crowd from the Houston Chronicle. Carol was also nominated for the Athena Leadership Award. She has received numerous accolades from government officials for supporting Montgomery County through MCABW.

Carol is no stranger to helping those in the community. She has shown commitment to Montgomery County through her involvement with many of the local organizations such as Leadership Montgomery County, Interfaith of The Woodlands, the Conroe Noon Lions Club, all of the Montgomery County Chambers of Commerce, Montgomery County Healthy Living Alliance, United Way and Montgomery County Women’s Council of Organizations where she currently serves as President for 2020-2021. She has been on the board of directors for many organizations as well as served on committees.  Carol was a board member for the Conroe Lake Conroe Chamber of Commerce and she was awarded Diplomat of the Year twice for The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce where she has a lifetime membership.  Carol was a columnist for Montgomery County Healthy Living Alliance for the Conroe Courier newspaper.

Carol is a Christian, wife, mother, grandmother, community leader, and a professional motivational speaker and trainer. She has an undergraduate degree from Florida State University in Child Development /Psychology and a graduate degree from Troy University in Guidance and Counseling with an emphasis on leadership skills and personal development. She also has many post-graduate hours toward a doctoral degree. Carol and her husband Ron Schmotzer live in the Lake Conroe area and their son and his family live in The Woodlands.

Carol has devoted most of her career to educating and empowering others. She has been a school teacher, a school counselor and has had a private practice as a psychotherapist. Carol has several licenses from the State of Texas: Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor, and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She also has certifications as a Compulsive Gambling Counselor and a Grief and Loss Counselor. She has worked professionally in the Montgomery County area in mental health since 1988. Carol organizes educational lunches and learns for the communities of Montgomery County and surrounding counties each month. She provides consulting, training, and development for area businesses and is a personal and professional relationship coach. She has participated as a leader with several local coalitions focused on helping residents of Montgomery County and the surrounding area, especially with mental health needs.

She is a current member of the following state and national organizations: American Counseling Association, Texas Counseling Association, Texas Association of Addiction Professionals, National Association of Addiction Professionals, American Mental Health Counselors Association, American Business Women’s Association, American Association of University Women and the National Association for Female Executives.

“Carol’s legacy will definitely leave an impact on not only the women whose lives she has personally touched but women everywhere. We call her our community connector,” said Alison Yee.