COEUR d'ALENE — Suspense and excitement ratcheted up with every name that was called at the conclusion of the North Idaho Women and Their Money Conference.

Finally, the 20 $1,000 North Idaho College scholarship winners stood on the Schuler Performing Arts stage early Monday evening, some crying happy tears as they held their certificates and smiled for the camera.

"That's a wrap!" they exclaimed in unison as the audience burst into applause and streams of colorful confetti exploded overhead.

"I didn't even believe it," Latasha Collings of Coeur d'Alene said.

She said she was trying not to cry when she heard her name announced and realized she was indeed one of the lucky scholarship winners.

"I was like, 'There must be another one out here,'" she said with a smile.

Collings said she will use the scholarship money to enroll in NIC's nursing program.

A new friend she made that day, Jane Freed, who lives outside Deary, stood nearby to congratulate Collings.

"This is the best," she said of the inaugural North Idaho Women and Their Money Conference.

"It was truly female centered, and you could really feel it," she said. "It's a whole different atmosphere. 

Even though the conference was about money, it wasn't just about money. It was about education, confidence, empowerment and friendship.

The free conference was attended by about 360 women from all walks of life — students, recent graduates, single mothers, grandmothers, stay-at-home moms and more.

The day commenced with a keynote speech by Ellen Rogin, a New York Times best-selling author and nationally recognized money expert. She provided several tools and concepts for women to improve their relationships with money, including visualization using the "Deliberate Daydream" technique and knowing when to "cancel/clear" when negative thoughts become invasive.

“When we catch ourselves going against the current in scarcity thinking — and it happens to all of us — one of my favorite tools to help with this is to say, ‘Cancel/clear.’ Cancel that thought, clear it away and replace it with something else instead," she said. "You can do this for everything else in your life, especially money.”

She said women tend to be better savers than their male counterparts.

“Proportionately in their 401K plans (women) save more money,” she said. “They’re better investors; women get better investment returns. We tend to be more long term ... We stick things out. We don’t sell the second things get scary. That ends up, often, giving us better returns.

“If any little part of you thinks, ‘Oh guys are just better,’ that’s not true,” she continued.

Shanna Cartmell of Hayden participated in a short energy stick demonstration on stage, where Rogin explained how energy is a real thing that affects everyone — this includes how positive self-talk and a simple compliment can completely change someone's day.

Cartmell said she thought Rogin's presentation was great.

“She’s bringing home things that I’ve heard, like far from my past and not necessarily utilizing it today," she said. "To have that opportunity to be like a gentle reminder, ‘Oh yeah, I used to think this way when I wasn’t stressed about money’ or I used to not hold so tightly when there was an easier time of financial stability.”

The day also featured breakout sessions with local professionals and opportunities to ask questions, collaborate with fellow attendees and share personal testimonies.

"So much about it today was amazing," Coeur d'Alene resident Abigail Fitzgerald said.

Info: northidahowomenandtheirmoney.com

    Scholarship winner Genique Steinberg wipes away tears as she walks past fellow winners Monday at the North Idaho Women and Their Money Conference.
  

    Melissa Peace of Post Falls asks a question about optimal agencies and organizations to assist with debt consolidation Monday during the North Idaho Women and Their Money Conference at North Idaho College.
  

    Scholarship winner Meghan Selle high-fives nationally recognized money expert Ellen Rogin at the culmination of the North Idaho Women and Their Money Conference at North Idaho College.
 

    Jessica Bonar, left and Shanna Cartmell, right, participate Monday in a demonstration with keynote speaker Ellen Rogin during the North Idaho Women and Their Money Conference at North Idaho College.