Join us for our February meeting to hear from some of Connections Leading Ladies; Carolyn French, Rodlyn Cochran, and Carol Trosclair.

Carolyn French

Carolyn French is a native of Louisiana and a resident of Lafayette, LA since 1985. She is currently employed as a Senior Vice President, Financial Advisor with LIVEOAK Wealth Advisors. 

 Careers: Carolyn French has been in the field of investments since moving to Lafayette, following a career as a socioeconomic consultant for the federal agency, US Department of the Interior. She was also employed as a university teacher at University of New Orleans and at Northeast Louisiana University. 

 Education: Dr. French holds both a Bachelor’s Degree (in Social Studies Education and Biology) and a Master’s Degree (in History) from Northeast Louisiana University in Monroe. She earned a Doctorate of Philosophy Degree (Ph.D.) from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge in the fields of Historical Geography and Anthropology. 

 Awards and recognition: Carolyn has received numerous awards and recognition for her contributions to the Lafayette community, including those from Connections, Zonta, Rotary, American Cancer Society, Faith House, Women Who Mean Business, Toastmasters, and others. 

 Community involvement: Carolyn participated in forming several nonprofit organizations in Lafayette, including Connections, FoodNet, Shining Light Foundation and Friends of Music. She currently serves as President of the Shining Light Foundation and on the Board of Directors for Friends of Music and VITA (Volunteer Instructors Teaching Adults). She serves on the Advisory Board of FoodNet.

Rodlyn Cochran

Ms. Cochran grew up in Abbeville, LA and is the former Rodlyn Musemeche. Currently, she resides in Youngsville, LA with her husband and teenage daughter.  She has 3 children and 7 grandchildren.  She is a Christian and member of The Bayou Church in Lafayette, LA.

Ms. Cochran earned her Bachelor's degree in Marketing and an Associate's degree in Business Management.  She has an extensive list of sales and leadership certifications and ISO internal auditor.

Ms. Cochran has served on the Connections for Women Board of Directors in the following roles: Newsletter VP for 3 years, Program VP for 1 year, President in 2013-2014, and Board Member at Large. 

She is a weekly volunteer in Children's Ministries at The Bayou Church. 

Ms. Cochran is a member of the Horticulture Society and enjoys landscaping.

For the past year, she began a career as an Account Manager for iConvergence, which is a local Communications, Network Infrastructure and Managed IT Services' company.  Her career has been dedicated to working for technology companies including:  computer manufacturer, various office software, office printers, office multifunction document systems, telecommunications, website, internet marketing and TV advertising.  At iConvergence, she is pleased and honored to provide expert level engineered services and solutions for all businesses with her 25 plus years experience that allows the iConvergence team to solve complex issues which are designed to save time and money, so that business owners can focus on their business and leave the technology to them!

Carol Trosclair

Carol is a selfless and giving woman with a heart for helping and the courage to put herself out there. Obstacles are merely challenges for Carol on her way to impacting her community for the better.

 OUTREACH: When most people experience pain, they use it as an excuse to isolate and hide themselves from the world, but not Carol Trosclair. When her son passed away from a combination of medications, she didn’t let that define her. Instead she used it as an opportunity to impact the community she serves.

 Carol has a rare level of compassion, kindness, optimism, and hope that abides the sheer irrational tragedy of an accidental loss of life, the cruel inversion of nature in which a mother outlives her son. That particular virtue abounds in Carol Trosclair, who lost her son (David) suddenly in 2010 to a mixing of over-the-counter medications with his allergy prescription in an effort to get better quickly. With a 3.9 GPA, David was in the process of completing his senior year of study in Kinesiology at the top of his class from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Enveloping David’s spirit, Carol moved forward and spearheads fundraising efforts for the David Trosclair Memorial Scholarship, which procures funds for students attending ULL’s School of Kinesiology. She has lightened the financial burden for numerous students for more than seven years, raising more than $400,000 in scholarship funding knowing that a little part of David lives on in the lives of those awarded his scholarships. This is where Carol’s heart is.

 CAREER: Where Carol’s head is, is just as impressive. She has made a career in the oil and gas industry. In a field dominated by men, Carol has excelled as a Landman. She has been affectionately dubbed a Land-“Ma’am” with an impressive list of clients who have consistently kept her employed through the ups and downs of this tumultuous industry for more than 29 years.

 NETWORK: Carol loves connecting people! Because friendships mean the world to her, a women’s monthly “Coffee Clutch” was born 15 years ago, to provide an opportunity for women to make friends, share fellowship, and journey through life together. This “all for one and one for all” attitude of working to connect people has developed a life of its own. The monthly Coffee Clutches serve as a place where women who need a friend can find a room full of “musketeer friends!”

 AWARDS: Carol has made so many strides forward, that it has remained impossible for her peers to ignore her. Her most recent community awards include: Connections Career Achievement Award, Women Who Mean Business Award, Acadiana Community Hero Award and several Dale Carnegie Awards.

 PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS: Not afraid to rub elbows with the area’s best and brightest, her professional networks (serving on Boards & Committee’s) include: Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), American Association of Professional Landmen (AAPL), Lafayette Association of Professional Landmen (LAPL), American Petroleum Institute (API), Desk and Derrick Club of Lafayette, Women’s Energy Network (WEN), and Oilfield Christian Fellowship (OCF).

 COMMUNITY AFFILIATIONS: Carol can always be found where there are people gathering to better the community. Her community affiliations (serving on Boards & Committee’s) include: One Acadiana, Acadiana Women’s Symphony League, Historic Preservation Alliance of Lafayette, Former President of the St. Martin Parish Republican Women’s Club, Acadiana Republican Women’s Club and the Lafayette Women’s Chamber of Commerce.

Meeting Details

Location: Petroleum Club of Lafayette

Date:  Friday, February 8th, 2019

Time: 11:30 - Networking; Meeting - 12 noon - 1pm

Cost: $18 (must pre-pay)