Jacque Herrera, new general manager at Chicagoland Speedway, once worked in the United Kingdom Parliament in London during a career that eventually led her to the Joliet racetrack.

Herrera mentioned the experience on Thursday when introducing herself on a discussion panel for an annual event held during March for Women’s History Month by the Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce & Industry and its Council for Working Women.

“We need to talk,” fellow panelist Laura Franklin, vice provost of undergraduate academic affairs at Lewis University in Romeoville, quipped after Herrera mentioned her parliamentary experience.

Other panelists were Natalie Coleman, a former member of the Will County Board who heads the After the Peanut nonprofit for youth education, and Katy Leclair, president and CEO of the Joliet Area YMCA.

Herrera’s parliamentary experience actually was a four-month stint during her college years, she explained later.

But it did fit in with one answer she gave to a question about what the panelists would have advised themselves at age 20.

“I would say enjoy the ride,” Herrera said. “Never in a million years did I think I would be working in NASCAR after so many years in health care.”

Herreara had a 19-year career in healthcare administration before joining NASCAR, where she was director of community relations for NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race before coming to Joliet in December.

Other panelists had their own unique stories to tell.

Franklin said she started as a professional musician playing drums, a challenging pursuit for a woman.

She told the story of a clash with a bandleader during school days.

“He said, ‘Girls don’t play drums. Do you want to play flute?’ ” Franklin said. “I said, ‘No, I want to play drums.’ ”

Leclair has had a relatively stable career with the YMCA.

“I started at the Y 23 years ago, and I never left,” she said. “I was a lifeguard.”

Coleman’s life has taken a few turns.

She joined the ROTC in school, which led to Coleman being assigned to Iraq as a military police officer.

Despite rejecting a career in education while still in school, Coleman now is a professor at Governors State University. Coleman also is chief executive at the nonprofit After the Peanut, which she created to encourage and assist girls interested in studying the sciences.

“Our focus is to make sure that young girls who want to be engineers or doctors or whatever they want to be that we pour into them,” she said.

Chamber President Jen Howard commented on the panelists for the annual event.

“It’s not difficult to find female leaders who well represent our community to be here,” Howard said.