Momentum Resources

Great Meal Planning Resource

2012-01-30T07:10:00.002-05:00

Regular blog readers know I've solved the weeknight what's-for-dinner question with a neighborhood meal swap and I'm making chicken taco bowls for tomorrow's dinner. I found this recipe from a terrific resource called Budget Bytes which of course I found on Pinterest (the website that allows me to be much more creative and fabulous than I actually am!).

This website has a whole host of recipes with reviews and the cost per serving. It's really well-organized (including 181 vegetarian recipes and 18 gluten-free meals!) and really demonstrates that with a little planning, healthy, delicious meals are much less expensive than anything from a package or out of the freezer.

Now... Be Focused But Flexible

2012-01-17T06:44:00.003-05:00

Now for the follow up! Just because you have set parameters for your job search like this candidate doesn't mean you should rule out a great opportunity because it is not exactly what you are looking for. Instead, try an acceptable range for roles, hours and compensation.

Although hiring is steady-to-brisk and the labor market is tightening, it's still a very tricky market. Compensation ranges vary widely and job titles are changing in response to dynamic market conditions. Stay open-minded.

This doesn’t mean throw caution to the wind and accept a project management role when you are really looking for a communications gig. It means be focused on and search for jobs within your parameters, but be flexible enough to see when something outside of that scope is a great fit. Project coordinator vs. project manager, 30 hours a week instead of 25. $20 per hour instead of being set on $22 per hour. Be open to what comes your way and you will find a great opportunity.

You Need to Tell Me What You Want

2012-01-16T15:31:00.002-05:00

Want to know the least helpful response to the question "what kind of work are you looking for?"

I'll do anything.

Because it's not true, that's why. Because if you're a seasoned marketing professional and I say terrific, I've got a fantastic opportunity for you digging ditches for $10/hr, you're going to tell me no, actually, what I'm looking for is .......

If you're a job-seeker, you need to be able to tell any- and everybody (including the good folks here at Momentum Resources!) what role you're seeking, how much you'd like to work, what you think is fair compensation for that work and bonus points if you can list a few organizations on your target list.

I recently had a conversation with a new candidate who gave me a terrific set of job search parameters that really helped me help her focus her job search. She said, "I am open to any marketing, writing, communications, project management or executive admin position in the Northern VA area (Arlington, Falls Church, Alexandria). My ultimate goal is to find a permanent role working 20-25 hours per week virtually or onsite 3-4 days a week between the hours of 9:30 am - 3:00 pm. My salary range is $30-35 per hour, negotiable."

Now THAT we can work with.

3 Great Ideas for 2012

2012-01-11T06:23:00.002-05:00

Although we're not even two weeks into 2012, I'm willing to bet more than half of you have given up on your New Year's Resolutions. Know how I know? My gym parking lot now has a few empty spaces, the composition of my shared office fridge now has less than 99% salads at lunch and the noon time traffic at Tysons Corner has once again spiked. Resolutions are worthless. Instead, I like good ideas for the new year.

Here are a few ideas borrowed from some of Momentum Resources's super-smart candidates that really worked in 2011 and that you should try this year:

Form Your Own Group. In most cities, and Washington, D.C., for sure, you could attend a different networking event each day for breakfast, lunch, dinner and cocktails. I bet you'd have a lot of business cards and an expanded waistline (see: New Year's Resolutions, above) but no real solid relationships. While it's important to be out there, deeper two-way relationships will bring you the kind of support you're looking for in your job search and career path. One Development Director we know gets together monthly for an informal lunch with about a half-dozen other area Development Directors to share frustrations, solutions, fundraising strategies in a tough economy and most importantly, job opportunities.
Book Regular Daycare (Even if you're not working) I know it seems like an unreasonable expense, but if you're a job-seeking parent, you need some regular, predictable time to dedicate to reconnecting with your professional network, researching and interviewing. If you apply for a job through us and I call you today to ask for interview availability, I need a reasonable, solid answer. One of the smartest solutions we saw was a mom returning to work after a 2 year hiatus. This clever job-seeker set up a "play date swap" with another mom so she spent every Tuesday and Thursday, 9am-11:30am, dedicated to her job search. That uninterrupted and predictable block of time allowed her to do networking coffees, develop a solid "target" list and go on interviews without last-minute babysitter drama.
LinkedIn Profile Makeover. First of all, you need a LinkedIn Profile, and it needs to be good. It should also be current, have recommendations for your past work and include keywords for the jobs you are seeking. Not sure where to begin? Check out this article on the Profile Makeover.

2011 Wrap Up

2011-12-27T11:07:00.004-05:00

As 2011 comes to a close there's one thing I can tell you with utmost certainty: the flexible workplace works. Four years in a row, in a company that was born at the beginning of the Great Recession, we've seen more than 2x growth year-over-year putting professionals to work in part-time and flexible full-time roles.

2011 was a year that had Momentum Resources reach new clients in terms of job family, industry and scope. We're working with larger, Fortune 100 companies that realize that this is the best way to attract passive job seekers and lure top talent from other firms in an ever-tightening labor market. And we're working with very small start-ups that have discovered that our model is the most risk-averse, cost-effective way to add key resources. And pretty much every company shape and size in between!

And what are the key success factors in making this work? Our most successful clients begin with a culture of trust, have open communication styles and leverage technology to keep everyone working towards a common goal. As workplaces become more results-driven, face time is out the window and employees are free to work when and how they want to achieve their objectives. This means lower turnover, greater productivity. Win-win on both sides of the equation for sure.

But perhaps the thing that stands out in our minds as we look back on 2011, and forward to 2012, is that we get to work with smart, interesting, nice people. Our clients are engaging and helpful to the process; in short, they "get us" and our people. And our people, the Momentum Resources candidates? Awesome. Super-smart all-stars in their field, appreciative of the work we do on their behalf to place them in jobs that are great for their careers and work for their families.

So thank you all for making 2011 our most successful year yet, we can't wait to see what 2012 has in store!

Thankful for a Job I Love

2011-11-18T06:20:00.006-05:00

Last week my youngest son's teacher asked me to speak to their PreK class as part of the "Community Helpers" section. Basically, bring your Mom or Dad to work to talk about what the heck they do all day. I practically jumped for joy.

See, the last time I did this I realized I needed to quit my job. The twins were the same age as my youngest is now - 4- and when asked to do this little talk I couldn't thing of a single redeeming thing about my job, particularly as it relates to the PreK crowd.

Sure I had a nice title at a fancy management consulting firm, but when asked about what I did all day I had no response. Professional meeting attender? Power Point slide builder? Oh wait, I know, I know, Conference Call expert! Although I had fair pay and a modicum of schedule flexibility, there was just no passion in the work I was doing. But even before the Great Recession that felt like such a high class problem. Was having a job you love that pays the bills and allows you to have time with your family even possible?

Four years later, we can unequivocally say yes. For the first time in my life I'm so passionate about the work we're doing I sometimes find myself working ALL the time (despite owning my own schedule and all of the flexibility in the world) because I just love it so much. Call it an occupational hazard.

We didn't get here overnight, there are some pieces of the job that I love less than others and there have certainly been some lean quarters and rough patches, but this year I'm thankful to know that yes, it's possible to have a job you love, that pays the bills and gives you time with your family.

Make the Holidays Your Own

2011-11-17T10:46:00.005-05:00

OK, this is where the Momentum Resources team really shines. I know my colleagues are amazing business women and mothers, but I had no idea they had such an incredible creative side! Here are some of their fun family traditions; adopt, expand and make them your own.

Packaging. Tanya (aka "Queen of Christmas") has found dozens of ways to creatively wrap cash, letting those hard-to-shop folks on her list know that she really cares about them and that she took the time to put together a gift that's meaningful. Some examples include a small laundry basket with dollar bills clipped with wooden clothespins. Makes a $20 spot look like a million bucks! She's also a fan of the plastic popcorn container stuffed with theater-sized candy boxes (both from the $1 Spot at Target) , microwave popcorn, yellow crinkle-cut paper and cash or movie passes for the movie- lover on your list. She also likes to stuff cash in a Chinese food takeout box topped with reusable plastic chopsticks, sneaking in some fine motor exercises with her gifts!
Decorations. Whitney's family has spent the last three years putting custom-decorated wreaths on the bedroom doors for some upstairs holiday flare. She bought faux wreaths and each year she and her twin boys pick a theme (From Virginia Tech to Lightning McQueen). She even did a wedding memory theme for her bedroom door, replete with invitations and photos from the big day. These also make terrific gifts. Whitney's in laws are avid campers and she made a wreath decorated with camping gear and cutouts from each state they had visited that year. Shelby applies the same idea to small trees in her daughters' rooms.
Outings. Our family picks one night to hop in the car in fuzzy PJs and coats, thermoses of hot chocolate in hand, and drive around to view all of the holiday lights. Whitney has a friend whose family dons reindeer antlers and Santa hats to hand-deliver homemade baked goods. Don't feel compelled to attend the fancy Breakfasts with Santa or expensive holiday celebrations, pick one thing that's meaningful to your family and make it a tradition.

And if all else fails, check out Pinterest! Our latest obsession provides endless inspiration for a fun-filled, creative holiday.

Keeping the Holidays Under Control

2011-11-17T10:03:00.004-05:00

As promised, here are some tips and tricks of the trade from some of Momentum Resources' finest on keeping the holidays under control:

Go to Gift. Last year Tanya found some really cool metal wine toppers. Just pop one on top of a bottle of wine for a “go-to” hostess gift. Add a holiday colored dishtowel around the neck so it looks like a reindeer with a scarf. Super cute, and if you stock up after the holidays during sale time you'll have plenty for years to come.
Order Labels in Advance. Tiny Prints has some terrific ones, order some customized labels as early as possible to slap on a cute tag to make a homemade or store bought treat special.
Pick 1 Really Great Recipe. Find one thing that you're really good at, like Whitney's dark chocolate and sea salt or Julie's hand-mixed BBQ rub, and share with friends and family. Add one of the aforementioned custom labels and the gift is done.
And 1 Really Great Party. Per group of friends, per weekend, per whatever. She with the busiest calendar in December doesn't win. Be selective, enjoy the time.
Limit the List: In our family, only the kids in the extended family exchange gifts. Embrace Jill's extended family tradition of drawing names from a hat. Make that gift really, really special and smile knowing that you've kept the time/energy/money vacuum trifecta to an absolute minimum.
Avoid Scope Creep: Make your lists and menu plans, and then stick to it! Don't second guess yourself, instead, applaud your project management skills! You'll have time to sit back and enjoy the holidays instead of an 11pm run to Target.

Reign in the Holiday Madness

2011-11-17T06:48:00.002-05:00

Early this weekend I had quite the calendar surprise: Thanksgiving is next Thursday. Right.

It's that magical and oh-so-stressful Double Diamond Downhill slide from Halloween straight to New Year's Eve and it seems that all personal and professional responsibilities are colliding. You're on the phone with the Benefits department to choose your new health plan for open enrollment and shopping online for forgotten teachers' gifts all the while figuring out who's going to attend the Holiday Program at school that's happening right when your big new client pitch is scheduled. You want to just enjoy the magic but when the kids are handing you Santa Lists while you tell the accountant you can't possibly have year-end projections ready this week, it's hard not to feel a little Grinchy.

To try and keep everything under control I turned to some of the smartest, most organized and thoughtful women I know: the Momentum Resources Team. I asked for one tip from each and they each poured out some amazing advice on schedule sanity, gift-giving and most importantly, how to make the holidays a meaningful time for you and your family.

Stay tuned, great tips coming your way!

Sometimes, It's Just Hard

2011-10-20T06:11:00.002-04:00

This has just been one of those weeks. With a big fat Disney hangover from last week's vacation and plunging back into the world of overflowing InBoxes and missed homework assignments and consolidated meeting schedules and broken violins for music class, my whole family is a little off-kilter.

So it's no wonder that yesterday morning wasn't smooth. I had an epic wardrobe battle with a 9 year old who couldn't possibly understand why I wouldn't let him wear Under Armour and track pants to see the symphony at the Kennedy Center on a 4th grade field trip. The other 9 year old, unhappy with his broken violin, picks a fight with his 4 year old brother, and little brother hurls a step stool at him. All before 8am.

On my way to work I get an email from a girlfriend who shares that her iPhone auto-corrected "kids" to "jihad." Not to make light of a serious topic, but after my morning, that sounded just about right. Thank you Steve Jobs from the great beyond!

The point is, it's ok. It's not you, there's nothing wrong with your family, it's just hard sometimes. You love your children, you wouldn't trade your job as Mom for any title in the world, but it's challenging on the best days and damned near impossible on others.

Earlier in the week I performed a little calendar magic and made it to one of my favorite yoga classes. When my teacher asked how I was doing, I replied "no focus." A fellow mom of three, she explained that just managing the logistics for that many other people can be draining and advised some deep breathing through the hard parts.

Today is a new day, I'll pick my battles wisely, hug my kids often and pick up a referee whistle at the sporting goods store on my way home from work, just in case all that deep breathing can't be heard above the fray.

Back to Work: Ace The Interview

2011-09-27T05:45:00.001-04:00

Interviews are never easy, and the skill comes more naturally to some than others. But that’s just what it is, a skill, and it must be practiced. If you’ve been out of the workforce for more than 5 years it’s perfectly conceivable you haven’t interviewed in the better part of a decade. You need to prepare, practice and follow up.

Prepare: Know everything you can about the company and the organization. Use LinkedIn to find an “insider” in your network’s network who can give you the inside scoop. Aside from website research, Follow the company on both LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook to get a sense of the culture, trends and most recent news releases. Review the LinkedIn profiles of the mangers with whom you’ll be interviewing. Develop a list of thoughtful questions that demonstrate your industry and company knowledge. We had a candidate not get selected for a second round of interviews because the client interpreted her lack of prepared interview questions as a lack of enthusiasm for the role.
Practice: It sounds silly, but you need to do some mock interviews. Ask your spouse, neighbor or best friend to grill you. Start out with easy, standard interview questions (walk me through your resume, strengths/weaknesses, tell me about a time when….) and then try and get to more difficult questions. You want these answers to be polished and roll off your tongue. The most difficult question to answer is “how can you transition back to work after such a long employment gap?” (or some variation thereof). Have this answer ready. It might be something like “I’ve been a member of XYZ industry group, have attended networking events, learned about recent policy changes such as ABC law and have volunteered on such-and-such committee.” If you’re a bookkeeper, let the interviewer know that you took an online course to get certified in the latest QuickBooks version. Demonstrate enthusiastically that you’re prepared to hit the ground running with minimal onramp time.
Follow Up: Similar to the networking informational interview, this is the part that most folks forget. Ask for a business card from each person with whom you interview. Send a thank you email immediately and a written thank you (on professional cardstock) straight away. Be specific in your interest and sincere in your gratitude.

Back to Work Resume: Address the Gap

2011-09-26T05:40:00.002-04:00

We’ve touched on the resume before, it's a bit old school in today's connected world but it’s still a necessary evil. Set aside some quiet time to work on it, and:

Old or New? Make the decision to either start with your last professional resume or start from scratch. There are pros and cons to each, but either way you’re essentially creating a new document- and it has to be perfect.
Format: I’m still a fan of the chronological resume format, but there are some real benefits to a functional resume format. There’s a good template on our website, and this format essentially calls out key skills and experiences in bullet points and merely lists employment dates below. This is the right format if you’ve had a very long paid employment gap, if you’re looking to switch job families or industries or if you’re looking to leverage volunteer or community experience in your job search.
Professional Profile: Or Career Objective or Summary, call it what you want but at the top of your resume, right below your contact information, say who you are, what you do and what you want in 2-3 sentences or key bullet points. Employers are inundated with resumes, a recruiter spends approximately 14 seconds reviewing yours, make it stand out.
Contact Information: This might be the most important part! List home and cell phones, your LinkedIn profile name for easy connection and review and a professional email address. We’ve seen some doozies over the years, and your mail job search email should not be cutesy, a shared family or spousal email address, just your.name@majorwebmailcarrier.com.
Relevant: If you’ve been out of college for 10-20 years, your resume could easily be 3 pages long. Remember, recruiters aren’t getting past the top half of the first page. The key here is to include only relevant information. List all of your employment dates and organizations, but call out only the most important information for the job to which you are applying. This means you’ll have several versions of your resumes, it’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it.
Ditch the Cutesy Titles. Believe us, we know firsthand just how hard you’ve worked raising your children, running your household and heading every darned committee the school handed you. But please do not put “Domestic Manager” or “Household CEO” on your resume. Just don’t.
Address the Gap: What (besides the obvious) have you been doing while out of the paid workforce? Hopefully you’ve done something that is related to an eventual return to the land of the W2 employee. If you’re an attorney that has taken CE classes to maintain a bar license, list “Continuing Education” with course titles and dates. If you’ve had community or volunteer experience that’s relevant to your career goals, list those. For example, we had a candidate who correctly listed her role as a volunteer Red Cross Fundraiser just as she would a paid job (most recent work experience, key accomplishments, dates) because it was absolutely relevant to her desire to return to the Major Non Profit Development World. If you’re in Human Resources and you were on the committee to select and interview the school’s new Headmaster, or if you’re a CPA and you were the PTA Treasurer with a $25K budget, list those!
Review. Let me say it again: review, review, review. Ask your spouse to read it. Ask three friends to read it. Ask your former assistant who’s now working as a manager to read it. Make sure it’s relevant to current market conditions, most recent industry trends and typo-free. That's an opportunity killer.

FOUND: Kid Lunch Solution

2011-09-22T06:10:00.003-04:00

In the interest of spreading the news about all time- and sanity-saving household solutions, I wanted to share my latest discovery: Easy Lunch Boxes. Packing healthy lunches for somewhere between 2 and 5 Folsoms every night was just one more task at the end of a long day, and the management consultant in me was looking for efficiency in this repeatable process.

Stressed out by the Bento Box-type solution (all those little mismatched tops and bottoms! Really? My kids' lunches need to be healthy AND pretty? Who has time for sandwiches with teeny little faces from flax seed on top?) so I looked for alternatives. I like these because they're one solid piece and top, go in the dishwasher, microwave and freezer and are $13.95 for 4. Of course I bought 3 sets.

Now I make all the kid lunches on Sunday night and each boy is responsible for tossing it in his lunch bag along with a thermos of water and one snack from the snack basket. An added plus is that it works really well (hello, portion control!) for grown-up lunches from leftovers.

What are some of your favorite lunch packing strategies? What's easy, fast and loved by your kids at the lunch table? Share with the crowd!

Back to School, Back to Work: Rebuilding Your Professional Network

2011-09-21T06:32:00.003-04:00

If you’ve been away from the professional world, it’s time to rebuild the network. Take heart, even those working for a paycheck ignore this supremely important aspect of career development. The upside is that you have expanded your network through all of your community and parent-related activities, and these new contacts can be part of your professional world.

There are two parts to rebuilding your professional network: online and offline.

In the online world, nothing beats LinkedIn. Although some equate it to “Facebook for work,” there’s really much more to it. We recommend you use LinkedIn by:

Build out your professional profile based on your resurrected resume. Use the online template to get recommendations from prior colleagues and managers. Remember the job descriptions you reviewed for job families on your target list? Make sure the keywords from those job descriptions are on your LinkedIn profile, because that’s how recruiters are going to find you.
Reconnect with EVERYONE you’ve ever worked with. LinkedIn practically does this for you by matching up employment dates to other members with the same organizations and dates of employment, all you have to do is Link up. Remember the bad old days when switching internet service providers meant switching email accounts? It was very easy to lose track of former colleagues, this process makes it easy. With a wide employment gap you’re much more likely to be hired by someone you know, who knows your work and results, than applying into the black hole of a career site.
Join industry and job family-related groups. These are free and a great way for you to network with peers online. Learn about industry-specific job fairs, new policy and regulations in your field and learn about job openings from group members. There’s a fee for employers to post a job opening on LinkedIn, but free for group members within the group setting (under Discussions), so many post there.

You can use all sorts of online resources to rekindle your professional network, and even expand it further, but it’s the online portion that’s going to get you your next role. Nothing beats the face-to-face interaction and follow-up of an online meeting to build an actual relationship. And that’s what the network is all about.

· Coffee: I’m a big fan of the, “can I take you to coffee?” as the opening salvo to building a professional relationship. 20 minutes, $5, and everybody loves the opportunity to talk about themselves over a mocha-whatever. If you’ve been following this process step-by-step, you’re in the process of networking yourself into your target roles and organizations, you’ve connected online, and now you’re meeting in person. Do your research (on your coffee date via LinkedIn, on the company and industry with various resources) and ask very specific questions. Pick up the tab, send an email thank you that day, and send a written thank you note. In an online world, meeting in person and sending paper through the snail mail sets you apart in a very crowded hiring market.

· Follow Up: Again, this is the whole key to rebuilding the professional network and the step most job-seekers overlook. Whether you’re meeting someone at a networking event or over coffee, send an email right away and a written thank you in the mail. I cannot overstate this. Busy people are taking time out of their day to help you, express sincere gratitude. Hopefully in your relationship-building meeting you learned something about the other person, pay a favor or introduction forward to build what we call “good networking karma.” If your coffee date is late because there was a plumbing emergency at home, email over a great recommendation from the plumber you’ve used. If he or she mentions that they’re really struggling with Search Engine Optimization, forward an article you’ve recently read on the topic.

Dinner Planning Scramble

2011-09-19T11:02:00.005-04:00

Traffic was terrible on the way home, your toddler is over-tired and hungry (aka "hangry") at pick up and your 6 year old needs to be at soccer practice at 6:15. No problem, except that you still have to feed them dinner. Details......

Blog readers know I've personally struggled with taming the evening beast, particularly when it comes to dinner time. But believe me, the secret sauce to a delicious dinner is in the meal planning.

A friend recently solicited some advice when moving from a full-time with daycare schedule to part-time with nanny scenario, and realized she had to step up the meal planning.

Here's what has worked for me:

Keep it simple. We have food allergies and sensitivities so there's a lot of broiled salmon or grilled chicken, veggies and fruit. You're not looking for Julia Childs here, you're getting dinner on the table.

Make Leftovers. Everyone can eat leftovers for lunch, and plan to use those leftovers in other meals. Try pork tenderloin, it's super easy to cook and comes seasoned. Slice the leftovers on sandwiches in the week. Or try the Purdue Oven Roaster, completely fool proof. Clean up is easy (it's in a bag) and have roast chicken one night and the left overs for a quesadilla later on in the week and chicken salad for lunch. We had a 6lb $8 bird a few weeks ago and ate it all week, with the best being homemade chicken noodle soup at the end of the week. Again, I'm no Jacques Pepin, but it's homemade stock from your carcass, chopped up chicken and half a box of pasta. That's it.

Cook on Sundays. Make your most complicated meal on the weekend when your spouse is home to mind the little ones so you're not breaking up sibling squabbles while trying to double recipe ingredients in your head.

Double up: Speaking of, if you make a meatloaf, make two. Double your batch of turkey chilli. Freeze the second. It doesn't take any more time to double than to make a single and you'll have something in the freezer later on for busy weeknights

Planning: MUST.HAVE.PLAN. I start with the weekly family schedule (do I need a meal a babysitter can assemble? People coming over? Swim lessons at 6pm two nights this week?), examine what's already in the pantry/freezer/fridge, and come up with a meal plan. I go to my normal grocery store's flyer, figure out what meat is on sale as the loss leader for the week and plan out based on existing recipes. My criteria is healthy, easy and affordable. That can be tough! But have your go- to meals, sprinkle in some new ones with recipes you see in magazines or from friends, and congratulate yourself for pulling off another amazing meal during the witching hour.

Back to School, Back to Work: You Need a Strategy

2011-09-19T05:53:00.002-04:00

So you’ve imagined what both the ideal role and more realistic roles look like, now what? You need a strategy, and we’ve seen the best results by taking this approach:

· Say What You Want: Get your 30 second elevator speech down, and let everyone you know that’s what you’re looking for. The least helpful opening I get from candidates is “I’ll take any job, I just want to work.” Now, you and I both know that’s not true! What’s most helpful? “I’d like to leverage my volunteer fundraising experience in the non-profit world. Ideally, I’m looking for a mid-sized trade association in the Alexandria, VA area.” I can work with that, and now your friends and family can keep their eyes and ears open for those roles when they see them.

· Target List: Dust off those Microsoft Excel skills and make a job target list; one tab for job families and the other for organizations for whom you’d like to work. Make a list of all the jobs you’d like. For example, if you’re a CPA, you might have roles like: Big 4 firm, boutique accounting firm staff accounting, non profit controller. On the second tab, list all of the organizations for whom you’d like work. Wondering how you come up with that list? Think about companies you admire, past clients or vendors, and organizations where your friends and family work that have great things to say about their jobs. From a balance perspective, it’s always good to start with the “Best Companies” lists, either in Working Mother or other local publications, but I think the more telling list comes from observing the world around you. Who’s in heels at the bus stop? Where do they work?

· Build the Resume: We’ll cover this more extensively in the “Back –to-Work Resume” post, but you need resurrect the last resume you had and decide if you want to work from that or start from scratch. Consider the chronological verses functional format (and there’s a template on our website) and set aside some quiet, uninterrupted hours to work on this. You’ll likely get your next job from someone you know, but the resume is a necessary evil in the job search process, your paper-equivalent of an introduction, and it has to be perfect. One typo or inaccuracy kills an opportunity.

· Marry Them Up: Armed with your resurrected resume, use your rebuilt professional network (more on that later) to network your way into these roles. Ask everyone you know in your job search team if they know anyone with the job family roles on your target list. Who on your PTA committee knows someone at the companies on your target list? Add the organizations on your target list to the “Search” function on LinkedIn to find out who in your network’s network (think Six Degrees of Separation) works, or has worked, at that company. Use the online introductions to get into those companies. While you’re there, “follow” those companies to look at internal job postings, recent hires and press releases.

Back to School, Back to Work: Are you Ready?

2011-09-16T07:13:00.003-04:00

As you begin to embark on your return to the paid workforce, the very first step should be imagining what the whole scenario might look like. Is it full-time work with full-time childcare, or part-time childcare after school? Or just working during “school bus hours?” What are you ready for? What is your family ready for?

Imagine: See if you can conjure up the perfect balance of work content, hours and compensation. Smile, and then acknowledge it doesn’t exist. Instead, think about which of those three factors is most important and then where your parameters are on each of the other two legs of the “Momentum” triangle. Be really honest with yourself, your capabilities, and desires. If you tell me you’re ready to work 30 hours per week, don’t tell me you’d rather work 15-20 when I present a 30 hour workweek opportunity. That builds distrust and lack of enthusiasm around your job search team (recruiters, friends, colleagues) and they’re less likely to bring you opportunities going forward.
Build Your Team: You’re not going to get this done alone, you need a team. Your job search team should include prior colleagues, friends, family and trusted recruiters (like Momentum Resources!) You’re going to need 3 people to peer-review your resurrected resume, folks to give you mock interview questions. Identify these people now, do something nice for them in advance because you’ll be calling for favors soon!
The Big Talk: It’s time for the come-to-Jesus conversation with your significant other. If you’ve been running the home front for the last few years, those responsibilities have to be divided and conquered. Accept that things will not be up to par with what you’ve done in the past, and go with it. Take my advice, nearly a decade into the working mom adventure: play to your partners’ strengths. My husband is an expert laundry folder and in a household with 3 boys, I do loads every day and leave the folding to him after bedtime. And praise substantially! If this method doesn’t work make a list of everything that needs to be done on a daily basis and find a fair and equitable way to divide household responsibilities. And remember, something’s got to give. One look at my lawn and flower beds full of weeds shows what “gave” in our house this year.
The Big Talk, Part 2: It’s for the kids to man up. If you’ve been staying home with them, they’re likely used to a built-in playmate, resident playdate manager, picker upper of all toys and last minute classroom cupcake manager. Don’t kill yourself, hand over age appropriate tasks where strengths and interests lie and let go of ideals of perfection. I cringe every time I see the bulging, cramped drawers of my 9 year olds’ dressers but they put their own clothes away, one less task on my to do list.
Child Care: It’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg scenario, but you need your childcare set up in advance of having a job. If you apply for a job to our company, I expect you to be available to interview on one business day’s notice. That’s just the way it is. We’re all working at the employer’s convenience. And if we present you with an opportunity and you say that you need a month’s notice to start because you don’t have childcare lined up, we likely won’t bring you another opportunity. It’s time to call in favors from friends, family and neighbors. Put them on notice. Pay favors for back up babysitting forward so you can call them in when needed. One of the best strategies I’ve seen from our candidate on the child care front was a woman who booked a sitter for two mornings a week. She used these 6 hours to aggressively job hunt, set up informational interviews, and when I called her for interview availability she simply said, “Sure! Anytime between 9am-1pm Tuesday or Thursday.”

Back

2011-09-16T07:13:00.001-04:00

What Can Brown Do For You?

2011-09-14T07:03:00.002-04:00

We interrupt this back-to-school, back-to-work series with a great story about using all of your resources and relationships to get the inside scoop for the right job.

I've long said that although all of the "Best Places to Work" lists are a great place to start a job search when you're looking for great work-life balance, but the more telling sign is "who's in heels at your bus stop." Who in your own network is making it to the bus stop and doing meaningful work. Where does she work? How did she get that job?

This theory was highlighted yesterday when talking to a friend with an active job search. She admittedly didn't do enough research in advance of taking her current job and didn't heed the subtle advice from folks in her network about the personality and management style of her current boss, and got herself in a rotten work environment. Actively networking and interviewing, she runs into her old pal, the UPS man, "Donnie."

Donnie asks where she's currently interviewing and offers a candid assessment of the work environment as only a quiet, efficient third-party onlooker to an organization can, and friend quickly heeds this advice.

Further, Donnie knows from his trusted position as daily UPS carrier that so-and-so is leaving at another firm. Donnie's worked with friend for years and know it'd be a great fit. Did friend mind that he shared her contact information with the hiring firm?

Uhm, no! Interview set up the same day, results pending.

But even if an offer doesn't emerge, the story here is great. Use your entire network when engaging in a job search. Be specific, and make sure everyone you know (from the preschool teacher to your former assistant) knows exactly what kind of job and organization you'd like. Use your "market intelligence," the inside scoop from the people you know and trust, to focus on organizations where there will be a strong fit. And most importantly, treat all of the people in your professional network with kindness and respect - from CEO to UPS guy- and it will come back tenfold.

Back to School, Back to Work

2011-09-12T11:55:00.003-04:00

You can almost feel it in the air. The crisp evenings, the sounds of the school buses rumbling through the neighborhood, the smell of newly sharpened #2 pencils: the kids are back in school. If you have taken a break from the paid work force to stay home with your children for an extended period of time, you may be thinking about returning to the working world.

If you’ve been at home for more than five years, let me be the first to say you’ve got your work cut out for you. I don’t mean to discourage you at all, but think about it. Five years ago Facebook didn’t even exist and now companies are using it as a significant recruiting tool. iPhones, let alone iPads, were but an apple in Steve Jobs’ eye and now apps lead business productivity discussions. Bottom line: Things have changed in the workforce. And things for you- and your family- have changed, as well.

The good news is that we’ve seen some very warm market reception to a number of candidates lately with significant paid employment gaps. Even in the Great Recession. Because the truth of the matter is that there’s a sharp demand for very smart, well-qualified, dynamic employees (particularly in a few hard-to-fill job families) and the candidates with the best reception show personal and professional preparedness and a strong job search strategy.

Over the next few blog posts, we’ll share what we’ve seen work for returning-to-work parents in current market conditions. We’ll touch on addressing your own personal and family preparedness, building a resume to address the gap, rebuilding your professional network, job search strategy, and interview preparedness. Along the way I’ll pull in real-world examples of Momentum Resources candidates using these tips effectively to return to the paid workforce. And soon you’ll be packing your own lunch to head back to work!

Trading Dollars for Flexibility?

2011-09-06T11:13:00.003-04:00

At Momentum Resources we always fight hard for fair, market-driven compensation rates for our candidates. But when considering compensation levels, and believe me, it's all over the place in this market, it's important to consider the whole picture.

Typically, this sort of holistic comparison has included things like benefits (particularly retirement plan contributions, but moreover health care premium costs) but lately, workers seem to be taking flexibility into the equation. Would you trade a portion of your compensation for a more flexible schedule?

Business Insider reports that the majority of workers (regardless of age, gender and professional status) are willing to trade 10% of their income for more schedule flexibility.

There are absolutely some real-dollar cost savings to a more flexible schedule, mostly in commuting costs and additional child care. But I'd caution that this is a very slippery slope. It shouldn't matter when and where the work gets done, so long as you're meeting (and exceeding!) expectations. Taking a discount for flexibly-produced work implies it's somehow less valuable, and that's just not the case.

Workcation

2011-08-31T16:40:00.007-04:00

I have this theory that all productivity in Washington, D.C. (and many other parts of the country) grinds to a halt in mid/late August not because of Congressional recess or family vacations, but because child care options dry up. College students head back to school and working parents with elementary school-aged children are left scrambling for options. Which is why I wised up this year and scheduled the boys’ “Camp Grammie” for late August, leaving me able to make a last minute trip to accompany my husband on his business trip to Vermont.

At first, I was grumbling over my inability to get more work done while staring out at the Green Mountains. Then I began grumbling (to myself, in a Courtyard Marriott hotel room) about my inability to get out and enjoy the amazing outdoors. Luckily by day 2, I’d struck a happy compromise with myself. Part work, part adventure, but most importantly, stop feeling guilty about my choices. I could work for 7-8 hours straight, then meet my husband for a 20 mile bike ride after work around Lake Champlain.

It got me thinking, on one of my early morning adventurous solo hikes up Camel’s Hump, about how technology has substantially changed our ability to delineate work from home (and thus vacation). Oh the delight when I reached an altitude high enough to get 2 bars on my iPhone. 26 unread emails, 2 voicemails. Who would it hurt if I just took a peek? I had created a workcation right there on third highest peak in Vermont. But was that necessarily a bad thing?

Sometimes I need the ability to completely disengage, be off the grid, and be totally in the moment. But in a high-growth small business, doing that for more than a few days really, really stresses me out. What if a client can’t reach me and decides to go with a competitor? What if the server crashes? How long will it take me to return the 500 accumulated emails? All of that worry about being entirely off the grid has the opposite of the intended effect of the vacation.

For me, the right blend is a long weekend or two (or three) throughout the year being completely unavailable, preferably where cell service is unavailable. For spring break in Florida or a week at a friend’s cabin in the summer, the ability to spend an hour or so online making sure no fires have erupted makes me feel more relaxed.

Ultimately, you have to remember that you control your technology. You can bring your laptop, or not. You can turn off digital roaming on your BlackBerry. Clearly I have a lot more autonomy and control over my day than most, but the theorem holds true: you choose when to let work creep into your time out of the office. Know what level of disengagement you need, use technology to make that happen, and enjoy the time out of the office.

Guest Blogger: Too Soon To Tell

2011-08-05T16:39:00.002-04:00

Although I am beginning to embrace the chaos of working during the summer, I've been woefully neglectful in the blog department. One of our favorite and long-time contractors wrote an intriguing blog piece on Gen X women and child birth choices and I thought I would share it with you (particularly since she gave us such a great plug!)

After reading “Do Gen X Women Choose Work Over Kids?,” I had to chuckle. It seems the pundits are missing the mark by a wide margin about women’s maternal decision-making process. I don’t agree that Gen X women (roughly age 33-46) are choosing not to have children; they are instead choosing when to have children. While I admit that my evidence is anecdotal, it certainly seems to make sense to me and many of my friends.

In today’s world, where birth control, education, and advanced fertility procedures with high success rates are common knowledge and universally accessible, why would a woman begin her family before she’s had a chance to build a secure future for her potential family? There’s no rush.

If you look at the basic timeline, it all makes sense. High school graduation at 18, graduate school completion by 23 or so, internship and first job till 25, job of choice by 26, and ten years of enjoying the perks of success (read: paychecks that cover more than your basic bills!), and you’ve got a woman who is approximately 35. Medical science says that exponential increases in birth defects due to a woman’s age do not begin till 42, while fertility peaks around 35, leaving a nice 5-7 year window for women to start their families. This in turn makes the statistics that the article quotes (53% of Gen X women are childless) true, because half of that small cohort hasn’t reached their optimum (as determine by them) childbearing age yet.

In addition, many Gen X women watched their mothers struggle, divided by opposing desires to work for financial gain and security, yet yearning for the choice to raise their own children. Given a different scenario and armed with the knowledge imparted by their mothers, Gen X women are doing both – waiting till they have earned enough career status and financial stability to afford themselves the luxury of choice, then in some cases, exiting the workforce to raise their children during the formative years (0-5), and re-entering the workforce at will. This is made easier by companies that focus on aiding employees reach their own personal nirvana in the work-life balance arena (see www.Mom-entum.com).

This Generation is also faced by a very different reality than the Boomers, who commonly expected to work 20 or 30 years and retire comfortably on their defined retirement plan after earning the gold watch. Gen X has lived through the disappearance of pensions and company retirements and are faced with the knowledge that they must work till their 401Ks can support them – for many, this means 40 plus years in the workforce. There is no fast-moving ladder to the top- when no one retires, no one advances, so the option to take a time-out to raise children is less harmful than it once.

All in all, I think the writer’s perspective that a woman must choose one or the other, kids or career, is far-reaching at best, although only time will tell – because Gen X still has many child-bearing years left!

Please Don't "Take it Like a Mom"

2011-06-21T09:19:00.000-04:00

I'm a huge fan of Forbes Girl Friday blog, and loved the content of this week's post. But the title- Should Overwhelmed Working Women Ask for Help or "Take it Like a Mom?" is maybe the silliest question I've heard all day. That's like asking a drowning person if they wouldn't mind using a life raft.

I've blogged in the past about these exact themes, that just because you can do it all doesn't mean you should, that you should put down your cape Super Mom, that you must make time for yourself. But how, as Forbes Girl Friday Meghan Casserly points out, can you do that if you are working on average 11 more hours per week than your parents did in the 1970s AND spending on average 12 hours more per week with your children than your partners? It stands to reason the stress levels are sky-rocketing.

Bottom Line: Ask for Help.

Engage your partner: According to a recent study by Boston College, the majority of Dads want to be more involved in home life and parenting. So let them. Play to their strengths, give them a job, and don't criticize the end-result.
Build Your Village: Whether's it's something like the Bus Stop Meal Swap I put together with the other 3 moms of 3 on my block or an involved grandparent or the Dads in your carpool, put together your support system. Do for them what you will need for you: kid pickups when a work meeting runs late, an errand by your office, meals when you're sick.
Investigate Flexible Work Options: Flexible work options come in all shapes and sizes and every organization and every employee has different needs and tolerance levels. Find the match between the two parties. Even telecommuting one day per week in the Washington, D.C. metro area will give you back, on average, 2 hours. Imagine what you can do in TWO WHOLE HOURS!

Super Mom is possible but it's not hot.

Summertime Job Search

2011-06-16T06:04:00.003-04:00

The 100+ degree temps last week, school's out for the big kids next Tuesday and I have a dozen swim team emails in my InBox. It's true. Summer is here. What does this mean for your job search?

Every summer, and Momentum Resources is going into it's fourth now, we anticipate a summer slow down in hiring. And every August we say, Gee, we've been really busy the last few months! Particularly as we continue through economic recovery, employers' hiring needs don't just go away as the temperatures rise.

Here's what you need to know for an effective summertime job search:

Still Active? Firstly, if you're going to take a break from an active search during the summer, you need to let everyone in your process know. This includes companies you've been talking to, your advocates and recruiters- namely, us! The worst thing that could happen is I call you with a dream job and you say no, I'm sorry, I don't have any summer care lined up for my kids and we're taking a 3 week trip to the Cape. That makes us look bad to our clients and hurts your longer-term employment success. Enjoy the time at the Cape, just let us know where things stand.
Scheduling! Whereas we don't predict in decline in the pace of the hiring market, we can -based on past performance- predict scheduling h-e-double hockey sticks. Between candidate's travel and hiring manager's travel, it can take a month to get a darned interview SCHEDULED. That's not to say you should cancel plans for a potential interview, but if you are deep in the hiring process with an organization, let them know when you're expected to be out of town and let them know how they can reach out. If you're still in a very active search and in vacation planning mode, consider some long weekends and partial weeks in lieu of a 2-3 week holiday to make scheduling easier.
Network, of course. As the business pace slows in some organizations, it's the perfect time for you to reconnect with former colleagues and expand your professional network. Use the well-honed Folsom strategy of taking someone for coffee (captive audience, 30 minutes, $10-- works every time) and asking about their career, how they got the flexibility they wanted, into the organization they wanted, etc.

And if you have to be on the pool deck with a swim team timer in your hand, might as well network there, too!

Just Say No

2011-06-09T06:39:00.003-04:00

Parents, it's time we just said no to the end-of-school year madness. All of you pre-Labor-Day-school-starters sitting on the pool deck in a lounge chair or already on your beach vacation, tuck away that smug grin and remember back to the last few weeks. All of that schedule insanity, was it worth it?

One of the most rewarding things we do at Momentum Resources is help our candidates get jobs that are flexible enough for them to volunteer in the classroom, attend an 11am preschool graduation ceremony or assist with Field Day. But just because you can do that every day, doesn't mean you should.

After a weekend of activities that nearly killed me (and put the whole family in a stressed-out, tense, over-tired mood.....weren't weekends supposed to be restorative?) I put my foot down.

To take control over the last two weeks of school I:

Told the swim team coach we'd show up in two weeks when lacrosse post-season play was over. One sport at a time has always been a rule in our house, this was no time to break it.
Called the preschool director to see if my 3 year old's presence at a 7pm Year End Program was really required. It wasn't-- he has a supporting role for Pre-K graduation) Beginning after his bedtime and at a time when his brothers had sports practice, it just wasn't a good idea for us.
Had the older boys each pick one of the daily year-end "fun activities" (field day, beach reading day, paper airplane contest day) for Mom to attend. Dad had covered the last two cultural days, I was teed up for this one. But that's one, not 5 daily activities. As my dear business partners reminded me, we're going to have a LOT more time together this summer!
Relax about school projects. Grades are due Friday, my child's end-product on a school project in the next 2 weeks is not going to make or break his chances at admission to Harvard. Try hard, enjoy it, learn something from it.

After all, isn't that what this whole school, learning and parenting thing's about anyway?

PS Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT, feel one iota of guilt about these decisions.

Job Search Sneak Peek

2011-03-22T05:56:00.003-04:00

We often have candidates we haven't connected with a long time- even years- come to us and say, "I know I want a new job, where do I start?" Sometimes new candidates will approach us with the blanket statement, "I need a new job, I don't know what, just a new job." Not helpful.

After facilitating a thorough session on what the ideal job and schedule situation look like, as well as what might work (and more importantly, what won't) we typically ask candidates to come back to us with some narrowing parameters. After all,even in this economy in any given field in any given city there are many jobs open and many job seekers, you've got to narrow the field!

Once we have an objective, something like "I'd like to work 30-40 hours per week within 15 miles of my home in change management in a role that utilizes my bilingual capabilities." Now that we can work with.

Behind the scenes, we begin to match candidates with current open requisitions and proactively reach out to our clients and network where we think there might be a potential fit.

But here's the key, it's a parallel process. Our most successful candidates, the ones that get the jobs that most closely match their ideal scenario, work in conjunction with us, checking in every couple of weeks to let us know what's working, and what's not.

Not sure where to begin? Try this recipe for making a target list of companies and networking in to them:

Are you on LinkedIn? Set up a profile using your resume as a format, seek "recommendations" from former managers and co-workers, and "link up" to me and join the Momentum Resources group so that you have access to our network.

Develop a target list of companies you'd like to work for based on the parameters you've laid out

"Follow" those companies (Search/Companies/Follow) on LinkedIn to view news releases, research company profiles and view the resumes of recently hired staff.

Expand that list to companies and organizations that are hiring folks with your skill set

Marry the two lists, see who in your LinkedIn network (and offline network) works, or has worked, at those organizations.

Network till you're in! Ask for an introduction from a mutual contact, take your "insider" to coffee ($5, 20 minutes) to ask thoughtful questions and get some ground-floor insight, send a thank you email that day and put a written one in the mail immediately.

Spring is in the air

2011-03-10T10:32:00.003-05:00

I have really enjoyed reading recent blog posts from Real Results, a Richmond, VA based coaching group. As a matter of fact, I re-posted their blog last month. I am here to do that again. I found this post so poignant and thought provoking that I couldn't wait to share with Momentum followers.

How far can you see?
posted by Kathy Harman at Real Results (kharman@realresults.us.com)

I was walking through my favorite winding forest path today, the sun warm on my shoulders. The trees are still bare, although the buds are fattening up nicely. Peepers have started singing like their lives depend on it, thrilling me with the promise of spring. I looked up, and noticed that I could see quite a bit of the path in front of me. Actually, it was almost beside me, as it winds in exaggerated loops that help extend the walking experience. Seeing those loops stopped me for a moment, staring in disappointment. I could see quite far through the trees, and it wasn't a very long stretch of woods. I'd be out of it and ending my walk in no time! Yet, in the summertime, when the trees are in full leaf, the trail seems to extend forever. Time slows, as I can concentrate only on what I see, a small path bounded by a wall of leaves and bushes. The future of the path is a delightful mystery: what will I see around that next corner? But, when the leaves are stripped away, the path is exposed as artificial, man-made loops that fool us walkers into thinking we've gone far...

How like our lives! Think of the future as a path that loops through eternity. Sometimes we can see very far along that path, other times the path is totally obscured and we see only our immediate surroundings. When we see far, we tend to concentrate on the farthest point, missing our present moments in our rush to get there. And when we get there? It's more of what we just left! We see how we've created our path, and how it goes back and forth, fooling us into thinking we're making progress. In reality, we haven't moved very far at all!

However, when the future is hidden, we immerse ourselves in the present moment in all its fullness. We have no idea what awaits us around the next bend: it might be a treasure or a monster. So, we may move cautiously, but move we do, paying attention to any sign that may predict what we may find. Since we can't see far, what is near to us tends to catch our attention. We see the small things that escape our notice when we're focused on the future. It may be a short meeting with a dear friend, a beloved dog putting her chin on our lap for a pet, a child's laughter. But these treasures lift our spirits and give us the fuel to face whatever is awaiting us around the next bend.

Seeing far into the future does have its benefits. But paying attention to our present is what brings the most joy and positivity into our lives. While anticipation can be delicious, and replaying wonderful experiences we've had is uplifting, the only way we can create delightful memories is by paying attention to what we're experiencing right now. When we experience a positive present moment with all our beings, we enrich the moment, gain insights and feel at peace. If the moment is uncomfortable, we can still gain insights that lead to peace.

How do you fully experience your present moment? Try these:

Take a walk outside in nature, and put all your attention on what you are hearing.
Any time you are walking, pay attention to your footsteps. Really feel your feet moving up and down, your body moving through space. Feel the motion of your body as it moves.
Every time you laugh, notice how it feels inside of you. Feel appreciation for what (or who) made you laugh.
Put a sticky note on your pc monitor that says "Notice!". Every time you see it, stop what you're doing and pay attention to all that's going on around you. Notice at least one positive thing about what you're experiencing.
When you're surrounded by loving family or friends, stop every now and then and simply enjoy the company, without having to say or do anything.

The more you practice really experiencing the present moment, the more natural it becomes. Once you create a habit of it, you'll find yourself to be more positive, calm and aware of what's going on around you. You'll still have your long-range vision towards the future, but now you'll find more enjoyment and fulfillment exactly where you are.

Tips for Balancing Work and Family

2011-02-22T07:37:00.000-05:00

We're a big fan of the Wall Street Journal's Career Journal, and today's post was no exception. In Seven Tips for Balancing Work and Family, Prerna Sodhi provides some concrete tips for making it all work.

Some of my favorites are:

Get Organized: This is huge, because if you're at the office late managing a missed deadline or late to work because you left your laptop at home, there's no hope for balance. I'm a big fan of weekly scheduling meetings (both work and home), Google Calendar, smart phones and never leaving home without a handy dandy notebook.
Negotiate With Your Employer: We do this every day on behalf of our candidates, but every employee's flexibility needs are different, and they change substantially over time. Keep your employer's needs in mind, see what you can work with, offer a 30 day trial period, and give it a go.

and finally, what I struggle with every single day:

Leave Work at Work. My business partner called it an "occupational hazard,"that for the first time in my life I love every part of my job, and just want to be doing it all the time! I am emotionally invested in our clients and candidates and the amazing flexibility I've created also makes for very fuzzy boundaries. At the park with my boys, I need to leave my iphone in the car. During the dinner/homework/bathtime hours, I need to resist the temptation to answer email. I've made compartmentalization and being "present," both at home and the office, a huge priority for 2011.

Flexibility Wins in the Talent War

2011-02-14T08:54:00.004-05:00

The economy is recovering, quickly. Today's Washington Post reports that Washington, DC-area unemployment is hovering around 6%, a full 400 basis points below the national average.

We're seeing this every day, reaching out to candidates who say "I got a job last week" or candidates getting 2 or 3 offers when considering new opportunities. The war for talent is on and the companies that offer flexible schedules are winning.

Over the last few years, we've found a great "sweet spot" for mid- to senior-level professionals working 32-40 hours per week with one or more days of regular telecommuting. It provides enough coverage to not upset a traditional corporate structure and respond to client demands, but provides a substantial level of flexibility that makes life work for many of our candidates.

This is how we've helped high-growth companies like Morgan Borszcz Consulting, Natrik Consulting and Zavda Technologies. We help them pull key Project Management professionals from the "Big 5" firms and work out the individual flexibility solution that works for their families (school bus hours, early start/finish, 1 day/week telecommuting, you name it!)

It's how we've helped law firm start-up Clearspire, whose mission is to restore value to the delivery of legal services for both clients and attorneys, build a pioneer team of AMLAW 100, Top 20 law school attorneys. They augment their full-time team with attorneys who work 20-40 hour work weeks using cutting-edge technology to primarily work remotely.

It's how we've helped non-profit organizations like Business Professional Women's Foundation and the National Association of RC&D Councils build out staff and meet organizational goals with constrained budgets: contract employees whose hours ebb and flow with budget cycles and whose subject matter expertise is exactly what the organization needs.

Smart companies and organizations are winning the war for talent by offering the one thing money can't buy and doesn't cost a cent: flexibility.

Now here's something to think about.

2011-02-08T13:52:00.003-05:00

Some of the most interesting emails I get come from the smart women whose blogs and newsletters are delivered to my inbox (on a daily basis). Now mind you, I am usually reading these emails in bulk one morning while the kids are at school, trying to cram all the knowledge sent out over the month into a tiny window of opportunity. But somehow I seem to glean incredible tidbits about how to improve my life.

The following recent post from Kathy Harman at Real Results, Inc (kharman@realresults.us.com) resonated with me and the work that we do at Momentum. Can you live up to the challenge? I am going to try.

Finding Balance

We hear a lot about Work-Life balance these days; everyone seems to have too much of one and not enough of the other. I think that there is a lot more to balance in our lives. There's the balance between achievement and fulfillment. Let's face it, you probably work just as hard in your non-work life as you do in your work. With all you do and accomplish, when do you ever take time to simply 'be'? To sit and meditate for a few minutes, letting the stresses and demands of the day shed off of you like water. How about time to read more than ½ chapter of a book at one time? Or to simply gaze out the window for a few minutes, appreciating the beauty of nature? If you find yourself way overbalanced on the 'doing' side, work to bring the balance back by starting small: set up an appointment with yourself every day at the same time to sit for 5 minutes of silence, or one hour several times a week to read. Start saying "No" when saying yes means doing more than you need to be doing right now. Even stopping in the middle of chaos to take 3 long, deep breaths will help you to balance

Then there's balancing your attention. Do you even realize how much attention you give to the different areas of your life? Try this: Rate each life area in this table from 1 - 5 with 5 being the highest, for how important this area is. Then rate from 1 - 5 for how much attention you give it:

Life Area	Importance	Attention
Family
Significant Other
Career
Friends
Personal Development
Fun
Community
Spirituality

What did you find out? Are you balanced between the importance of that life area, and the amount of attention you give to it? If not, what are some things you can do to bring it into alignment? Again, start small: if you would like to give more attention to your family, how about making an appointment each week for a family fun hour? Or create a new habit of a 5-minute morning appreciation ritual, where each person states the 3 things they appreciate this day.

If all this seems overwhelming, make it simple: improve your balance between doing and being. Give yourself permission to let go of being perfect, of doing it all, of being responsible for the world. Create calm moments each day to simply be aware of all you have, to experience gratitude and joy for what's good in your life. These moments bring such fulfillment that you'll find yourself arranging more time for them. Use a trigger, such as an alarm on your cell phone, or 'each day after I take the kids to daycare', to remind you to experience your calm moments. As your fulfillment increases, your positivity increases, affecting not only your own peace of mind, but that of those around you.

This year, make a commitment to yourself to balance the scales.

My guideline from this: When I balance my doing with calm times of being, my well-being flourishes!

Your challenge for the month:

Determine one small thing to increase your 'being' time, and practice it regularly. Remember that you can create a habit by doing something for 21 days straight, so set yourself up for success by creating a new 'fulfillment' habit. You don't need to suddenly set aside 1 hour a day to do this; start small and experience success. At the end of the month, look back to see how well you adjusted your life balance towards fulfillment.

Why MBA Moms Earn Less

2011-01-26T06:41:00.003-05:00

Two Harvard University Economists, Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz, recently released the study "The Career Cost of Family" that found among highly educated women, MBAs took the largest percentage "mommy penalty" while those with medical degrees receive the lowest loss. PhDs and attorneys are somewhere in the middle.

Back in 2008 I blogged about my own family vs. MBA career path dilemma. That led to a series of compensation-killing decisions: leave corporate finance, select Federal sector management consulting (less travel) than commercial sector, then off-ramping to entrepreneurship. None of these were bad decisions- for either my career or my family- but they explain why my salary history looks like EKG monitor on a heart disease patient.

From both my personal experience and from negotiating both "balance" trade-offs and compensation on behalf of my candidates, I've come to realize that MBA moms take the greatest hit because:

There is no straight-forward "business" career path. Industries with large numbers of women- medicine, law, accounting- all have defined career paths for success and most have accommodations for women (or men, to be fair) that are on that non-traditional path. Law firms have part-time partner tracks where working parents can work less and achieve partner status, just on a longer timeline. In business, you can be working in management consulting, investment banking, brand management- you name it- and with those diversified offerings comes a web of career opportunities that all too often result in women "off ramping" when they have children.
Who are the mentors? Ask anyone to name the top women in the C-suite and you'll hear the names "Meg Whitman" or "Carly Fiorina." They're not even IN business anymore. With no one to lead the way to show a path to the top while having children, women off-ramp rather than stay in the game, leaving these 18+ month employment gaps that severely impact lifetime earning.
MBAs are for over-achievers. I went to a Top 25 business school, I know the type-- over achievers, hard chargers, the men and women who want to lead the business community. It's hard to be a corporate leader when you have to break every 2-3 hours to breastpump. It just is. Women are on a longer career arc. When their male counterparts are having stress-induced workaholic heart attacks at 50, my hope is that the women MBAs fill in the gap.
Kids are not convenient. I recently visited my closest b-school friend overseas and while he's spent the last decade climbing the ranks of international management for a Fortune 100 global brand, I've put down roots in the best public school district I could find. At graduation (he, single, me- married with two babies) we took very different paths. Not better or worse, not right or wrong, just very different routes that have resulted in vastly different compensation levels.

I recently watched a TED talk with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg where she explains why we have so few women leaders. I'm not sure I agree with everything she says, but I love her advice: keep a seat at the table. You don't have to be at "the table" when your children are young, you don't have to be at the head of said table, but keep your head in the game and your seat, well, at the table.

Logistical Kryptonite Part 1: Pumping

2010-12-17T06:26:00.003-05:00

In this crazy holiday season, working mothers face a logistical crunch: how do you finish year-end financials when your daughter wants you at her holiday classroom party? How do you sneak Santa gifts, shipped to your office for signature delivery, into your home if you're on daycare pick up? One of the super powers of Super Working Moms everywhere is superior logistics management skills. But, surveying my working mama peers and mentors, two logistical challenges come up over and over: pumping and conference calls. Call it Logistical Kryptonite.

I consider my greatest accomplishment in life breastfeeding preemie twin boys. Without a doubt, that was the hardest thing I've ever done and I came up with a well of determination and persistence that I didn't know I had in me. But when I returned to work when the boys were 6 months old, I had no pumping facilities, which quickly spelled the end of that accomplishment.

I was new to the firm and was working on a client site, sharing an 5x6 office with a Navy Commander. I wasn't exactly in the position to say, "Excuse me, sir, would you mind stepping out of your office every 3 hours for approximately 20 minutes? Just ignore that whoooshing sound."

Long after I was past the pumping stage, I moved to my company's corporate office where there was a dedicated pumping room, replete with sink, mini-fridge, recliner and most importantly, a lock on the door. Routinely I'd see men in their 50s carrying stinky sandwiches in there, women looking for privacy on a call, you name it, all manner of folks not toting a Medela Pump-in-Style. Naturally, I took it upon myself to politely educate these colleagues on the intent and purpose of such a room and suggest an alternate location for said sandwiches and calls.

Turns out, I wasn't alone. Practically every nursing mom I surveyed has a pumping horror story. A former colleague at a major financial services firm pumped in a shared, 3-stall ladies room and once had a male office cleaner walk in.

Another friend shared many relatable pumping stores. Pumping in a partner's office when no other locked door existed. Walking to metro, realize you left all of your pumped milk in the office fridge, trudging back to retrieve it. Pumping in an conference room, someone knocks on the door, you fix your shirt, answer the question then can't let down again. And by far the worst, traveling for work during the TSA ban on flying with breastmilk without a liquid: dumping 3 days worth of liquid gold pumped on the road.

But the tide might be changing. As reported in Strollerderby, Congress has expanded its pump facilities to now include more than a half dozen lactation suites on the Hill, including the "Boob Cube," an 8 x 10 state-of-the-art lactation facility with frosted glass, 2 hospital grade pumps, sanitizer, mini-fridge and most importantly, a lock on the door.

As a mother of 3 and small business entrepreneur, the thing that stands out as completely obvious is that a small investment (and we're talking small people, couple hundred dollars max) in a dedicated lactation room will help you attract the best and the brightest who increasingly make career decisions on the family-friendliness of a firm and keep your current employees happy and most important to your bottom line, productive. Set aside $250 for a lock and mini fridge in an empty supply room and don't be surprised to find a working mom spending her twice daily 20 minute pump session with a laptop burning up the year-end financials so that everyone can go home early to their families.

Telecommuting: Best for the Chatty?

2010-12-02T06:26:00.002-05:00

Job.com posted an article today with the results of a funded by Cisco Systems by the psychological consulting firm Pearn Kandola on personality types and the success of telecommuting. Turns out, telecommuting is not for the shy or disorganized. Instead, the most successful telecommuters are chatty and extroverted as they feel connected to coworkers using digital means.

I can relate. I don't think anyone's every called be introverted and I think I'm fairly organized, but I too felt the isolation of the home office. Although I'd always done some work from home in a large corporate environment, my first two years with Momentum Resources were from a home office. While successful, I still felt somewhat isolated in my creative thinking.

Here's how I've learned to combat the telecommuting silo:

Get out of the house! I leased an inexpensive interim office in my neighborhood and am now working in an affordable co-working space called Connect113. I still do a significant amount of work from my home office, but as I type this 2 of my 3 boys are talking at me before 6:30am at home and I can't wait to be among the creative thinkers over the age of majority in my office.
Leverage technology. I use both Google Chat and Skype (both IM and video) to stay connected to my business partners, employees who work remotely and contractors. Sometimes it's just to check in, sometimes it's meaningful collaboration. Video communication allows me to feel much closer to my colleagues spread out across the Mid-Atlantic region.
Join a Group. Every industry had a professional association with local chapters that hold lunches and networking events. Even if you don't have a business development role, get out there and network. One of the most supportive groups I've become involved with is The Enterprising Moms, a group of women who are raising families and growing businesses.
Set boundaries. The biggest downside to telecommuting is that you're never "off." Why do you think so many employers encourage it now? They know you'll log many more productive hours than in the office! Set your business hours, teach your family the home office rules. In my house, if I'm on a call and the office door is locked someone had better be bleeding if there's an interruption.

That said, leave a small window for exception. One of my 8 year olds just came in to my home office before 7am, a big no no, and said, "Mom, come watch the sun rise with me!" I certainly wouldn't have that moment if I were already on the beltway to Tysons Corner.

Taming the Holiday Mayhem

2010-11-15T07:49:00.003-05:00

I love being organized, always have. This year I hit a new PR (personal record for you non-runners) in holiday organization: Holiday cards ordered and received by November 1st and holiday shopping completed by November 15th. Recounting this story to a friend, it occurred to me, living in the present requires one helluva lot of advanced planning.

This year I aim to spend more time snuggling on the couch with my boys watching cheesy holiday movies and hitting some of our favorite DC-area holiday sites and less time at the Target check-out counter. In order to get this done, I had to tame the holiday madness by:

Reducing the list: With every cute shot on Facebook, the need to send photos to every person I've ever known is, as they say in the military, OBE (Overcome By Events). Cut the list, write long notes to far flung family members and friends.
Keeping it to the Kids: Rather than swapping $50 gift cards with adult family members, we're focusing on the kids. They're much more fun to shop for anyway!
Giving experiences: Instead of adding another Barbie to a friend's girls' collection, we're meeting up for a holiday display at the U.S. Botanical Gardens. Free, much more fun and guaranteed to be remembered by all.

Flexibility in Small Businesses

2010-11-02T15:00:00.002-04:00

I read a great blog today on TheHill.com about two small business owners and what they're doing to accommodate flexibility polices and to promote a positive work-life balance among their employees. Yes, even in this market.

The owners of Kerbey Lane Doll Shoppe and Business Access, a retail doll store and technology company respectively, have found the secret to getting "the cream of the crop" and surviving amidst economic turmoil: grant flexibility.

The two Texas small business owners detail several policies, from adjusting start and finish times to allowing reduction in hours (with pro rata reduction in benefits while the rate stays the same), to keep their best employees. Why do they do this? Is it some feel-good initiative? For good press? No. Because it makes business sense.

A few key tidbits:

-These business owners provide paid sick leave so that their sick employees stay home and don't infect the rest of the office, potentially bringing down an entire organization. We're headed into cold and flu season people, keep those germs at home!

-Allow telecommuting, it's a free way to reduce office space expenses and gives back to employees precious time otherwise spent on the road.

-Best summary: "It's inconvenient to have someone out on leave. But it's plain disruptive and plain expensive to lose someone permanently."

Where to Find the Flexible Jobs

2010-11-01T06:21:00.002-04:00

I spoke on a panel last week for the Detours & On Ramps Forum on negotiating flexibility when returning to work after a hiatus for child-rearing. There were, of course, lots of questions on where to find those jobs and how to get them.

Working Mothers's Top 100 companies to work for is a great place to start, but bear in mind that it's just a starting point. Many of the self-nominated companies are advertisers in the magazine (paid advertising is, after all, their business model) and although they have verified these family-friendly policies in place, they don't apply to all locations, departments and job families.

For example, I worked for one of these companies that touted on-site pumping facilities. My particular role landed me on a client site where I shared an office with my client. I was not exactly in a position as a new employee to say, "excuse me, sir, would you mind vacating your office for 20 minutes every 3 hours while I, uhm, took care of business?"

Instead, work your network. You'll hear it time and again, but instead of looking at national lists take a look at your bus stop. Who's showing up in a suit and heels at 3:30 for pick up? Which parents are volunteering in your child's classroom midweek, where do they work? What do they do? ASK THEM! People are willing to talk, share their stories and how they've achieved some measure of balance. In fact, I'm willing to be they'd be flattered that you think they've arrived at a secret formula to work-life balance.

Ask for their card, send an email, take them to coffee. Then figure out to replicate that process in your own search.

Corner Office Moms

2010-10-25T14:25:00.003-04:00

A dear friend (and fellow working mother of 3) sent me a great article in today's Wall Street Journal about University of Pittsburgh law professor Douglas Branson's new book, The Last Male Bastion. Mr. Branson throws a wrench in the "mommy track" theory by pointing out that there are 12 female CEOs in the Fortune 500 List, and 11 of those 12 are mothers.

The article details how most of the women in the c-suite have strong support systems, including spouses that either held down the fort at home or whose careers took a back seat to theirs. What was most interesting in this article is that so few of the women chronicled participated in the story. Further, the number of spouses and adult children that declined to comment was astounding.

I have to wonder, what was the personal cost to these Corner Office Moms? Did they have some secret sauce recipe to making it all work (and if so, why won't they share?) or was it just too messy to put in print?

I've long wondered how we get more women in the C-suite (seriously? 2.4% of Fortune 500 Companies are run by women??) and truly believe that once we do we'll have more family-friendly policies that benefit all employees and will create more paths to corporate leadership for women (mothers, or not).

Perhaps the best takeaway from the article comes from Harvard Economics Professor Carol Goldin, who has studied earning penalties linked to motherhood. "The fact that most big-company female CEOs have children may just state the obvious- that the highest achievers can handle big challenges."

2010-10-21T09:28:00.002-04:00

Forbes Magazine profiled a Steve Forbes interview of Irene Rosenfeld, Chief Executive Officer of Kraft, on what it takes to be a female executive and what the future of women in the C-suite looks like.

When asked about balance (for most women, the $1 million question), she said, "I think you have this sense that there is this scale and every day and everything is just perfect. The reality is that it kind of goes like this or like that. And so I think what my advice to young women and men--because I think, increasingly, we're finding that the young men in the company are much more active fathers than, perhaps, the generation that preceded them--my advice to them is to figure out what's important to you and make sure that you take advantage of that.

So if there's an important event in your child's life or there is something that you need to do, do it. I think you can do it within the context of your business responsibilities. I think you can do it by working it out with your boss. But don't come to regret having missed some of these hallmark events. But you can't do all of them, and I think making some of those choices is important."

The key takeaways here are that:

There is no perfect balance
Some days your family wins, some day your work wins, it all evens out so long as you....
Make the right choices for you

Wages Down Sharply for Part-Timers

2010-10-19T06:41:00.003-04:00

Today's Washington Post (front page, top of the fold) cover story reflects something we've seen over the last two quarters: hiring is steady and picking up, but wages are flat or down. But what makes this front page news in one of the nation's largest publications? The Washington, DC area has largely been insulated from the devastating effects of the recession due to the dependence on the Federal sector and high supply of and demand for highly-skilled workers.

Some key figures:

Median income for part-timers was down double digits in every jurisdiction in the region from 2007-2009
Median pay for women who work part-time in the region fell from the highest in the region to 4th place (men fell from 2nd to 7th place)
From 2007-2009, median pay for women working part time fell 22% in The District and a whopping 24% (the worst in the region) for women in Fairfax County, my own backyard (compared to a 10% decline in Va. Beach and a 9% decline in Atlanta)

Drawing back to statistics class I know that the averages are dragged down by the predominance of hiring in the last fiscal year in minimum wage jobs (construction, retail, service-related) but it's also hard to determine if these part-time wage earners are working part-time by choice or are under-employed due to economic circumstances.

Although you can't watch CNBC for more than 5 minutes without hearing Santelli describe all of the cash Corporate America is sitting on, I don't think employers are being nefarious here, just cautious, but maybe so cautious that they're shooting themselves in the foot as we climb out of the recession.

Here's the thing, hiring manager, don't go cheap. Sure you can get a bookkeeper who will debit and credit all day long for $35/hour, but in 6 months, after you've spent 3 months bringing her up to speed, she's going to leave you for a $40/hour job and it's going to cost you somewhere between 1.8-3x the annual cost of that employee to backfill and re-train. Those are well-proven, hard-tested numbers and will only prolong this economic uncertainty.

Truly can't afford a market wage? Offer a non-financial incentive to join your firm and stay. Women, particularly, value time over money in many instances and schedule flexibility is free for employers and priceless for employees. Alter work hours (e.g. 7am-4pm), allow regular telecommuting (e.g. Wednesdays, the worst traffic day in the Washington, DC region) or any other combination of schedule flexibility that will bring you the best and the brightest who will stick with you through the recession and beyond.

Having Kids: Changing your life AND your paycheck

2010-10-01T13:18:00.003-04:00

The Government Accountability Office, commissioned by the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, recently released a report that showed very slow progress on closing the wage gap, particularly among female managers. Perhaps the most shocking data surrounds working mothers: working mothers earn just $0.79 to ever dollar a working father earns, after adjusting for things like education and age. This has stayed the same since 2000.

What does that mean? Even though more women than men graduate from college and post-Great Recession make up the majority of the workforce, working mothers are losing.

Cited in the NY Times , Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), Chairwoman of the Joint Committee said, "When working women have kids, they know it will change their lives, but they are stunned by how much it changes their paycheck. In this economy, it is adding insult to injury, especially as families are increasingly relying on the wages of working moms."

What does this mean for us? That the wage gap is largely a function of the work-life balance debate. That what's good for working mothers and their families is to find a way to keep women employed throughout fluctuations in their life and care-taking responsibilities (new babies, aging parents, heck, even sick dogs) so that the can in fact rise to the management ranks.

The Glass Hammer took the story one step further, demonstrating Why Men Matter in the Work/Life Debate. Discussing author and UC Hastings Law Professor Joan William's recent assertion that the work/life debate needs to move away from a maternal argument and embrace paternalistic responsibilities as well. Noting an absence of dialogue, inflexible work schedules and missing voice of the middle class in policy-making discussions, Williams believes focusing too much on the working mother's needs, and not that of the whole family (including Dear Ol' Dad) is hampering progress.

I remember when our twins were born, 6 weeks early with a stay in the NICU, my husband unsuccessfully petitioned- all the way to the VP of Human Resources of his Fortune 100 very profitable firm for which he had worked 3 years- to get 4 days of paid paternity leave instead of 2. His argument was two babies, two days each. They didn't see it that way. We needed more help than any 2 days of paid leave could ever provide but that signal, that "working dads are nice but don't come looking to us for help" eventually cost them an employee.

But I think things are starting to change. At a recent sick child appointment at our local pediatrician's office I noted with smug satisfaction that there were more Dads than Moms in the waiting room. Some Dads were in gym clothes (SAHD?) with tardy back-to-school health forms, others donned the typical DC dark suit and glanced furtively at Blackberries while waiting to be called. But the bottom line is that with more women in the workforce than men the Dads are stepping up, and although change is slow in the making, we're moving in the right direction.

Flexibility on Wall Street?

2010-09-27T09:08:00.002-04:00

As a former finance professional who switched careers because of it's innate lack of flexibility (e.g. tied to the trading desk during market hours, 60+ hour work weeks, etc.) I was floored by the profile on Briargate Trading, a Wall Street trading firm with uber-flexible hours and scheduling.

The Wall Street Journal profiled the firm and it's culture- working very hard during trading hours but allowing flexibility for things ranging from lunch with children to playing golf and even suntanning on the building's roof- demonstrated that although it might limit the potential upside they have high retention of the best and brightest traders in the business. A recipe for long-term success.

Although this article evokes images of hot shot traders slinking off after the close to hit golf balls, the essential argument is the same for working parents: there is an economic value to flexibility. Companies faced with tight budgets are stiff hiring needs for top talent need to consider this option.

We're seeing this work every day, from the 8a government consulting firm that steals away Big 5 talent by offering 1 day per week telecommuting to the virtual law firm that snags Top 20 law school talent away from AM Law 100 firms by offering a 30 hours work week, smart companies are luring the best talent with flexibility and fair pay.

It's nice to see a tiny glimmer of positive news out of Wall Street.

The Rise of the Village

2010-09-21T16:35:00.002-04:00

I read an interesting piece in Sunday's New York Times today (yes, it takes me all week to get through Sunday's Times), A Commune Grows in Brooklyn. In the article, Jed Lipinski details all of the collaborative living arrangements cropping up in "DIY Brooklyn." Long the stomping ground of hipsters, the "breeders" are now forming home school cooperatives, growing public roof top gardens and even collectively running bike shops. Driven by the economic realities of the Great Recession, the grandchildren of the Depression are living the "many hands make light work" mantra.

In my own decidedly less trendy neighborhood, the 3 other families of 5 at my bus stop have formed a weeknight meal swap. Each night, Monday through Thursday, one of us cooks for 20 and we hand off meals at the 4pm bus stop. 3 of the 4 moms work outside the home (albeit with flexible schedules) and the 4th has 2 under 2 at home and works harder than the other 3 of us combined, so this was not about being hipper-than-thou, healthier meal prep or cost savings, but more about the logistics of getting dinner on the table at 5:30 when dance class is at 6 and Dad isn't home till 7 (thank you DC rush hour.) Cook one night (or the night before, my average time commitment is around 90 minutes) and the rest of the nights hot dinner is delivered. Fridays is leftover buffet night, and if we've had a particularly ravenous week, pizza delivery. Brilliant.

We've had all sorts of delicious food outside of my normal weeknight repertoire and I haven't heard a single "roast chicken....again?" out of my brood. We're swapping gladware and pyrex, family recipes and generally collectively lightening the load.

I'd love to hear from our readers on how other folks are working together to make working families work. Is it a MS Excel-worthy carpooling spreadsheet? Farmshare pick up split? What's working and where could you use more help? Because there's no reason we should do this alone.

Reigning in After-School Activities

2010-08-25T10:19:00.003-04:00

I'm a big fan of the Miami Herald's Balancing Act Blog. Today's post by Cindy Krischer gives some fantastic tips on scheduling and managing all of those crazy after-school activities that are just gearing up after a long, hot summer.

I was totally unprepared for how much more flexibility I needed in my career once my children entered elementary school. Looking back, how on earth was I supposed to get to a 4pm soccer practice when I didn't get off work till 5pm? And dinner? What?

Between carpooling, enrolling in school-based activities and grouping the kids' activities together, I've made it work. But I wanted to share Cindy's excellent suggestions with you as you wade through a mountain of Brownies, soccer and tae kwon doe registration forms:

* Guage your flexibility at work. Your employer may be willing to make an arrangement with you, even if it's temporary, to allow you to get your kids to practices if you come in earlier. This usually involves a conversation in advance.

* Consider proximity. The more activities kids can do at school, the easier it is on working parents. Get a schedule of team try-ours from your child's school. Some day-care centers have started to offer dance or martial arts classes during the day.

* Let your child choose. Children inevitably are more successful when they choose the activity rather than a parent. "If it's something they really want to do, they are more likely to figure out on their own how to get where they need to be," says Mandee Heller Adler, a Hollywood college admissions consultant.

* Find a carpool. This is when networking with other parents pays off. When asked, most working parents are thrilled to split driving duties.

* Do the activity with your child. Attorney Valerie Greenberg enrolled in martial arts classes with her two kids. She found it the best way to combine exercise for her with activity for them.

* Look into online activities. Your child might want to take cooking lessons by watching online videos at home.

* Enlist multiple children in the same activity. This may seem like a no-brainer but it may require some compromise.

* Ask about flexibility. If you plan to sign up for gymnastics or dance classes for your child, find out whether they have make-up opportunities for those times when your work schedules prohibits you from getting your child to their activity.

* Lose the guilt. "Parents don't have to be at every practice or show," says parenting expert Laura Gauld of greatparenting101.com. Sometimes, stepping back has its advantages, she says. "Someone else steps up and can turn out to be a good mentor for your child."

*Know the expectations. While elite youth sports teams are popular, they require travel and mandatory practices. It's best to check into requirements before signing up for a major commitment.

Working Mothers Redefining Success

2010-08-20T13:30:00.005-04:00

MSNBC.COM recently ran a great article aggregating several new studies and research statistics about the changing roles of mothers in the workplace. Eve Tahhimcioglu's article cites new studies showing that women now make up the majority of the workforce (51%, but still...), are delaying starting families, are better educated and are, in short, redefining the rules of success.

I recall my first performance review cycle after returning to work following the birth of my twin boys. It was "fine," you know- meets expectations consistently with a few exceeds expectations in there- but I'm not just "fine." Doggone it, I'm a rock star! How could I be just average? Well, I'll tell you how. Because 2 or 3 nights a week I was up several time nebulizing an infant with an inflamed respiratory tract, I had to leave at 5pm to make daycare pick up and frequently missed work for sick kids. Why couldn't they couldn't get sick at the same time, but rather, one after the other?

My husband has always been an equal partner and in fact during that time period he took the morning shift (including daycare drop off), split sick days and was a frequent flier at the Pediatrician's office. But what that review cycle told me was that I wasn't superhuman, I was not the same employee I was before I had kids, I had (significant!) external factors that limited my ability to go above and beyond.

With the help of a dear friend, who returned to work after having twins the same day I did, we sat down and drafted "New Goals for Success." They're outdated, company- and industry-specific, but the gist of it was we could not judge ourselves against our child-free co-workers. It was just apples and oranges. All we could do was our level best day in, day out, and then get home to our families.

I urge each of you to think about redefining what success means to you. Does it mean the proverbial corner office? A "C" in your title? Well good on ya, you have my vote ! But for you it might mean being off every other Friday to volunteer in your daughter's classroom, or home by 6pm on Mondays to lead cub scouts, or the ability to work from home when your little one is sick. There are tradeoffs for each of these, no doubt, but if they're your goals, you won't feel like you're missing a thing.

When the Job Search Drags On

2010-08-19T10:00:00.006-04:00

A job search in this market, particularly one that involves competitive rates, flexibility and the right location, can be quite time consuming. It's important to focus your limited time on the best next steps.

First, do you want to do something different or do you want to continue what you’re doing, albeit in a more flexible manner? If it's the former, you've got your work cut out for you. Career transitions are tough in this very crowded market. Focus on in-demand industries and identify your most highly desirable skill sets.

If the latter, what companies do you want to work for? Who's hiring for your skills and in your area? Which of those companies show up on Working Mother's Top 100 list for flexibility? Who in your peer group raves about their flexibility, where do they work? In short, you need to develop a target list and drill down.

On that target list, who do you know in each organization? Reach out to your own network via phone, email and offer to take folks out for a coffee. It's 20 minutes and $5, the best use of your time (captive audience!) Use the Search Function in LinkedIn.com to find people in your network (or your network's network) at (or formerly with) those companies. Check out our LinkedIn Job Search Tips. Make a spreadsheet, track your correspondence, be overly thankful for assistance and time.

This is absolutely a partnership and a process, we're happy to help along the way, even if that means you don't land a position with one of our clients.

Congratulations Corporate America!

2010-08-19T07:40:00.002-04:00

In what can only be described as Corporate America finally "getting it," Bank of America has announced they are expanding their My Work program. Available to 23,000 of the Bank's 283,000 employees- and expected to double next year- the My Work program allows employees to work when and where they work best. They work from home, suburban telecommuting centers and home offices around hours that work for them and their families. Can I get a Hallelujah from the Choir? In an era when there's nothing but bad news out of the financial services sector, I'd like to send props their way.

And the thing is, this isn't a publicity play, nor a "feel good" initiative (there's no room in corporate budgets for feeling good right now!) but rather there's a real business case for these kinds of efforts. Bank of America reports increased productivity and significantly improved retention at 98%. It costs 1.8 times the annual cost of an employee to replace him or her, translating to real dollars saved.

And building out smaller, flexible suburban work centers where employees drastically cut down their commutes and simply plug in a company laptop and use a company cell phone? Wayyyy cheaper than the fancy downtown headquarters with sparkling fountain and marble lobby. Not to mention, the reduction in carbon foot print on drive time and commute time, a huge work-life plus.

Good work, Bank of America. Keep it up!

Salary Levels & Resources

2010-08-12T16:14:00.003-04:00

Vickie Elmer, one of our favorite Washington Post business writers, recently detailed the lack of salary information in job descriptions. Vickie reports exactly what we're seeing: compensation levels are volatile and vary widely. You can (and should!) leverage resources like salary.com, but Vickie's team of experts also suggests:

-- If you already work for the organization, simply go to the human resources department and ask. This may work for some outside candidates, too, especially if they are finalists for the job.

-- Check recent job postings specific to the city and industry where you want to work and to your level of experience. Exclude contract jobs (unless that is what you're seeking), because their base pay is much higher. Recruiters also can be great sources.

-- Use Web sites to learn a ballpark estimate of market salaries.

-- Talk to people who already hold the job you want. Connect with them on LinkedIn or through professional associations. Ask for career advice and insights -- including salary ranges.

And keep in mind that salary levels are a function of supply and demand. In the Washington, DC area, there are thousands of unemployed attorneys and bill rates are showing it. But IT professionals with security clearances are still able to command competitive rates. If you've been out of the job force for a few years (for raising children, layoffs, etc) keep in mind that you will likely not make what you made then. It's math. It's the Great Recession. It's the role and the budget for the role but it's not you.

10 Things Recruiters Won't Tell You

2010-08-11T09:24:00.003-04:00

Careerealism.com recently posted 10 Things Recruiters Won't Tell You that gave the Momentum Resources staff both a good laugh and a hallelujah from the choir, and we wanted to share them with you.

Your interview attire is outdated/messy/too tight/too revealing/too flashy.
Your physical appearance is disheveled/outdated/sloppy/smelly/overpowering (i.e. too much perfume).
Your eye contact is weak/shifty/intense.
Your handshake is limp/too forceful/clammy.
You say ah/um/like too much.
You talk too much/use poor grammar/say inappropriate things (i.e. swearing) when you answer interview questions.
You appear overconfident/pushy/self-centered/insecure/aloof/ditzy/scatter-brained/desperate.
You talk too fast/too slow/too loud/too soft.
You giggle/fidget/act awkward/have facial tics/lack expression.
You lack sincerity/self-confidence/clarity/conviction.

Home Office Tips

2010-08-11T09:12:00.003-04:00

Between Graduate School, occasional telecommuting for a Big 5 Consulting firm and running a start-ups's office, I've had a lot of experience with the home office. I recently saw some great tips in Ladies Who Launch "8Tips for Setting Up a Home Office," and wanted to share them with you.

Some of my own tips include:

Designate a space. If you need to make phone calls, you need a door. Yes, this means my older kids will share a room till they leave for college but I need a separate space for files, doors to close for phone call privacy and some physical separation to keep my contracts, files and laptop off the dining room table.
Get the Right Gear. Wireless printer, laptop, the Pentax Mobile Scanner, these are all things that make my home office possible. I love Ikea's while cardboard (with space for labels!) storage boxes for uniformity in storing files and supplies and Real Simple (available at Target) makes great, stylish home office organization supplies.
Get a Headset. Make sure it has a mute button for the occasional home-office noise (dumpster being delivered next door, dog barking at mailman, etc.)

I Might Screw Up, But No One's Going to Die

2010-08-06T12:24:00.002-04:00

Even in the best job I've had, Directing the Washington, D.C. office of Momentum Resources, I have bad days. I make mistakes. I forget to return calls or am late getting in a contract, but at the end of the day, no one's going to die. As stressful as life as a working mother can be, imagine if your professional life held other people's life in the balance?

I considered this after reading Parenting Squad's "Work Life Balance Tips from a Heart Surgeon." The article details tips from Dr. Kathy Magliato, a world-renown cardio-thoracic surgeon. Dr. Magliato believes that there's never really a balance, and rather than compartmentalize the two parts of our lives (which- let's be honest- women are just not good at doing!) we should integrate the two.

Dr. Magliato advocates involving your children in your day-to-day work. Whether it's occasionally bringing her children on rounds or having them make artwork for her patients, she's found a way to bring what she does while she's away from her family into her family.

It sounds easy enough, but for many of us, do our kids even care? I tried to talk to my 8-year old boys about what I do and although they were somewhat interested in me helping other parents find jobs that allowed them to spend more time with their families, they really wanted to know when we could go to the pool. Any my 3-year-old? Forget it.

Do you talk to your children about your day job? Have you found unique ways to incorporate your children into your daily work life? Are your kids even remotely interested? Share with the crowd!

You CAN Have It All, Just Not All At Once

2010-08-05T13:18:00.004-04:00

Today the Wall Street Journal covered interesting new data on the success of women in the workplace, so long as they don't have children, in "Women Near Equal in the Workplace, Mother's Fall Behind." The article, like so many in recent months, recommends policy changes for increasing flexibility in the workplace and admonishes the United States for falling behind so many of our peers in this department.

Sure there are many, many things our government, Corporate leaders and non-profit advocates can do to improve the lives of American families, but I think it's important to remember that you can have it all, just not all at once.

If you scale back your hours and work responsibilities to spend more time with your family, that's more than ok, but you're probably going to lose a promotion to your non-parent co-worker who's putting in 50-60 hours each week. Maybe that used to be you, maybe that will be you in a few years, but right now, you're dialing back. Good for you, enjoy it. The smartest moves companies can make to attract and retain top talent is grant flexibility to dial up and down on the career track as family requirements mandate.

One of the things the Momentum Resources family is most proud of in the Great Recession is that we're finding win-win situations for both our candidates seeking a balanced professional life and our clients seeking the best bang for their bucks. We're matching Brand Managers that want to work 30 hours per week with employers who only have 3/4 of a role's budget and accompanying pipeline. We're putting Project Managers to work at firms whose project lifecycle works around school schedules. Rather than mandating policy changes, we're showing every day that this works to everyone's benefit.

Our Table: Chicken Kebabs and Spinach Salad

2010-07-30T15:18:00.003-04:00

Please forgive my food photography skills; although they're lacking, I had to share my latest & greatest 15 minute, 5 ingredient dinner with you all. The latest installment from the Our Table Series: Chicken Kebabs with Farmer's Market Spinach salad.

I'm a minimalist in the kitchen most months of year, but the recent Mid-Atlantic heat wave has caused me to ban the use of the oven, simplify food prep and shop at our neighborhood Farmer's Market.

Full disclosure, this meal was largely brought to you by Trader Joe's and several farmers within a 100 mile radius of Alexandria, VA - I simply put it together.

I grilled Trader Joe's BBQ Chicken Kebabs ($7.99 for 6, already seasoned and skewered) that go from the freezer to your dinner plate in 15 minutes.

The salad is fresh spinach greens from Twinbrook Farms, strawberries from Westmoreland Beryr Farm and a few rounds of goat cheese from, of course, Trader Joe's. Simple, delicious and good for you. Why can't we cook like this all year?

Avoiding Job Scams

2010-07-13T06:55:00.005-04:00

As Congress contemplates extending unemployment benefits and 1.4 million Americans enter their 99th week of job searching, I worry about hard-working job seekers becoming more desperate and falling victim to scam.

As a niche firm who specializes in roles with a positive work-life balance, I can see how some could conflate our motives to those who seek to scam. And although that couldn't be farther from the truth and the scams seem so obvious to many, desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures.

Considering a too-good-to be-true job? Here are some red flags:

When the WORK-FROM-HOME or "make $100/day the easy way" is the principal tag line, not the real work itself.

-A job that reads "Part-time customer service representative with telecommuting option for Mid-Atlantic manufacturer for $12/hour" is a very different story.

-If the "job" is advertised as a Google Ad, web banner ad or, as I saw recently, as SPAM on a friend's Facebook page. Legitimate jobs go through legitimate advertising channels and job search websites but more importantly, through your network. 99% of the time you won't be scammed by someone you know.

-If you can't get job details without supplying personal information or exchanging money. If someone contacts you about a fabulous job, you should be able to ask about the industry, the client (though that is sometimes legitimately held until later in the process), the day to day and overall job responsibilities. If any of that information is limited up front, be aware.

-It sounds trite, but if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Hands down, the best way to get a job in any market but particularly in this market is to have a stellar resume and Linkedin.com profile, network like crazy and follow up with polite tenacity, practice your interview skills with a friend and be open to new opportunities.

Build Your Village

2010-06-25T16:17:00.002-04:00

Blog readers might have notice we've been a little lately on posts. You know that shoulder surgery I told you about? Well it got worse, a lot worse. Post-op infection in my husband's newly repaired shoulder led to a second emergency surgery, then daily doctor's visits and a lot of craziness around the Folsom household. Add a potty training two year old and two 8 year olds enduring end-of-school year craziness that crossed into summer activities like swim team (thank you BlizzardS of 2009-10) and I've just about lost my mind.

But I didn't, and here's why. The Village stepped in. I talk a lot about building the village on our blog and that's because it is so very important, both on the personal front as well as the professional side of your life.

One of the most frequent questions I receive is "how do I build my village?" Sounds easy enough but when it comes right down to it, how do you actually make it happen? Inspired by a dear friend about to make a major move to a new state with school-aged children, I gathered tips from (who else?) my support network and am sharing them with you.

Part 1 are tips on how to build your personal support network. We'll get to the business side next!

Aim for 3 Back ups. Backups are people who can pick up your kid at school when they're sick and you're stuck at DIA with a thunderstorm delay for departure. They're people who will grab your kid off the bus stop if you're stuck on the Beltway and are not going to make it home on time. Get those permission slips done in advance and program all contact numbers in your cell phone (and your spouse's!). Volunteer to BE that person for your backups. And because your backups have their own families and drama, aim to have 3. The law of averages should work out in your favor.
Show up and Volunteer. We had a PTA member who moved midyear and on her daughter's first day of school she showed up at the PTA meeting that night and volunteered for one of the worst jobs: cookie dough fundraiser coordinator. Her reasoning? What better way to get to know all the folks in her kids' school than volunteering? She earned the admiration from the rest of the PTA members that night, the names of most of the students and parents, and who liked Rocky Road more than Chocolate Fudge.
Pay it Forward. Bring a sick neighbor some soup. Offer to carpool for your friend's older children when a new baby is born. Not that there's a scoreboard, but rack up points before you need them. Because one thing's for certain - you will.

Put Down Your Cape, Super Mom

2010-05-28T06:01:00.002-04:00

Blog readers, you have my apologies. It's been a while. A month- to be exact. But with the chaos surrounding my house of late, this fell to the bottom of the list. See about 5 weeks my husband, an avid bike commuter, had a fairly serious bike accident that resulted in a shoulder dislocation and subsequent surgery (including grafting a cadaver hamstring to his clavicle, eww!) that has thrown our finely tuned household operation upside down.

No longer able to drive (himself or carpool the kids to activities), change a diaper, fold a load of laundry or mow the lawn, I was making myself nuts with doing 100% of the household duties, all of the driving (a feat given our status as #3 worst traffic in the U.S.) and most of the kid responsibilities, from baths to- let's hear it for worst timing ever- potty training. Let's just say you never know how helpful your partner actually is until he's down a limb.

Then it hit me, I didn't have to do it all. In fact, it was really quite stupid. I was making myself nuts, taking my resentment out on my injured husband and setting a bad example for my kids. It was time to put down my cape. I didn't need to be Super Mom.

I've spent a long time building my village and it was time to let them help, and help they did. I enlisted several overnights for kid #3 (while potty training, good times for grandparents) and bus stop pick ups and drop offs for kids #1-2. I arranged carpools downtown for my husband until I realized that meant the cape was slowing creeping back onto my shoulders and swiftly handed him the bus schedule.

I gave up cooking for a week or two, opting for take out and breakfast and sandwiches for dinner. I said "no" to activities, for me, for the kids, for all of us. And we kind of liked it.

Now husband enters physical therapy and should get the OK from the surgeon to begin driving next week. Will I be able to keep my cape in the closet?

When Flexibility Smacks You in the Face

2010-04-16T13:19:00.003-04:00

The one thing I hear from all moms, those working outside of the home and those that don't, is that their life isn't in balance. Well, what is this balance thing anyway? Would we know it if it smacked us in the face?

Take yesterday for example, which was a typical day for me:

5:00 - 7:00 AM Early morning work, return emails, draft contracts

7:00-9:00 AM Wake and dress kids, big breakfast, bus stop and preschool drop offs

9:00-10:00 AM Volunteer at school for PTA

10:00-11:00 AM Meet with a client

11:00-12:00 Pitch a new client, return voicemails

12:00 -1:30 preschool pick up, lunch with 2 y/o that is so messy it requires an outfit change, for me, before my evening event.

1:30-4 Hard at work at the home office, working on a new business development strategy

4:00-5:00 Bus stop pick up, homework with 2nd graders

5:00-6:00 PM Dinner with the boys

6:30-8:30 Networking Event

Let's just say I was exhausted and like every other night this week, was asleep on the couch by 9:15 with a glass of wine calling my name. Except I was too tired to drink it. Feeling frazzled I thought to myself, "wait, don't I own my schedule? I promote work-life flexibility, why aren't I in balance?"

DUH! I am in balance, so perfectly in balance that I didn't even notice it! I am doing work I love, spending lots of time with my family and doing things in the community I love to do, like volunteering at school and playing soccer. But here's the thing, I have a FANTASTIC work-life balance but I still feel crazy, tired and overwhelmed. Balance for me doesn't mean strolling to the bus stop at a zen-like pace, noticing the irises that are just starting to come up. It means jogging in heels coming from the office so that I can get 2 good hours in with my boys before I head back for an evening event.

Thinking back, I had another completely non-obvious balance moment. Right after I went back to work when the twins were born I left my husband in charge of a particularly hectic household of crying, teething newborn twins, arrived at the office, poured myself a cup of tea and plugged in my iPod and thought, "My God, they pay me for this!" The point is, even though I was working full-time outside of the home I had some incredibly peaceful moments.

So the next time you feel out of balance, take a look around. Are you doing the things you want to be doing? If not, how can you make changes in your life so that you can be doing what you want to be doing in a way that makes sense and brings more balance- however it looks- to you?

LinkedIn- The Key to Your Next Job

2010-04-13T13:13:00.002-04:00

I've long extolled the virtues of LinkedIn. While some people refer to it as "FaceBook for your career" I've thought that oversimplified it's impact and misses out on it's primary value: 6 degrees of separation. It's like Kevin Bacon is your career counselor!

But today I got an email from one of our candidates thanking me for suggesting that she get to work on LinkedIn. I suggested she beef up her profile, get recommendations from past managers and co-workers, join an industry group and use the SEARCH function to find an insider in companies where she was applying. She took our advice, saw a job posted through a group, applied and started this week.

Doing a little digging, I found a fantastic blog post on Ten Ways to use LinkedIn to Find a Job. If you are looking for a job, READ THIS ARTICLE. If you are looking for new clients, vendor searches, insiders into a company you'd like to partner with, READ THIS ARTICLE. It's easy. It's ten steps. Who needs Kevin Bacon, anyway?

The Key is Integration, But Not at the Same Time

2010-04-06T09:35:00.002-04:00

Douglas Merrill, former Google and EMI Music executive, has just published a new book called Getting Organized in the Google Era. The key to balance, Merrill states, is integrating, not compartmentalizing the two. And of course the ex-Googlite suggests using technology to make that happen.

A big fan of Google Calendar, I can attest that sharing all relevant scheduling information with the right people (from your assistant to your Boss to your spouse and babysitter) is key to getting it all done. However, I think Merrill's big takeaway here is that you should use technology to combine the two, but single (not multi-task) to get it all done. He describes the physiology of why this work but boils it down to, "there's a big difference between checking your BlackBerry in the middle of dinner at a restaurant with your spouse and doing solo while alone in a grocery line."

For a week, I'm going to try this. I will put down urges to multi-task (e.g. typing an email while dialing a phone number) and will resist all urges to whip out ye ole iphone while enjoying a gorgeous Washington, DC spring afternoon at the park with my kids. I'll let you know if Merrill's right!

My So-Called Wife

2010-04-01T09:47:00.003-04:00

A friend passed me a New York Times op-ed published back in January by Sandra Tsing Loh called My So-Called Wife. The author, reflecting a recent trend, is the household breadwinner who has fantasies of being...and then having....a 50's era domestic goddess as a wife.

After some good humor on how much I'd like to have a wife, I surveyed several successful couples in my network, those that make the parsing of domestic work look easy, to identify some rules of engagement. Here's what I came up with:

Accept the reality that one partner will inevitably do more than the other. My unscientific research and personal experiences show that it will be the woman. This is not a gender flaw on men, it's just that the sisterhood cares more about the dirty coffee cup sitting on the counter. Men just don't see the dirty coffee cup.
Know that your partner won't do it your way. Sometimes their way is better, as is the case for my husband's laundry folding and bed making skills. Actually washing the sheets or putting away the laundry, that's another story.
Do the jobs you each do best, or hate the least, and outsource the rest. I am horrible at cutting the lawn, my husband lets paper clutter take over our house, we each do what we're good at. And we've found that a monthly housekeeper is cheaper than therapy.

Work Time Revolution

2010-03-18T13:22:00.004-04:00

NPR just began a great 3 part series called When Employers Make Room for Work Life Balance. Author Jennifer Ludden cites research by University of Minnesota sociologist Phyllis Moe and what she describes as a "work time revolution," akin to the industrial revolution, that takes the emphasis off of a rigid 9-5 schedule with a face-time culture.

We are seeing that every day. With a strong emphasis on the bottom-line and workers at every level eying the P&L, it suddenly doesn't matter how or when or where work gets done. So long as the work is done right, on time, and customers are happy so that sales are up and costs are down, managers are increasingly approving flexible arrangements. The Great Recession has in many ways been a blessing for working mothers.

Moreover, it's a blessing for any type of workers that want flexibility. The author cites an increase in GenX, GenY and millennial employees demanding a greater work-life balance and a reluctance to be tied to the desk. We're seeing that too. What began as a company to help working mothers achieve greater balance and solve clients resource problems has turned into a company that can help freelancers maintain a pipeline, grad students work evening hours and baby boomers to maintain a career without burning the midnight oil.

And the smart companies get it.

Should You Leave the Mom Label At Home?

2010-03-12T06:38:00.003-05:00

I read an interesting blog post today on the San Francisco Chronicle's website that got me thinking: Should you leave the mom label at home? This is certainly an interesting question, particularly given the fact that "mom" is in the title of our company.

The author is responding to a commenter that noted she listed her titles as "Girl Scout CEO, Lawyer, Mom;" mom was third. The author goes on to say why and tells an interesting anecdote about interviewing for a job and asking about the culture. When she asked if it's OK to leave midday occasionally to volunteer in school or make a recital the interviewer said "sure, just make up an excuse, no one will ever know what your'e really doing." She didn't take the job.

It reminded me of my first job search post-MBA. A mom of newborn twins, I couldn't figure out how and when to disclose this. On the one hand, would I knock myself out of consideration if I disclosed it to early? But on the other hand, do I want to work for a company where I have to hide my family status? Ultimately I chose to disclose this at the end of the third interview, once they already wanted to make the offer. Although I was always the mom, the one who had to get up and leave meetings to make daycare pick up, I tried to keep my mom "chatter" to a minimum, 2 kid pictures maximum in my cube. For me, at least at that time, work was the one place where I didn't have to be the mom 110% of the time.

Fast forward nearly eight years, and this is what we're selling! Although we work with a variety of individuals who need some sort of flexibility in their lives- Dads, Baby Boomers, Grad Students- we are primarily helping working mothers achieve balance and professional success at the same time.

What's happened? Well for one thing, the Great Recession. With managers focusing on P&L and production, not a culture of "face time," it's suddenly extremely attractive to hire part-time professionals. Getting more done in less time and for less money? Bring it on!

Social Media Research for Job Interviews

2010-03-10T06:39:00.003-05:00

So your resume was fabulous, you networked, got the interview, now what? It's research time!

Every job candidates knows that you must visit the company's website, review core competencies, read the latest news releases and know the management team, and an even more industrious candidate might google the company and see what else is out there.

But most candidates are missing a huge advantage over the competition in their research: social media. And as we've discussed repeatedly, it's a very crowded job market, you must stand out.

Here are a few tips to use the easy, free and publicly available social media outlets to set you apart in your interview preparation research:

LinkedIn: Join the company's page, review the company's profile and most importantly, identify and 1st or 2nd degree connections within the organization. If you've got a 2nd degree connection, ask for an introduction. Take those "insiders" to coffee, pick their brain about the company's culture, challenges and opportunities.
Twitter: Use the SEARCH function to find out what others are saying about the company. Follow major players, what are they saying?
FaceBook: Fan the company's page, if they have one. Enter the company name in the Search field to determine if you have a FaceBook friend with a connection there.
Google Alert: Enter the company's name in the Google Alert search field and every day you'll receive a daily digest email with all relevant references that day across the entire world wide web, from blog posts to news releases and even Twitter feeds.

Internships, the New On Ramp for SAHMs?

2010-03-05T06:59:00.003-05:00

Last fall I had the pleasure of speaking to Anne-Lise Gere, a stay-at-home mom and graduate student seeking the right return to work strategy. Though she lives in a market we don't currently serve, we offered to help. We're big believers of good karma and besides, Anne-Lise was the perfect guinea pig for a new career-switcher and On Ramper strategy: the grown-up internship. Here's what she had to say in her own words.

I have been a military spouse for the past 10 years and we have moved 6 times during the past decade. Along the way, we have welcomed into our family three children (currently 8, 5 and 2 years of age). I have a solid resume and over 10 years of experience in Human Resources with blue-chip companies around the world, working in three countries over three continents.

I stopped working full-time a few months before the birth of my first child because of a military move. I have not been back into the full-time employment since. However I have always considered that I would go back to work some day. I have grown to be a believer that you can have it all, but not all at the same time. In order to keep my life interesting, to make new friends and to keep my managerial skills fresh, I devoted time to other activities, besides mothering three little ones. For example, I worked as a journalist in Hawaii (another military assignment), helped a friend with a small business, volunteered in many capacities (VA hospital, schools, museums). I also embarked on a new professional qualification to specialize in Compensation and Benefits. I have worked on my own with books and study guides for the past 3 years, taking one exam each year and finally claiming my new designation this year.

After years of theory, I was ready to apply my knowledge to the world of work. Regardless of the economic environment, I was not considering a full-time job. I don’t have to work for money thanks to my hard-working spouse and some good home economics. However, we are thinking about the future. We feel the need for a more balanced life style for both of us. This will entail him spending more time with our family (not difficult considering several 12-months’ deployments overseas), and me working more outside the home for money.

So I decided to look for an internship just like during my student days. I am happy to report that I have been successful. A growing defense contractor has accepted to take me on as an HR intern working on projects in the area of benefits and compensation. The company does not have a budget to pay for an intern. I was asking for $50/day, enough to cover child care for the toddler. However, they have mentioned a “bonus” once I start producing some good work products. We have agreed on 8-10 hours/week, mostly from home but I have a badge to go into the office whenever I need to.

I went into this search for an internship with 3 main objectives

Gain practical experience on Compensation and Benefits
Refresh my resume
Gain insight into a new industry

My current assignment meets all 3 objectives. I think using the word internship worked well for me. It sounds less of a commitment than part-time work (and it is from a financial standpoint). It also gives me the flexibility I need when one of the three children is sick or there is no school (snow days, teacher workday, vacations, etc.). I am a married, single mother with no family nearby, like most military spouses these days.

Longer term, once my husband retires from the military, my objective is to work part-time in my area of expertise either as an adjunct consultant for a professional firm or an employee in a business. And once the children are in college, I might even consider returning full-time!

Know where you want to be, put the means in place to get there and grab any good opportunity along the way. That is my motto.

Economic Consequences of Breastfeeding

2010-03-04T06:48:00.003-05:00

Today's Wall Street Journal blog has an interesting post by Ruth Mantell on the Economic Consequences of Breastfeeding. Deciding how and what you can physically do to feed your baby is an extremely personal choice, one fraught with emotion and, cultural influence and health statistics, but this article struck me as the first time I'd seen a financial downside to breastfeeding. When faced with the to-breastfeed-or-not-to-breastfeed decision with my first children, twins, cost was a major factor. Have you seen the cost of formula?

All of the costs associated with breastfeeding that the author lists (pump, nursing bras, etc) are really small in comparison to the cost of formula. More and more health insurance policies cover lactation consultants and even the rental of a hospital grade pump (Tip: get your pediatrician to prescribe it under "failure to thrive" and file a claim under durable medical equipment).

But the data described by researched Phyllis Rippeyoung from Acadia University is interesting; "In terms of long-term earnings, women who breastfeed less than six months have similar income trajectories to those who never breastfeed, but those who breastfeed for six months or longer have far steeper declines in income, mainly due to their increased likelihood of reducing their work hours or quitting.”

Before coming to Momentum Resources I was a management consultant at a Big 5 Firm returning to work with 6 month old preemie twins. After pumping exclusively for 6 weeks until they reached their due date the boys finally learned how to breastfeed with a very supportive husband and miraculous lactation consultant. I still consider tandem breastfeeding one of my greatest accomplishments in life! But with the stress of returning to work I decided to breastfeed just twice a day and not pump at work. After all, I was starting work on client site and sharing a physical office with my client on a military base. I didn't think I could waltz in and say, "excuse me sir, would you mind vacating your office so I could pump?"

A couple of years later I worked in our corporate office which was blissfully outfitted with a pumping suite, replete with recliner, locked door and small fridge for storage. One day I noticed a middle-aged man walk into this suite, toting a bag from the deli across the street. Moments later, the scent of raw onions came wafting out. It suddenly occurred to me: this man was eating a stinky onion-laced sandwich in the coveted pumping room!

Feeling slighted from my own experience, I marched right up to the door, knocked and calmly explained to the man reclined in a chair, eating his stinky sandwich with his feet propped up on the fridge, that this room was reserved for pumping mothers. Looking embarrassed, the gentleman quickly packed up his stinky meal and exited while I triumphantly marched back to my cube. The next day I discovered he was a Regional Vice President visiting our office. Perhaps that was my personal economic consequence to breastfeeding.

Our Table: Salmon and Green Beans with Buttered Almonds

2010-03-03T06:23:00.002-05:00

Continuing the Our Table series, sharing successful family meals that meet my strict criteria (fast, affordable, healthy and delicious!) I wanted to share what worked last night.

I adapted a recipe from Real Simple to make this meal dairy-free (my kids are allergic) and servings for 6 so that there were leftovers for 2 adults for lunch.

I also broke out the cast iron skillet, inspired by a recent television segment I participated in, detailing dangers in your home. Needless to say the scratched Teflon coated pan made it's way to the trash can afterwards.

Ingredients:

7 boneless, skinless salmon fillets ($9)

3 TBS of butter substitute ($1/serving, Earth Balance)

2 lbs Green Beans, trimmed and halved ($2.50)

1/2 cup sliced almonds ($2)

Organic Salad (bagged, $3.5)

2 TBS Capers ($1/serving)

Melt 1TBS butter substitute in the cast iron skillet and saute salmon fillets for 4 minutes on each side until the fish flakes. At the same time boil 1/2" of water in a second skillet, add green beans, cover and steam for 5 minutes. Remove salmon from skillet, rest on plate and add the remaining 2 TBS of butter substitute to the skillet. Add the almonds and capers, stirring constantly to avoid burning. Serve the almonds over the green beans and salmon, serve with a fresh salad.

Delicious dinner in 15 minutes and at least than $20, that's cheaper than a meal at McDonalds.

Moms+Part Time Jobs = Healthier Kids

2010-03-02T16:56:00.003-05:00

A friend passed me a very interesting article today published on themedguru.com by Neharika Sabharwal detailing the lasting findings on research conducted by the University of New England (UNE). The study, led byJan Nicholson, principal research fellow at Melbourne’s Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, found that women with flexible work schedules raised healthier kids.

The study, titled "Do Working Mothers Raise Couch Potato Kids?,"cites findings that show no great difference in health (measured by TV time, height/weight, amount of exercise) among working and non-working mothers. In fact, the healthiest combination was with mothers working part-time and flexible solutions.

Nicholson states several theories, from "quality vs. quantity" of time of working mothers to the way mothers working part-time run their households. What do our friends down under know that we don't?

I know from my own personal experience that I plan and prepare better meals and snacks when I'm busy, working and running an efficient household. I get laziest around the holidays and in August when work slows down and schedules grind to a halt. Of course, the study concludes with "more research is required."

And You Thought WE Had it Rough

2010-03-02T06:23:00.002-05:00

I'm coming off a lovely week-long Florida vacation where I stayed (mostly) unplugged and did lots of great family things like biking, walking and reading and dove head-long into work yesterday. I was just having that return-from-vacation panic attack that results from a giant InBox, unreturned calls and more work coming in when I spied an interesting article in the Washington Post. Blaine Harden's article, With High Pressures, South Korean Women Put Off Marriage and Childbirth.

What a giant dose of perspective! Whereas on paper America has less comprehensive working mother benefits, after all we have FMLA (unpaid, after 1 year of employment, only for companies with more than 50 employees) South Korea provides a year of subsidized parental leave. South Korean culture, as described by Harden, shows a culture war of the traditional role of the wife and mother against the demands of working mothers.

Not all husbands, parents and in laws are perfect - not by a stretch- but for the most part I'm seeing working families pull together in a giant team effort. Pickups at my youngest son's noon dismissal preschool show scores of retired grandparents lining the halls. I strategically plan "Camp Grammy" during the last week in August when there are no summer camps to be found. Most fathers I know in the area do either pick-up or drop-off and the waiting room of my pediatrician's office, conveniently downstairs from our new Momentum Resources Washington, DC office, is about 50-50 women/men.

We have a long, long way to go in terms of women in the C-suite, supportive legislation and the Chore War going on at home, but I feel very thankful this morning for the women the blazed trails before us, facing the same cultural wars as South Korean women today, to make what I have possible. In honor of Women's History Month, thank you.

Avoid the Resume Black Hole

2010-02-18T10:13:00.003-05:00

CNN published a great article today on avoiding the resume black hole. Jessica Dickler, in "The Job Application Black Hole" informs readers that applicants are one of hundreds for each job (not breaking news), that you must pass an initial questionnaire perfectly before moving on to the next step and that you must pay attention to the date of the posting to avoid a stale, already filled "phantom posting."

What I am here to tell you is that 99.9% of the time you will not get a job by blindly applying online. It's just not going to happen. In any market, but particularly in a market where you're one of hundreds applying for a single role, you must have someone on the inside to physically walk your resume over to the hiring manager's desk and follow up to gain valuable feedback.

How do you get someone on the inside, you ask? You exploit LinkedIn's most valuable function: Search.

On the top of the page, right-hand side, there's a search field called People. Enter the organization to which you would like to apply. Anyone in your immediate network work there now or in the past? Perfect, Link up to them if you haven't already and let them know you're applying. Ask for help in the process. Ingratiate yourself. Buy them lunch or coffee and send an email thank you immediately and then a written thank you note. It's a crowded market, you need to stand out.

No one in your immediate network related to that organization? No problem. That's where the beauty of LinkedIn really shines. You have access to your network's network, like a giant game of six degrees of separation. Identify secondary or even tertiary contacts, and select Get Introduced. This allows your common contact to make an easy online introduction and you two can link up.

Once linked, ask your new inside contact a couple of questions about the position. Thank them profusely for their time and if they offer more help, take them up on it. Again buy lunch or coffee and again, send an email thank you immediately and a written thank you note straight away. And, thank your contact that made the introduction. Gratitude is free and is your secret weapon to getting the job you want during the Great Depression.

It sounds a little tricky when reading about the process but try it. It works. Please post success stories here!

Former SAHMs: You Got the Job, Now What?

2010-02-17T06:32:00.003-05:00

Much noise has been made in the media, and on our own blog, about mothers returning to the workforce during the Great Recession. While mothers return to the world of working for a paycheck during all economic cycles, the process is even more daunting when the market is as flooded with applicants as it is today. The good news? Many women, even those out of the job force for ten or more years, are getting the jobs they want and need.

This can largely be explained by two factors: industry and networking. Many fields dominated by women (education, healthcare, even accounting) are hiring. For niche skill requirements, employers understand the resume gap and hiring mothers back into the workforce. Secondly, women- especially mothers- are natural networkers. Whether it's running school fundraisers or church development boards, women are in their communities making connections and impressing all around them with their organizational, leadership and networking skills. In an era where you simply won't get a job by blindly applying online, this attribute is invaluable.

In today's Wall Street Journal, Sue Schellenbarger's article When Getting the Job is the Easy Part describes the challenges -both personal and professional- for women returning to the workforce after a prolonged absence.

New technology, changing office culture and a substantial decline in both pay and title are all challenges these women face. You can combat these challenges by staying in tune with your industry while out of the job force in professional association local chapters, strategic volunteering and freelance work.

Perhaps the hardest professional challenge is the dramatic decrease in compensation (on average, 37% decline if out of the job force 3 years or more) and title. The flip side to this challenge is that everyone is in the same boat. We're seeing salaries down 20-30% off 2006-2007 figures so a returning-to-work-mom is in the same boat as current professionals.

But the challenges don't end at the office, they spill over into your home. And how could they not? Mothers returning to work in this article find that there's tension in their marriage, that children have to become more independent and that somehow, the housework still has to get done. Stay tuned to read more about how you can divide the labor, prepare your kids and let go of "perfection" expectations when you are returning to work.

Revisiting the Resume

2010-02-16T05:53:00.002-05:00

We're not sure if it's all of the frustrated snowed-in moms across the East Coast reading our blog or further confirmation that the prolonged recession is driving more women back into the workforce, but a quick analysis of our blog shows a huge up-tick in readers looking for resume help for moms returning to work. We provided several tips in June, but it's worth revisiting.

Address the Gap: Avoid clever terms like "household manager" on your resume for time spent away from the workforce but instead highlight your volunteer work, continuing and professional education classes and anything else over that tine period that would be relevant to the hiring manager.
5 Red Line Edits: Get at least 5 people (husband, friend, neighbor, even kids!) to read your resume with a keen editorial eye. A single typo or a format that's not pleasing to the eye is enough to knock you out of consideration in this very crowded market.
Change the Layout: If you've been out of the workforce for more than 10 year or you are switching fields, you might consider a functional format. Check out our website for a good example of how you can highlight your functional skills in a non-chronological format.
Objective: Add an objective at the top of your resume that lets the resume reader, who statistically spends an average of 14 seconds on your resume, know who you are and what you're looking for. Make sure you modify that for every single job to which you are applying.

And if you get stuck, reach out to us. We've got fantastic resume writers on staff who can provide advice, assistance and the professional voice your resume is missing.

Flexibility: From the Top Down

2010-02-15T06:14:00.002-05:00

Apparently the Commander-in-Chief has figured out what working parents have long known: you can get all of your work done and attend your daughter's band recitals. It simply requires prioritization, flexibility and the support and buy-in from your support team.

In yesterday New York Times article He Breaks For Band Recitals, Sheryl Gay Stolberg describes how President Obama left crucial health care talks for several hours to attend his daughter's band recital. He left his advisors with assignments, returned after bedtime, and the talks went on until 1:30 AM. Stolberg describes a similar scene during an automotive bailout strategy session. The President left at 6 PM for family dinner, returned at 8 PM after tucking his daughters in, and resumed the talks.

Here's what we've learned from the President:

Prioritization: You can be the leader of the free world and have dinner with your family every night. He might miss many other important daily events but to him, family dinner is sacrosanct. His staff knows it, it's blocked off on the calendar, and all work can resume after 8 PM.
Flexibility: Work doesn't have to occur between 9 and 5. Clearly the President and his staff are working much earlier and later than that, but the lesson is the same. Knock off at a reasonable hour to spend time with your kids while they're awake and need you and wrap up your work after bedtime or before they get up (author's note: I am writing this at 6AM)
Support: It is widely known that President Obama intended to run a family-friendly White House. From the swing set on the front lawn, to monthly date nights and his daily presence at the family dinner table, he's saying to the world that even though times are really tough, family should and can come first. He delegates down to his advisors to get the job done in his absence, his staff helps him achieve his flexibility (e.g. scheduling overseas trips during the children's spring break) and, most importantly, he encourages it in his own staff.

Recession Moms

2010-02-12T06:34:00.003-05:00

Today's Washington Post article by Donna St. George, "Recession Has More Moms Entering Workforce," reflects what we've seen over the last 18 months. Industries dominated by men- finance, construction, automotive- are being hit much harder than more recession-proof, female-dominated industries like education and health care. As husbands lose jobs and take pay cuts, women are returning to the workforce in droves, often for the first time in more than ten years. It's a tough transition on everyone in the family: mom misses her family time, Dad has to take over more of the family responsibilities and kids need to be more independent.

But here's the thing, there's always a strong demand for more flexible jobs for working parents. Working parents didn't suddenly decide they wanted to spend more time with their families. In fact, given the financial and emotional stress of the longest recession in a generation, there's a strong argument for more flexibility in professional roles.

And the strange thing with this recession? Working parents are, in many cases, the winners here.

Businesses are hiring, but in niche areas and for employees with high-demand expertise. If you have that expertise, say in Federal contracts management or fundraising using social media, you can in many cases command the schedule and flexibility, if not the compensation, you want.

And when businesses are hiring, they often don't have the funding and demand for a full-time role. What they do have is the need for a part-time professional, and we're seeing this in law firms, investment management boutiques, management consulting firms and non-profit organizations. For many women, this is the dream job and work-life balance they never thought they'd achieve during the Economic Boom.

And sometimes these business have the full-time need now, but can't commit to a longer term employee. They just aren't confident about their pipeline and future revenues, and want to hire contract workers. No, these contract jobs don't come with job security or benefits, but they do allow working parents the chance to work now and end the contract, say around the end of June, when, if it ever stops snowing, the kids will be out of school. Working parents the world over know the challenge of working while younger school-aged children are home in the summer. Camps (often costing more than earnings) and the logistics of swim team and pick-ups by 4pm often make that impossible. Take the shorter-term contract and spend the summer with your kids at the pool. At least that's what I'm day-dreaming about as I see 3 1/2 feet of snow outside my window.

Snowed In But Still Working

2010-02-10T08:45:00.003-05:00

No, I didn't start drinking at lunch time as the fifth major snow event in two weeks rolled into the greater Washington, DC area. This is one of the many "snacktivities" I've conjured up to keep my 3 boys busy both inside and out while I try to get some work done.

So far my winning strategy for actually working while the kids are at home is getting up and working for two hours before they wake. We then play outside, get them worn out, bring them in for a short video and snack while we dry out our snow gear. Sneak a call or two while Sid the Science Kid teaches jingles about how glasses improve vision. Do an indoor activity, then get geared up for another round of outdoor play. Lather, rinse, repeat until they crash at 7pm, exhausted from so much snow day fun. Again, another two hours.

What's also working right now are some play date swaps with neighbors. Sometimes another kid in the mix is the perfect solution for bored and fighting siblings and it gives each parent a couple of hours to regroup, clean up and work. Another great solution is to invite a 9-12 year old over to play with your younger children. These mothers helpers, both boys and girls, are probably banned from Wii and TV by now and would welcome the opportunity to earn a couple of bucks building blocks and playing play-doh with your kids while you crank out a few emails.

Here are some of the tried and true activities that keep the Folsom Boys happy:

"Snacktivities:" Build with pretzel sticks and mini-marshmallows (eat 'em up afterwards), build Egyptian pyramids with sugar cubes and Elmer's Glue (don't eat those, obviously) and make Jello. It's probably been in your pantry for a good long while, add some grape "olives" and a fancy glass and you have quite a fun activity. Melt dark chocolate in the microwave (if you still have power) and banana halves, strawberries and Kiwi slices in. Dry on wax paper for a delicious after-dinner dessert.
Fill spray bottles with a few drops of food coloring and water. Your gloves will never be the same but the kids will have a blast spray-painting the snow.
If you have little ones that don't last too long outdoors, have an indoor snowball fight. Make a fort with couch cushions, ball up paper, and let the games begin. When you're all done, play "Basketball," shooting all paper balls into your recycling container.

What are your favorite snow day activities? Please share! We're all running short on ideas during the snowiest winter in Washington, DC history.

Building Your Personal Brand

2010-02-09T11:06:00.002-05:00

One of the things we've seen over the last 6-12 months is that hiring is on the upswing for specialists and in niche areas. Generalists are not getting a second look.

Part of what we do in the Momentum Resources process is to divine exactly what our candidates want to be doing, what they're good at how and how we can help set them apart in a very, very crowded job market. One of the least helpful things a candidate can say to us, even if it's true, is "I will do anything."

Once we identify a good role for a candidate, we present our candidate to the hiring manager with what we so eloquently call "the blurb." This is essentially a 2-3 sentence elevator pitch that says who this person is, what they're looking for, what their expertise is and why they're good for the job. What we're doing is introducing our candidate's personal brand.

BAD: IT Project Manager seeks flexible full-time job
GOOD: Business Process Management guru with 5 years of Federal Agency IT management experience and PMP certification is returning to work after an 18 month hiatus for child-rearing. Sally led a similar effort within the Dept. of Transportation right before her hiatus and would bring her BPM and high-level client management skills to your project at Health & Human Services.

Catherine Kaputa, author of The Female Brand, has an excellent blog post on this very topic. I advise readers to link through and have a serious look at this article, but she basically says:

Identify your personal brand before you start promoting it
Focus your brand (no generalists!)
Avoid adopting a copycat brand
Behave consistently
Don't ignore social media
Don't over-promote

If you're in the market, think about your brand. How do you describe yourself? Do you have an elevator pitch ready to go? Are you practicing it? What is your area of expertise? How can people find you or learn about that expertise?

Mother Nature Makes the Case for Flexibility

2010-02-08T10:19:00.003-05:00

The flexible workforce used to be a nice-to-have for working parents, mostly mothers. Phased return to work for new mothers, job-sharing, alternate work schedules; these seem like almost quaint strategies to help employers attract and retain their top talent.

Then the economy collapses and, when faced with shrinking profit margins, employers began to hire part-time workers in both contract and permanent position in droves. This flexibility, while not ideal for many, is a huge positive for working mothers, returning-to-work baby boomers and grad students seeking supplemental income.

The fall of 2009 turned into the winter of 2010 and the country was faced with a massive H1N1 outbreak. As employers prepared to deal with highly contagious sick employees and absenteeism while taking care of sick children, we recommended many reasonable accommodations for creating flexibility in your workforce to keep people working while out of the office.

As H1N1 faded out, many smart employers maintained those flexible work policies to keep business moving as the Mid-Atlantic got slammed with several historic snowstorms. With 2 1/2 feet on the ground now, my street still unplowed and another 5-10" expected tomorrow, it's clear that I won't be making it to our new DC area office anytime this week.

Here's what we're doing to keep our business on track as Mother Nature continues to throw us curveballs, make that snowballs:

Laptops, high-speed internet access, and cloud computing. Important documents on shared servers or Google Documents for version control.
When the power flickers out, charged smart phones (like my iPhone) save the day.
Google Video chat and Skype allow us to conduct candidate interviews, client meetings and internal meetings without digging out our cars.
Working very early (I prefer 5-7AM) and late (after bedtime) to spend the daytime hours building snowmen, sledding and enjoying an historic winter.

Balancing on my Toes

2010-02-04T06:18:00.003-05:00

Last week was just one of those weeks. My husband was on West Coast travel, my 2 year old was sick for 9 days with the flu, and business was booming. See, we've been very, very busy in 2010, which is a good thing, no- scratch that- amazing thing, but it seemed like it was all coming at me at once.

Trying to keep my own life in balance, I vowed to make it to not one, but two, yoga classes last week. In Monday's class as I sat in toe balancing pose (some call it butterfly), our teacher instructed us to leave prayer position, lift our arms to the sky and "carry the world" with our arms. Losing my focus, holding the "world" literally on my shoulders while balancing on my toes, I fell over.

And no surprise really, when I considered all that was going on. It was time to regroup. I asked a neighbor to help me get the older kids home from school, I took two other friends up on their offers for dinner delivery, and cut out all that was not urgent. I made a list of all that had to be done that week and put the rest of until the weekend, when I could hole up in my office as Dad held down the fort at home.

It worked beautifully! Kid #3 got healthy, Kids #1 and 2 had a good week, husband returned home safely and with the help of our Richmond office we made a lot of clients happy last week. As another busy work week comes to an end and yet another major snowstorm threatens to throw all plans off track, try to keep it balance, do what you must, let go of the rest.

Real Momentum: Q&A with Retail Superstar (and Mom!) Kate Viall Stottlemyer

2010-01-22T06:34:00.006-05:00

II1I first met Kate Viall Stottlemyer in my Randolph-Macon College days. A class year behind me, our paths often crossed in our small Business and Economics Department. We were reacquainted several years ago when I was in town to run a race and a fellow RMC alum took me by her fabulous store. Impressed with a successful retail operation and growing family, I wanted to know how Kate made it work. As the mother of two and Director of Operations and Store Manage for Tweed, Kate tells us how.

Q: Tell me about your family. (kids, spouse, animals, etc.)

A:I am married to Robb Stottlemyer, and he is the reason I can do all I do. We have two beautiful sons, John (3 ½ years) and Thomas (2 years), and a wonderfully sweet, high-strung, Brittany Spaniel, named Lucy.

Q: How on earth are you running a home specialty store in the middle of the worst recession in our lifetime?

A: Tweed opened in Richmond in 2004, when there was no recession in site. We were fortunate to have four solid years of growth before the recession hit, and we were able to build a loyal customer base during that time. It has been a tough time to be in the retail business, and one key to our survival has been making the appropriate adjustments to our inventory and basic business strategies to stay ahead of the economy. It has also been a great time for us to continue making connections in our community, and to become more involved in different networks.

Q: What is the hardest part of your day? The best?

A: The hardest part of my day is dropping my boys off at daycare. Fortunately, that only happens three days a week, and they are home with me the other two days. As for the best part of my day, I can honestly say I usually love almost every part of my day. Two of the best moments are: Arriving at work, after dropping off the boys, and having the entire day ahead of me to work and be productive; and arriving home to Robb and the boys. Nothing beats the genuine excitement and love from my sons after I’ve been away from them all day.

Q: What's your best home organization trick? Office organization solution? Do you use anything to tie them together?

A: Lists! It is very elementary, but if I don’t have a list, I’m useless! I write down everything that I need to do in a day, both personal and professionally. If it’s not on my list, it most likely will not get done. I also keep a list of ideas to which I am constantly adding. It helps me brainstorm and come up with new ideas for work and life improvements.

Q:How do you divvy up household work with your partner; what makes you a team?

A: I am very fortunate to have a husband who helps with everything! Household work and responsibilities with the boys are evenly divided, which is so important and necessary for my work schedule. I’m probably more likely to be caught putting my feet up at the end of the day before all the daily chores are done, and Robb doesn’t stop until everything is completed on the list. We complement each other well, and somehow, between both of us, everything gets done!

Q:What special things do you do with your kids to stay connected?

A: My time with my kids is just that...my time with my kids. I am always connected to the store with my blackberry, however, the boys always come first. I stay connected to them by simply getting down on the floor with them, and playing what they want to play. I try to save laundry and daily chores for times that they are sleeping or engaged in individual play. I also make sure to schedule one on one time with them. Whether it’s a trip to the Children’s Museum, or a simple trip to Home Depot or the grocery store, it’s fun to take any activity and make it special and engaging.

Q: Who are your mentors? How did you find them and what do they do to help you?

A:I don’t have formal mentors. Tweed is a family business, and I rely on my Mom and Dad as well as my husband for advice and guidance. My Mom has 25 years of retail experience, along with the experience of raising a family with a retail business, so I have learned, and continue to learn a lot from her experiences.

Q: What specifically can working mothers do to stay on their career track after kids?

A: My recommendation to mothers who want to stay on their career track after having children would be to network, remain engaged, maintain contacts, and to not “disappear”. It is a challenge to have a family and a career, and it’s important to be proud of yourself, do your best, and be a role model for your children.

Our Table: Ham, Collard Greens & Harvest Grains

2010-01-22T06:04:00.005-05:00

We've had some great blog profiles and case studies over the last month or so but I'm taking a short break from work-related topics to introduce a new feature to help solve every parents daily drame: Our Table. I have really strict guidelines for what constitutes a great meal for us. It has to be healthy, prepared in less than half hour or made ahead in a crock pot, affordable (I aim for less than $12/meal for our family of five) and make my boys smile. Some meals work better than others, but as I roadtest new meals I'll share what works with you.

Ham, Collard Greens, Harvest Grains and Sliced Apples

Cured Ham (4lbs, $3.98 at Shoppers Food Warehouse, not organic, but it was on sale!)

Glory Fresh Collard Greens ($2.99 for 24 oz. at Shoppers Food Warehouse)

Trader Joe's Harvest Grains ($1.99 read a review here)

Organic Pink Lady Apples ($2.65 for 2 at Shoppers Food Warehouse)

Preheat oven to 350. Cube 2 pieces of bacon and dice half an onion, toss into the stock pot. In a smaller stock pot, cook Harvest Grains according to direction (basically bring water to a boil and let simmer for 7 minutes). Put ham in the oven to warm, it's fully cooked, drizzle a bit of orange juice on top for a "glaze." Add collard greens to stock pot with a half cup of water, close lid and watch them cook way, way down. Slice up pink lady apples while the greens cook and ham warms, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle cooked greens with red wine vinegar or hot sauce.

Review: The ham was universally liked, particularly when paired with a horseradish mustard our babysitter gave us for Christmas. While the adults loved the greens, the kids took a "thank you" bit to get dessert but moved onto the Harvest Grains (sort of a cross between couscous and rice) and apple slices. With moderate portion sizes, we had plenty of ham leftovers to pair with biscuits for breakfast and for lunches the rest of the week.

Real Momentum: Q&A with Stephanie Leger, Lobbying Supermom

2010-01-14T13:50:00.006-05:00

I was introduced to Stephanie Leger through two different friends, both extremely impressed with her ability to manage life with two active little boys and a fast-paced career as the head of Government Relations for Securing America's Future Energy. Lobbying Congress by day and being lobbied by her sons for more playground and PBS Sprout time by evening, how does she juggle it all?

Q:Tell me about your family (kids, spouse, animals, extra people who depend on you)?

A: My family consists of my 2 year old, Cooper, my almost 4 year old, Seth, my husband, Toby, my mother (she lives with us), Barbara aka Nana and our cat Jackson

Q: What do you do for work? How did your career path lead you here?

A:I am a lobbyist for an energy security non-profit. I actually came to Washington, D.C. from Lafayette, Louisiana, in March of 1995 for a 3 month temporary job in my Senator’s office. It was supposed to be a breather for me before I started law school at LSU. That turned into a 6 ½ year job! I received my law degree while working for him and in 2001, I left the Hill for the private sector. My husband and I were married in 2002. I have also worked for my Governor, another Senator from my home state and finally am where I am now. My career path took a huge turn in 1995 and I’ve never looked back.

Q:What is the hardest part of your day? The best?

A: The hardest part for me is the window right before I have to leave work. Usually my boss is around and needs information, etc. to wrap up the day but if I am not out of here on time, I cannot make dinner or dinner is late and dinner time is the one thing I refuse to sacrifice to work. I made that clear when I interviewed for my job. 5:00 pm – 8:30 pm is my family time. The best part of the day is first thing in the morning. My kids have a routine of coming into our bedroom at around 5:00-5:30 for the last little bit of sleep we all get. When the alarm goes off at 6:00, I usually have one under one arm and the other snuggled between me and my husband. Then we all kind of wake up together. They are usually very happy and smiley and ready to start their day. They love to snuggle and it’s just a really sweet way to get started.

Q: What's your best home organization trick? Office organization solution? Do you use anything to tie them together?

A: Best home organization trick is menu planning and shopping based on that menu on Sundays. I have a routine where I go through my cookbooks to see what I want to make or try and then I get my list together and hit the grocery store while the boys nap. Then I spend a chunk of time cooking on Sunday to get as much done for the week as possible. We also have a calendar up in the kitchen with the ongoing schedule for all of us. The dinner menu is up next to it so if by chance I am late, my husband or mother know what to do. I live by my Outlook calendar and putting EVERYTHING in it (things for school, doctor’s appointments, times my husband has to work late or attend events, and my Junior League meetings, Book Club and Dinner Club nights)

Q:How do you divvy up household work with your partner; what makes you a team?

A:I am very lucky that my husband is 100% my partner. For us, the mornings are key. I am up first and while I am in the bathroom in the shower, my husband pretty much gets the boys dressed. I try to lay out their clothes and get milk ready for them before I get in the shower. Then while he showers and I finish getting ready, I am back and forth finishing them up, getting things together for school and then we all leave the house at the same time. We have a lady come once a week to do a thorough cleaning of the house. We both do clean-up and pick-up duty throughout the week and weekend as well. He does the manly stuff: trash, mowing, etc. and I do the groceries and any shopping we need for the house and boys. I do home organization stuff and he does the handyman stuff. It all balances out.

Q: What special things do you do with your kids to stay connected?

A: Dinner time until bedtime is pretty much our family connection time. We all sit at the table and talk about what they did at school that day. We talk about things coming up or going on or really, whatever they want to talk about. In the mornings, I have one of them with me (we alternate kids but we each have to have one with us to take HOV into the city or our commute is doubled!) and we sing and talk about silly stuff. It’s also sort of “mommy and me” time even though it’s just in the car. On the weekends, it varies. Friday night is take-out night and the boys adore sushi. Lately we get a splat mat and eat it in front of the fireplace then we roast marshmallows. We try to not be so structured on the weekends since our week is so structured so weekends can simply be hanging out at home together or it’s a special run to Target to get new underwear. We just take what we need to do on the weekends and try to make it something fun for them too.

Q:Who are your mentors? How did you find them and what do they do to help you?

A: More than mentors, I am very lucky to have a group of friends who all have children about the same age. We all work and we all are there for each other when things get to be a bit nutty in our lives, even if it’s just a phone call that says “I know you are stressed, what can I do?” Or just listen. I think we are all capable of working our time problems or work problems or family problems out but it is great knowing I have about 5 women I can call on at any given time and they’ll walk me back from my ledge. I don’t know what I’d do without them and even though I don’t talk or see them nearly as much as I would like, just knowing they are there is comforting for me.

Q:I call that my "momtourage!" But specifically can working mothers do to stay on their career track after kids?

A:Stay on track even if it’s not at the trajectory you think you should be on. A little bit up or even sideways is not a failure if you are able to get flexibility to be with your family. In 20 years I don’t think I am going to look back and say, “Wow, when my kids were young and had all the time for me in the world, I wish I would have worked more!” I think that if you can find a balance where you can work and feel ok with it – maybe not moving mountains or writing a Pulitzer book or being the CEO- but knowing you were still in the work force and therefore still on “track” but you can leave every day at 5:00 or you can leave at the drop of a hat when you son has to be picked up from school with a fever or if you can be with them if school is closed, then you are succeeding. It’s not easy to be in DC where people are so driven and things can get to be so hectic to take a step back for several years to be a working mother. But it can be done and if you can let the guilt go of leaving early and you can let the competitive nature of most offices go and be ok with where you are, then you can succeed. It doesn’t make you a slacker and that can sometimes be a hard thing to realize.

All Things at Once

2010-01-14T06:19:00.002-05:00

Last night I was fortunate to hear Mika Brzezinksi, co-host of MSNBC's Morning Joe and mother of two, talk about her new book, All Things at Once. After hearing her banter with co-host Joe Scarborough, the two things I took away from her talk as keys to her success are humor and humility.

First of all, the banter, the eye rolls, the interruptions that you see on TV every morning, they're real. But most of all, she's funny. It didn't matter that she'd been up since 3:30AM, is in the middle of book tour that required nightly commitments across the country and probably hadn't seen her family in a day or two, she was smiling, cracking jokes and genuinely enjoying the very hard work she was doing.

Secondly, this is one of the most honest voices I've heard in the work-life balance world. She freely admits that it's hard, that she doesn't have all the answers and that she's made many, many mistakes. Rather than a "How To" succeed in your career while having a family or a Manual for Work-Life Balance, Mika simply tells her story. And what a story it is! Growing up with her father in the White House with two rowdy brothers and a very strong artist-cum-political wife of a mother, it's no wonder Mika is the way she is. But she is unapologetic, honest and shows for all the world to see how she gets it done every day.

And I can't think of a better way to introduce an upcoming series on the Blog, Real Momentum. Frustrated by only seeing major media coverage on how CEOs and Politicos "do it all," we wanted to highlight people we see every day doing the daily dance that is working motherhood. We want to hear tips, successes, even the funny and not-so-funny disasters from moms who are making it work every day. Don't get me wrong, we do want to see how the amazing women who reach the C-suite and floor of Congress do it, but we also want to see how everyday women achieve the same without a staff.

Know someone you'd like to nominate for Real Momentum? Email me at jennifer.folsom@mom-entum.com. Keep reading, learning and laughing.

Be Careful What you Wish For

2010-01-13T06:29:00.002-05:00

An article in this week's Newsweek revisits a centuries old mantra: be careful what you wish for. In Nancy Cook's Article, How Much Are you Willing to Work,? she interviews Timothy Ferriss, made famous for his economic boom-era book The 4-Hour WorkWeek, Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich. When unemployment in America tops 10%, does this even matter?

Ferriss argues that his principles (skip meetings and calls, check email once a day, generate automated revenue to maintain a baseline income and do what you love) is even more important in a recession. He believes you can use his principles to get more output out of fewer hours, whether that means working 4 hours per week or working 40 (not 80) hours per week.

Although I'm a compulsive iPhone email checker, allowing me to be both reachable to clients and preschool teachers while out interviewing candidates and sneaking in a quick gym workout, I wonder if I consolidated that email work (a huge component of my time) into one slot if that would make me more productive. I think I'd need a 12 Step Program to lose my digital leash!

But what's important here is that one person's negative (part-time employment) is another person's dream job. The unemployment numbers released Monday show a staggering rate of underemployment, defined as those seeking full-time work but only working part-time. I would argue that this is a very difficult, subjective number to quantify. Whereas many employees need and are legitimately seeking full-time work, there are just as many that want reduced hours to accommodate child or elder care, a passion, hobby or travel, as Ferris describes.

We're seeing these two components converge, and we're busier than ever! For the last two weeks our phones have been ringing off the hooks with employers finally looking to hire again, but this time, at 24-32 hours per week, or on contract, just to see how things are going to play out. While this is bad news to employees looking for full-time secure employment, this is great news to the stressed out working mom who's been working 80 hours per week to remain "indispensable" amid a flurry of pink slips. And really, is there such thing as "secure, long-term employment" anymore? Only time will tell.

Tips for Moms Returning to Work

2010-01-07T08:08:00.002-05:00

Many mothers are making good on a new year's resolution and are kicking up their job searches on the path to return to the working-for-a-paycheck world. I ran across an interesting article in Mom Logic on the Top Tips for Moms Returning to Work. I agree with all of the author's top tips:

Confidence! You are part of a highly sought-after market segment
Social Media: highlight your knowledge of Twitter, FaceBook and LinkedIn
Emphasize skills acquired while at home (multi-tasking, patience, scheduling)

However, I think the most important thing, particularly in a very crowded job market like we're facing now, is to be able to answer the question, "how have you been able to stay on top of a rapidly changing field like technology/contract law/accounting while out of the job force for XX years?"

Have a good answer ready, and a good answer might look like:

I've been keeping up with my Continuing Education credits required for my profession/certification and have focused my education on ____________
I've been an active member of the local chapter of my professional organization (SHRM, ASHA, AICPA) and have heard some exciting speakers on the topic of ____________
I volunteered my time for a non-profit organization and was able to ______________

Don't apologize for taking time out of the workforce, but be prepared to calmly and confidently answer a completely legitimate question on the part of the hiring manager. And smile.

New Year, New Way to Look at Balance

2010-01-04T07:07:00.003-05:00

Today we kick off the new year and by all accounts, it's going to be a busy one. As I embark on my first full work week in nearly three (thank you, December Blizzard, you fit right into my year-end plans) I keep thinking about an article on work-life balance I read in, of all places, the American Medical News. The article, "Achieving Work-Life Balance: More Than Just a Juggling Act" aims to inform doctors on the fine art of balancing their lives and careers. Doctors...really? The men and women who work 48 hours on straight? How is this even a hot topic in this profession?

But the article is intriguing and has several points that apply to all of us, even if we don't pull overnight shifts.

Balance can be achieved, even with long hours. As long as you're spending your time the way you want to spend it, the hours themselves don't necessarily matter. Stop thinking of "balance" as leaving the office at 5 PM.
The Balance Shifts. Almost daily, your work and home life demand different things. Make changes, and even the small ones count, to keep everything in line.
But balance is the wrong term. Balance implies a neat, compartmentalized dichotomy where you can divide your life 50-50. That's not true for most women, particularly working mothers. I prefer the term "integration," particularly as I wrap up my 5-7AM early work hours to pause, feed the kids a hot breakfast and send them to school and the sitters, before I head back to work.
So Trade Off! Particularly for working mothers, I'm fond of the phrase "you can have it all, but not at the same time." Figure out what's most important, prioritize, and forgive yourself for letting go of the rest.

Making Momentum: CREATIVE OUTSOURCING

2009-12-22T06:37:00.005-05:00

After a relatively slow August, typical in any market but particularly slow in this hiring environment, things really picked up in September. Our phones were ringing off the hook and my InBox was piling up for requests for, of all things, proposal writers! What was going on?

Anyone familiar with the budget cycles in Washington, D.C. knows that U.S. Federal Government Fiscal Year ends September 30th and that most contracts work on that schedule. With a new President and the economic stimulus package moving, Federal contracting work was building. But in order to GET any of that money firms must first write a proposal, and proposal writers were in high demand.

A small consulting practice client came to us and needed not only a top proposal writer, but someone who was available that week, and for a rate below what the now in-demand Washington, D.C. proposal writers were charging. That's when creative outsourcing came into play. We outsourced this client's proposal writing and management to.....Michigan?

That's right, one of our top proposal writers lives in the state now made famous by the highest unemployment rate in the nation. With the unfortunate timing of returning to work from a child-rearing break in The Great Recession, our writer was anxious for work and was willing to be creative with location. Using technology, superb communication skills and even her own use-or-lose frequent flier miles to voluntarily fly in for the kick-off meeting, our resource solved a huge staffing problem for our client, helping them to win a key piece of stimulus-funded business.

Business Value: Client got a highly qualified, in-demand resource within a week that fit their budget and solved a major business problem.
Candidate Value: By being flexible and creative, our candidate got the all-important first back-to-work job and an extremely valuable resume bullet for an in-demand area of expertise.

Making Momentum: CONTINGENT RESOURCES

2009-12-14T07:49:00.004-05:00

As a manager, is there ever a task that you know you need to get done but can't carve out even a couple of hours per week for it? Even if we are in a protracted recession and that activity directly relates to revenue? This was the situation one of our clients, Zavda Technologies, was in. A high growth, 8a, service disabled veteran and women-owned firm, they were in the situation a lot of government contractors find themselves in: too busy delivering on work to go after and manage the ongoing proposal process.

Their CEO, Dr. Stacy Trammell, came to us looking for a resource, a real contracting guru, who could help them scour multiple federal contracting websites, qualify the right opportunities for Zavda and manage the contracting process. For Stacy, there simply weren't enough hours in the day to get this essential task done and anytime devoted to developing business came directly from billable hours, taking away much-needed revenue.

Momentum Resources found Zavda Technologies the perfect resource: a former Navy contracting officer transitioning back to work after her second child was born. This resource, the guru that Zavda needed on staff but didn't have a need or budget for full-time, works remotely a few hours a week putting her subject matter expertise to work helping Zavda find, qualify and bid on Federal contracts.

Business Value: A small firm gets the subject matter expertise it needs to grow without the commitment or cost of a full-time resource
Candidate Value: A professional mom finds the right work for her, several hours a week working from home, keeping her career going and contributing to the family income.

Bonus Value: This was such a perfect arrangement for both parties that the candidate had baby #3 on a Friday and was back to work, from home and for just a couple of hours, the very next week! Our first DC area Momentum Resources baby, a mini-Momentum, was born!

Making Momentum: INSOURCING

2009-12-09T06:13:00.002-05:00

As promised, we're kicking off our series on some of Momentum Resources' successes this year by talking about something that doesn't happen often in a recession: insourcing.

Last year, an energetic director of a Washington, DC based trade association came to us after reading a segment about us in the Washington Post and said, "my Executive Board is challenging me to lower my variable overhead costs by 30% and I need some help." She wasn't alone, non-profits across the country have been hit particularly hard in this economic downturn.

Together we looked at her overhead costs and determined that she was spending an exorbitant amount of money for a large public accounting firm to do simple general ledger entries and payroll for 5 employees. We brought the Executive Director a Momentum Resources candidate, a seasoned financial manager in the non-profit world, to perform the same duties at a 45% cost reduction. Take that, Executive Board! Not only that, but our resource was going to be a permanent fixture in their organization (not the big firm's CPA du jour) and thus committed to their mission. After only 6 months there, the Executive Director charged our resource with leading the annual budget cycle planning process and even federal financial reporting.

But that's only half the story. As I mentioned, our candidate is an experienced professional in the arts management field- an area that had dried up to nothing during the recession. With a dream of launching her own children's theater company, she needed some steady part-time work to pay the bills. She leveraged her financial management and bookkeeping skills in a different type of nonprofit environment, and is able to earn enough to keep the lights on at home and begin the nest egg for her start up, all by working just 5 or 6 hours per week.

Business Value: Client gets a top-notch resource at a 45% cost reduction who is committed to the organization and can do more than what was originally budgeted for.
Candidate Value: Candidate translates her in-demand skills to a slightly different industry and earns fair market value rates for her work, allowing her to pursue her dream endeavor.

New Series: Making Momentum

2009-12-07T05:56:00.003-05:00

As I take a look back over the very exciting ride that 2009 has been I notice a trend in our placements; they are creative employment solutions that fit the needs of both our candidates and our clients. Here at Momentum Resources our process is a fairly unique; sometimes we start with a great candidate and try to find her (or him!) the right professional opportunity that works with her life. Other times we start with a super-smart firm that knows it can solve a hiring, budget, scheduling problem by looking to one of our candidates. Our magic is in making the right match.

And we're seeing this work every day! And by reading these mini-case studies, we hope that you might see a way for us to help you make your professional and personal lives fit together, or that there's a hiring scenario that might work for your firm. So read up, share and let the creative sparks fly!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

2009-12-04T05:38:00.003-05:00

As I sit down to make my lists and check them twice (and sneak out during the workday today to do a little shopping and have lunch with a girlfriend) I am thinking about all of the amazing things that help me live the (mostly) balanced life I live. The tools that allow me to be in two places at once, work at 5 am (when I'm typing this post) and from any location. These tools and the flexibility they provide allow me to put my kids on and off the school bus every day and for my toddler and I to bike to preschool together and "do lunch" at least 3 times per week.

Here are some of my favorites:

Laptop. It seems like ages ago when workers were trapped to a desk with a computer and an internet connection. My laptop allows me to work from my home office, the breakfast bar in my kitchen during the day, my favorite local coffee shop, client sites and remote locations, including the nine road trips my kids and I took this past summer.
iPhone. This device has literally changed my life. A single palm-held device allows me to answer forwarded office calls while I'm listening to tunes on a midday gym break, reply to emails in the carpool lot, take photos of the amazing things my children do everyday, review important work documents stored on GoogleDocs when I'm out on interviews and a million other productive and distracting applications. This is the ultimate be-in-two-places-at-once device.
Notebook. I'm a big fan of the right size (not too big, not too small) and simple cute designs of Carolina Pad. I have one of these going at all times, in my purse and by handy laptop. I jot meeting and interview notes, my nightly to do list for the next day and all of the brilliant ideas that pop into my head as I jog, shower and sleep.
Portable Scanner. Gone are the days of a desk-clogging, tethered photo scanner for my daily business use. I got the Pentax DS Mobile 600 last month and it makes scanning receipts, documents for internet faxing and even low resolution photos a breeze. It's tiny, light, fits into a small bag in your tote bag and is powered by a USB cable to your laptop.

And these are some of the things on my wish list this year (Santa, take note, I've been awfully good this year!)

MacBook Pro. After nearly two decades as a solid PC user I think I'm ready to take the plunge. All of the smug Mac users out there (including my husband) have convinced me that this is the ultimate productivity enhancing, user friendly machine. 2010 is going to be a huge year for Momentum Resources and I don't have time for the twice daily laptop shutdowns that are occurring now.
iPhone3GS. I don't need a new iPhone, mine works just fine. But this is one is even more amazing than it's predecessor (get video testimonials for our website? photo zoom of my sweet boys? Twice as fast? Voice Control? Are you serious??)
Cole Haan Nike Air Black Pumps. I'm 5ft. 0," and by all accounts I should be in heels every day that I am sporting professional attire. But because my daily routine usually includes at least one sprint down the block to the bus stop, climbing a broken metro escalator and wrestling a 2-year old that doesn't want to leave the babysitter's house to come home from nap, that's just not possible. I've been waiting for a splurge opportunity to see what a tennis-shoe-on-the-inside and high-heel-on-the-outside shoe can do for me.

What tools do you find indispensable every day? What's on your wish list?

Reasonable (and Creative!) Accommodations

2009-12-03T06:08:00.003-05:00

As Congress considers H.R.1902, better known as the Healthy Families Act (requiring most companies to provide 7 days of paid sick leave to their employees) I've been thinking a lot about what managers and employers can do to provide a healthy environment; solutions that are creative, reasonable and (mostly) free.

Although this bill (and a similar one introduced by the late Senator Ted Kennedy) came to light when President Obama declared the spread of the H1N1 virus a National Emergency, this issue is as old as the dawn of working motherhood. This week Petula Dvorak detailed many heartbreaking stories of women choosing between sending a sick kid to school and the fear of losing a job in a tough job market.

I have to admit that twice I sent my kids to daycare with a dose of motrin to make a huge meeting when I thought my job was on the line, knowing I'd get a call from the Director when the "motrin rebound" wore off 6 hours later and a fever reemerged. I obviously don't believe that I put my children's health in danger but in that moment I truly believed my job was.

And the reality is that children get sick. A lot. And most daycares and schools require a child to be fever/vomit/diarrhea for 24-48 before they can return and you can return to work. When my twins were younger they invariably got the same illness, usually 2 days apart, meaning that with each illness I was often out for a week. A career trajectory killer in a good market, that puts you right on the line for layoffs when companies are making cuts.

And although I personally would have benefited from paid sick leave, in running a small business I certainly empathize with cash-strapped, recession-beating small business owners that can't make it work. I also recognize that if employers start to get creative, with a little planning and making reasonable accommodations, there are many options between coming in sick (or sending a child to school sick) and staying home.

Telecommuting. This is an obvious one for most professionals. Most folks have computers and internet access at home, take advantage of it. Employers can facilitate this by making applications web-based, storing documents online, and providing a laptop that can be used by a pool of employees if someone does not own a computer at home; disinfecting with a Clorox wipe between uses, of course! That $400 hardware outlay will have a positive ROI the first time someone uses it at home rather than infecting your entire office with the stomach flu, wiping out many productive work hours in one fell swoop.
Prepare Back Up Work. Think only sales professionals and analysts can work from home? Think again. Most workers have mandatory required training every year, from OSHA safety training for warehouse workers to timecard training for nurses to employment discrimination courses for line managers; most of these courses are online. When a worker must call in sick, for himself or for his child, suggest he use those hours to complete mandatory training that he'd otherwise do on the clock.
Split Shifts. Be flexible around core business hours for when your employees come in. Taking into account that this doesn't always work in certain fields like, ironically, medicine, allow employees to come in very early or late so that they can split caregiving with someone else. When the twins went through a few "dark winters" of persistent illnesses, I would often go in and work 6am-12pm, taking only 2 hours of sick leave, and my husband would work 1pm-8pm, taking a sick leave hour on his end. We were still able to be present, help our team members, provide our bosses updates and maintain a client facing position and our little ones didn't spread strep throat to their classes.
Weekend Access. Again, I realize this is limited to certain work environments but allowing employers to come in and work a day or two on the weekend (and let's face it, many employees are already doing this in our current layoff environment, often doing the work of two employees and anxious to show an elevated commitment level) to "make up" for a sick day during the week. Again, this costs nothing and prevents a pinkeye-exposed employee from sending a highly contagious itchy eyed child to school and maintains your company's productivity.
Lead by Example. As a manager, you lead a team, show some leadership. I realize that your job is also on the line, but if you are responsible for your team or division's P&L you know that the potential lost productivity from a day or two's work out of one worker is nothing compared to wiping out an entire office with a highly contagious disease like H1N1 that is sending 30- and 40-somethings in droves to hospitals with pneumonia and other illnesses that could keep them out for work for up to two weeks. In an economy that's hanging on by it's fingernails, you just can't afford that.

Facing Your Fears and the 3 Rs

2009-12-01T06:24:00.003-05:00

Press is good for us, very good. Every time one of us gets a major press piece the phone starts ringing with great new potential clients and super-smart candidates looking for more flexible jobs. We've done print, glossies, TV, but last night I got the opportunity to do my first live TV segment on News Channel 8's Washington Business Tonight. I was terrified.

But realizing the potential upside for our little company I took a deep breath and lunged forward with three key steps:

Recline: Although I had a giant pile of post-Thanksgiving holiday to dos and calls and emails to return, I took an hour out of my busy morning to hit my favorite yoga class to be, or at least appear, a little less frazzled.
Research: I took my time reviewing national and local statistics as well as anecdotal and quantitative evidence from our own success stories, highlighting the main trends and keys to success.
Resources: This being an entirely new medium, I reached out to friends who worked in television for a few last-minute tips. I compared talking points with my partners, heck, I even had my 7 year old quiz me on the agreed-upon (but oddly, not asked) interview questions.

All told, the interview went as well as possible, even when the host was switched out at the last minute and the questions went off-script. Next time I have a big fear to face, I'm coming back to the 3 Rs.

Backlash Against Overparenting

2009-11-25T06:04:00.002-05:00

The first time I read through Nancy Gibb's Time Magazine article "The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting" I actually laughed out loud. I thought of "overparents" I knew in my own life and thought, smugly, wow, aren't I glad I'm not one of them. When I re-read the article this morning I saw a few things that might have rung true in my own life? Stress over the H1N1 vaccine? Check. Anger at Gymboree for not letting my then two-year- old twins with gross motor delays attend because there was only one adult, the nanny, while I worked full-time? Check. This was starting to get a little personal.

I think I was "saved" from overparenting traps by having twins, and preemies with some health issues at that, right off the bat. From the beginning I had to do just enough to get by, we were in survival mode. I recall when my mom came to help after the twins were born she carefully asked why I hadn't dressed the babies. In tears I replied, "because it's all I can do to get their swaddled blankets over the apnea monitor leads and if I dress them then I have to do the laundry." I relented, letting her dress up her first grand babies so long as she promised to dress, undress and launder the doll-sized clothes.

From there I didn't worry so much about the small stuff like disinfecting pacifiers that fell on the floor. But I did worry every single day about the children not meeting their milestones. There were evaluations, arguments with the County to receive services, consultations with experts, and lots of sleepless nights. At 7 1/2, with very little intervention, they are right with their peer groups. Could they have better pencil-holding grips? Probably, but is it good enough? Yes.

Now that #3 has come around, he's lucky if he gets a fraction of the worry his older brothers received. I forgot about his annual well-check until a neighbor inquired about it, he hasn't been enrolled in a single mommy and me class despite my uber flexible schedule and we're official playgroup dropouts. He seems pretty happy to me.

As we head into the holidays, I'm making a pledge to myself to be more conscious of the looming fear that takes over once you become a parent. I'm going to acknowledge it, think about the consequences, and if the upside outweighs it, make a perceived risky decision and move forward.

For example, kid #3 is riding around in a hand-me-down car seat; it has a 5 point harness, has never been in an accident but it is just past its 5 year "expiration" the industry seems to be touting these days. I was considering buying him a new car seat. For Christmas. Really. Instead, we'll keep riding around in the perfectly fine car seat and I'll get to play Santa with real toys.

How Sitting Around Doing Nothing Can Help You Land a Job: Meditation and Mindfulness for Mothers and Job Hunters

2009-11-19T06:13:00.006-05:00

You are crazy busy. Your kids are tearing around the house, the yard, the soccer field. You are trying to work, or you’re looking for work. The computer’s on, something is cooking on the stove, you have errands to run, and you’re not sure how you’re going to pay that phone bill. And I have the nerve to suggest that you find 15 minutes or more every day to do nothing?

What if I told you that this sitting around would reduce your stress levels, improve your concentration, give you more energy, and that the sprinkles on top are extra compassion for yourself and those around you? More energy, concentration, and compassion can help you focus on your job search and keep you in it for the long haul. Of course, meditating isn’t exactly “doing nothing,” but while you might glance at a book or listen to a tape or CD to get started, it isn’t a whole lot more than doing nothing either. Also it doesn’t cost anything, and can change your brain for the better.

Do I Have to Become a Buddhist?

Most spiritual traditions include some kind of meditative practice. Just as most people who take yoga classes don’t become Buddhists, meditation practice doesn’t require any changes in your religion.

My Zig Zag Path

My own meditation practice developed in the aftermath of my husband dying from cancer. At the time, I had a steady job, and the needs of my 2 young sons kept me functioning, yet there was another level on which I could hardly take in the devastation. A friend recommended the book Start Where You Are, by Pema Chodron, and, following the instructions on pages 5 and 6, I was off. Later, I found a local Insight Meditation group and learned the slightly different vipassana, or “insight” style of meditation.

Did I then sit every day? No. Did I stop meditating at some point? Yes. Did I yell at my kids sometimes? Guilty. A teacher suggested I develop some mindfulness practices that would fit into my life as my children got older. For a while my prescription was this:

Go outside upon rising, and for a few minutes, really take in the day. Smell the air, look at the sky, listen to the sounds.
Make sure the first thing you say every day is said kindly.
Eat one item mindfully each day. Really focus on how it tastes, smells, feels.
Wash your face mindfully, focusing on just that one activity. Don’t think about other things. If you find your mind wandering, just go back to focusing on the face washing.
At bedtime, do a body scan, paying attention to your toes, the soles of your feet, your calves, the backs of your knees and so on, all the way up to the top of your head.

Retreat

After being “downsized” in November 2008, I realized, that in the hustle of applying for jobs, starting a freelance writing and editing business, developing a website, a blog and a Facebook presence, that for once in my life I had the flexibility to prioritize activities that are important to me, but that I had let slip in the flurry of everyday life. So I signed up for a 3-day meditation retreat.

The retreat added another item to the “into my 80’s” list: I’m going to hike into my 80’s and I’m going to meditate into my 80’s. That, after all, is what changes your brain waves.

Meditation and Brain Science

If you enter “meditation” and “brain” in Google, you pop up scores of reports on the emerging science of neuroplasticity, which studies how the “hardware” of the brain (that scientists once thought became “fixed” in adulthood) can and does change. Research conducted at the University of Wisconsin in 2004 on a group of experienced Tibetan monks who had mediated for between 15 and 40 years, and university student controls who had never meditated, showed significant differences in gamma wave activity and synchrony between the 2 groups. In 2006, studies at Harvard, Yale and MIT, headed by Harvard psychologist Sarah Lazar, showed cortical thickening in experienced meditators in areas that are associated with emotional well-being and processing thoughts and feelings. Similar studies have demonstrated that cortical areas associated with certain activities will be thicker in advanced practitioners (music regions in the brains of professional musicians, for example). Since the cortex usually thins with age, these results suggest that meditation (or other types of concerted practice) can delay some of the normal effects of aging.

Getting Started

If you want to get started you can find a local group, get a book, listen to tapes and CDs, read about it online, or do all of these. Here are a few resources to get you going:

Buddhanet.net (Includes the World Buddhist Directory, allowing you to search by tradition and locality.)
Insight Meditation Society
Shambhala
American Zen Teachers Association

Books

Mindfulness in Plain English One of the best, most straightforward “how to” books on this accessible style of meditation is by Bhante Gunaratana, originally from Sri Lanka, and founder of the Bhavana Society monastery and retreat center in High Point, West Virginia
Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living By Pema Chodron, an American woman who is a Buddhist nun and resident teacher at Gampo Abbey in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. The voice of the author, her contemporary, wry humor, her way of talking you into being kind to yourself, her experiences in life before becoming a nun, are part of the appeal.
Nothing Special: Living Zen Charlotte Joko Beck. A book of essays and dialogues between Beck and her students at the San Diego Zen Center, full of humor and a clear view of how “awareness is like rising heat on a summer’s day: the clouds in the sky just disappear. When we are aware, the unreal just disappears; we don’t have to do anything.”
Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life By Byron Katie. While not strictly about either Buddhism or meditation, this is a book steeped in the tradition of mindfulness and looking at things head on, being in the moment, and becoming aware of our own thoughts.

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About the Author

Amelia L. Williams, PhD, is a mom, freelance writer/editor, meditator and poet who loves hiking and cooking. She is an experienced writer on health care, and enjoys writing grants and reports for non-profit organizations. Her website is Inkville Writing and Editing. E-mail mail@inkville.biz

Don't Forget to Get Married and Have Kids

2009-11-16T13:11:00.004-05:00

The Folsoms are newsies, plain and simple. Maybe it's because we live inside the Beltway, but when my husband does something the kids don't like one of the 7 year old boys usually says, "that's it, you're grounded, no news for a week." One of the first sentences out of our toddler's mouth was "watch mojo peez," roughly translating to "Watch Morning Joe, please," our preferred getting dressed morning news program. So it was with delight that I read Mika Brzezinski's blog post on The Huffington Post titled "Don't Forget to Have Kids."

Mika very candidly describes her choices to have kids while she climbed to the top of her career game, rather than waiting to reach the pinnacle, then (exhaustedly) deciding whether to keep climbing, take a pause or juggle further. Mika proposes in a follow-up post that women who want marriage and children should think as seriously about those prospects as they do their careers in their 20s and 30s. The notion of your 20s as "me time" (career, travel, etc) and 30s as "family time" sometimes means you miss out on both.

I was married at 24, had my first two children just 3 short days after my 27th birthday and was a wife and mom way ahead of my peers. The upside is that my mostly single girlfriends became the most amazing surrogate aunties, taking turns coming over after work, dinner in hand, to save me from two colicky babies. By the time my #3 came around, many were busy with their own children and careers and the baby wasn't such a novelty. But the greatest blessing in my ill-timed decision to have a baby (which turned into two) while in my second year of Business School at Georgetown is that phase two of my career, the all important "post b-school" phase, had to include my kids. There was no huge VP role I had to step down from or hire two nannies to keep, there was just me, my husband, two newborns and a whole new path ahead.

I'm glad to hear Mika speak so candidly about what many women, and men, struggle with: how to make the kind of marriage and family we want fit into our careers. Let's hope this starts a rousing discussion that opens new doors, puts to rest old fears and let's parents find a path that actually works. Most days, anyway.