What kind of PR image do I have as a mom?
The moment I had my baby in September, I knew my work and home life would never be the same. There would be a constant juggling of my priorities as a mom and a businesswoman. Being the self-diagnosed A.D.D. freak that I am, I’d breastfeed while holding my Blackberry, answering calls and tweeting, worrying that if I missed a media inquiry, I may lose a client down the road. My baby is fascinated by the colorful morning news graphics (and anchorwomen) and the glowing computer screen because he’s on my lap while I work every day when not at the sitter. I have even locked myself in the bathroom a few times to take a phone call while the baby fusses on his play mat.
For those of you who think it would be heaven to work at home, let me tell you…it can be that and it can be hell. I want to give 110% to both my baby and my clients and we know thats not always going to happen. For the most part, the clients I have right now understand I am a mom now too and I may take a little longer to respond to an email or request, but I do get it done. Thank goodness most of my pitches are picked up and set up through emails. But, I also wonder if some of the proposals and inquiries I’ve had since Jake was born were turned down because they knew I had a baby at home?
I have been blessed with some incredible clients and thank my lucky stars every day for the great work they do and story ideas they help me facilitate. We used to gather monthly for marketing/PR meetings during breakfast to share ideas and discuss what they were doing to promote their businesses. I had to stop these after the baby was born, but have been asked numerous times if I will start them up again. A few have suggested that I bring the baby, too. I am considering it, but also considering the impression that will make on them. Will they look at me as a woman who is succeeding in work and life balance or will the image of me be of a mom now? More than likely, I will keep the baby at home with a sitter and choose to visit them individually with the baby in tow on a casual day out to say “hello”. It is probably best to separate my role as mom and biz woman when it comes to my clients. I don’t want to lose them or their respect.
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Comments
February 3rd, 2010 at 10:01 am
I think your plan sounds spot on. It wouldn’t be fair to your clients to hold a meeting where you couldn’t devote 100% of your attention to them and their ideas. And it wouldn’t be fair to you or Jake either — it would be too stressful to worry about both your clients and your son at the same time!
February 3rd, 2010 at 10:31 am
Charlotte, I think you have a wonderful image and seem to be adjusting very VERY well.
The main thing is being present with Jake. As long as you continue to organize your life around Jake and not your job, you’ll always be fine. Over the course of your life, having a PR job is temporary. Being a mom is permanent and #1 priority.
The best strategy I can offer is segregating your time and not compromising your time with the baby. That might mean working a few dedicated hours a day or a few days a week and forgetting the rest so you can focus on Mom stuff. If you get the results you described in your PR plans, your clients won’t know the difference.
It may also be a matter of picking and choosing clients who enable you to do this. They should pay you a lot for great results that do not require as much effort. That is — focus on a few big clients vs. many small clients. Otherwise you will be spread to thin. You and your family will suffer.
If you want to go the “many clients” route, seek help — sub out the work and take your pimp fees.
Again, it’s all about not compromising your time.
I did this when I was consulting after Dean was born. I worked three days a week for one big client. It was a big risk for me to have one client but they appreciated my full attention. My wife worked the other four days of the week. On those weekdays, I checked in with the client, media, emails, etc. in the morning and at night and during naptimes.
Hope this helps. You’re doing great my friend!!!
February 3rd, 2010 at 5:04 pm
I’m thinking we owe a LOT to the women 10 years ahead of me – those in their 60s now who really pioneered the way for women. This was way before the Family Leave Act. How wonderful to have a choice now and to be able to combine motherhood and career without hiding it. Things have changed dramatically in the last 30 years, thanks to the intrepid female pioneers in the workplace who braved loneliness and rampant discrimination.
February 3rd, 2010 at 6:30 pm
Amen to Linda’s comment. I learned from Charlotte Buchen, Dinky Snell, Linda at Phillip Ramsey – later BJ Communications, Marie Borgmann and one of my biggest influences, Deborah Radman when she lived in Denver, not D.C.
As Linda has noted, there are so few men in the field today, but I learned from Ray Artigue, Tom Ambrose, trips to San Diego to meet with Allen Center, the late Marvin “Swede” Johnson who has a building named for him at U of A. Studied under Gerald Goldhaber, Tony Hillerman and Pulitzer Prize winners John Hightower and Pete Chronis.
Wonder where today’s practitioner with the passion in their belly turn for education? Who do they run to? Will they make a 500 mile trip every weekend to see the dean of PR?
Do they visit PRMuseum.com, ValleyPRblog and other sources for furthering their craft?
So amen to what Linda said and realize Ms. Shaff is one for those seeking education should run to.
February 5th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Seems you’re on the right track Charlotte. My “babies” are nearly 20 (yikes!!) and nearly 18 (double-yikes!!) now and I started doing the work-at-home biz when they were literally babies, interrupted by a (very) few years at a “real job” (albeit, w/flexibility…) It’s very hard, if not impossible, to have a business meeting w/a baby or toddler in tow… inevitably, they get fussy, you get distracted, etc…not fair to anyone, including you, the baby and your client(s). Oh, and all of us work-at-homers-with-little-kids can probably tell hysterical (well, now they’re funny…) stories of taking important calls in the bathroom, closet or pantry (moi…) I do recall one client, years ago, who got very huffy because he heard my dog barking. After much soul-searching, I finally decided he wasn’t worth the stress.