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Words of Wisdom: It is possible to find innovative ways to blend career and families. Committ to it and then put the right infrastructure in place. In 1999, Jessica and her business partner Evette Davis started their consulting firm. At that time neither of them had children. After Jessica had her first son in 2001 and started heading back to work, it became obvious that her old model of in at 9:00 out at 6:00 wasn’t going to work for her or her family. She took off four months after her son’s birth, and then worked a couple of days a week until he was six months old. Ever since then she has worked in the office around 30 hours a week (there are many exceptions during especially busy times), but overall both Evette and she manage their own schedules and have complete flexibility. After her second son was born she again took off four months and worked very part-time for another two before heading back to her regular status. She and Evette have spent a lot of time talking about their firm, its place in their lives, and their long-term goals and they feel very fortunate that they’ve been able to create a thriving business model which still allows them to be there for their kids’ soccer games, the occasional school pick-up or field trip. Jessica said that “even though we’re a small business we offer paid maternity and paternity leave -- one of my pet peeves is that so many people think that only mothers need accommodations after they have children; I believe that many men would like to have more flexibility as well that allows them to accommodate child-rearing and careers -- so I’d like to think we’re ‘walking the walk’.” An admirer of Jessica wrote that she is “very committed to inspiring the younger women in their office about work-life balance (or blend) in their lives. They practice what they preach, which is a huge investment in inspiring the women around them. She's a star at work, and a fantastic mom.”
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