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ABOUT THEM
After working together for more than 16 years, Bonnie Ceran,Gretchen Rost and Stacy Keefer, three former Wachovia HR executives, recognized an excellent opportunity and a need to open a Mom Corps office serving North Carolina. Mom Corps is a national staffing agency that provides companies direct access to top-tier experienced professionals, not typically found through other channels, on a contract or permanent basis. They have offices in New York, Boston, Northern Virginia, Cincinnati, Austin, Seattle, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami and Akron/Canton.
Founded by Atlanta mom of two and Harvard MBA, Allison O'Kelly, MomCorps has been featured on national shows and publications including, The Today Show, Business Week, Working Mother, Chicago Tribune, Wall St Journal, and NY Times.
MomCorps mission is two-fold:
1. Provide companies direct access to a previously untapped market segment of exceptional talent - professionals who have opted out of the traditional workplace.
2. Enable professionals to work in their respective fields, while simultaneously meeting familial needs and responsibilities by providing professionals challenging work in their respective fields through, contract, flexible and permanent jobs that allow them to maintain greater work/life balance.
Read more about Bonnie, Gretchen and Stacy.
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
Empowered Mommies (EM): Ladies, thank you again for giving us the opportunity to sit down with you. You are all such wonderful role models not only as professional women, but also as successful entrepreneurs. Can you share with us how you all began your careers and what made each one of you decide to focus on becoming a joint partner of MomCorps Charlotte?
Bonnie Ceran (BC): I began my career in the HR field working as a manager/director. Once you select an area of expertise, you often stay with that field; I was very fortunate to have worked with companies that supported their employees and created a work environment that was conducive to growth and development, helping me enhance my HR skills. About midway through my career, I started my recruiting/sales career, I took the skills I had developed within the HR field and applied them to my new career, and my personality naturally aligned with sales – though sales was a lot harder than I anticipated! The past seven years of my career I worked with Wachovia as a senior HR leader managing a $110mm line of business that supported the companies’ contract hiring needs. I was fortunate to have this opportunity as Wachovia’s mission and culture aligned with my personal and professional goals. When the Wells Fargo merger occurred, I was displaced and found myself deciding on what my next career move should be and how I was going to go about making it a reality.
I looked at the Wachovia displacement as an opportunity to start anew and to pursue a career that continued to use the skills I had developed over the years. After thinking about my choices, I decided to become a partner and purchase the Mom Corps Charlotte franchise. The decision has provided me the opportunity to be an entrepreneur in a field that I have been successful in and enjoyed – what could be better!
Gretchen Rost (GR): My career began in the consulting industry then turned to banking. After having 16 great years helping lead an internal staffing department at Wachovia, I knew I wanted to continue my career with something that I could be equally passionate about. Mom Corps' brand and strong community was a natural next step for me in continuing my passion for recruiting/staffing.
Stacy Keefer (SK): I began my career in the Staffing Industry, as a recruiter with one of the leading firms. I loved the work and finding the right "match" for candidates and companies and making a positive impact on people's careers. I joined Wachovia in the early 90's to start an internal staffing division and spent 15 years growing the business model and supporting the coporation's contract hiring needs. With many changes occuring as a result of a recent merger, I considered several options and landed, with my two partners, on purchasing the Charlotte region of Mom Corps. The Mom Corps business model is quite innovative and appeals to companies that are focused on finding high level talent and supporting professional women. 20 years later, I still have the same passion for this work and can apply it in a slightly different way!
EM: What do you think are some of the challenges moms are facing today in terms of juggling motherhood with returning to the workforce and what advice do you have for mothers that want to start working again?
BC: Everyone knows that today’s economy has presented many challenges due to fewer jobs with an abundant number of qualified candidates in the talent pool. Women with children often want or need to return to work in a part-time/flexible work arrangement at a time when many companies do not have to compete for talent. This often puts moms at a disadvantage because the “employer” has more control on requiring “how and when” an employee will work. The need for a company to be flexible in order to attract talent is just not as great as it would be in a more robust economy.
I would advise mothers seeking to return to work after taking a sabbatical to rear their children to be prepared for the questions many employers will ask such as:
• Why are you deciding to return to the workforce now?
• What training have you sought to keep your skills updated?
• What skills did you develop while at home?
Lead the interviewer into asking the following, or introduce it casually into the conversation:
• How has being a mom added to your skill set?
(Answer: Improved multi-tasking, importance of flexibility, time management, motivating techniques, reward performance, etc.)
Incorporate the experience of being a mom into the interview, as noted in the last bullet point above… don’t gloss over the time away from the work environment as a trivial event in your career, use it as a tool to differentiate yourself from the competition!
GR: Mothers have their hands full these days. Ensuring your children receive the necessary parental influence and guidance while juggling current and future financial needs of the household. The biggest advice I can provide a mom reentering the workforce is to get the family’s buy-in and support. Set yourself up for success by establishing the support network you need to make a successful transition into the workforce. And start networking with other moms who have reentered the workforce – utilize their “lessons-learned” to help in your transition.
SK: I think many companies are still shifting their paradigms around flexibility and embracing it as part of their talent strategy. I think we'll see more acceptance in the future, but it can still be a challenge to find today. My advice to mothers (and fathers) that want to "on-ramp" again is to have a well planned approach and to tap their network to find opportunities. Contract work can also be a great way to get back in to the workforce and gain an introduction to companies.
I EM: Are there particular industries that are hiring the most?
BC: The health industry continues to grow, and as the world’s inhabitants age we will see this industry continue to expand. Additionally, information technology is seeing a growth spurt in today’s market as technological advances in hardware and software combined with expanding customer service needs create additional specialized jobs. However, some executives project that companies will experience more leveraged growth in 2010 by partnering with other companies to cross-sell products and services. The great benefit to this approach is that leveraged growth can occur across all industries making a larger impact on the overall economy, and hopefully creating more jobs!
GR: The Healthcare industry still remains one of the strongest industries for job seekers in the U.S. while Law Enforcement and Sales is expected to feel an increase in 2010. From accountants to administrative assistants, Borrell Associates (a national market research firm) predicts more than 400,000 openings in business services. This is everything from accountants to managers to administrative assistants and more. The growth will be better than it was in 2009 but not back to pre-recession levels.
SK: In general, we are seeing an uptick in hiring within the past few months. This is happening across most industries in Charlotte.
EM: How do you hope to take the concept of MomCorps Charlotte to a new level?
BC: Mom Corps was initially established in a robust economy and on the premise of assisting highly professional mothers reenter the workforce after taking sabbaticals to raise their children. Many of these professional mothers were seeking flexible work arrangements in an effort to maintain a more rewarding work/life balance. We still strongly support that model, however, in today’s economy we are also supporting professional women (moms or not) seeking traditional contract assignments or fulltime positions. Additionally, men (dads or not) are seeking us out because of their ever increasing role in supporting women in the child rearing process. We have expanded our model in order to maximize our Charlotte area service footprint and provide as many opportunities as possible for candidates while providing clients with talented and highly motivated resources. Whether you are seeking a part-time flexible assignment or the more traditional full-time contract assignment, Mom Corps Charlotte can help you fulfill your job!
GR: Mom Corps has a strong foundation here in Charlotte thanks to the corporate presence that was created several years ago. With the extensive network my two partners and I have created and nurtured in this market, we are confident that we can also connect retirees, dads and displaced workers with companies looking for top-tier, experienced talent.
SK: Many people are familiar with the Mom Corps brand in Charlotte based on prior corporate presence. We're working hard to expand our market presence and brand awareness while offering a wide range of opportunities from part-time to full-time contract and permanent placement. Flexibility is defined differently by everyone - and we plan to meet a variety of employment needs.
EM: If you had to look forward a decade, how do you hope MomCorps will have influenced mothers?
BC: I am hopeful that Mom Corps’ influence will go beyond the benefit of offering temporary flexible work schedules for talented professionals by having more long-term permanent benefits to our candidates’ lives. By focusing on the work schedules that best suit our mothers, hopefully, we will have created opportunities that provide jobs suited to each of our working women and men, providing them the life style their families enjoy with less time related stress, creating a win-win for everyone!
GR: Mom Corps has already given hope and influenced mothers into believing it’s possible to align their personal life with their careers. Continuing to create awareness with employers about the talent not typically found in traditional staffing companies will allow Mom Corps’ community to place even more mothers, fathers, retirees and displaced workers looking for new opportunities. As the Mom Corps brand continues to grow both locally and nationally so does the increased awareness we provide companies looking for flexible, quality talent.
SK: Our vision is that the Mom Corps brand will known as the solution for offering professional, flexible work opportunities and a great way to manage work/life "alignment"!
EM: Thank you ladies! It's been a pleasure.
BC/GR/SK: Thank you for having us Ivanna!