Name: Gretchen Rost, PHR

Education: University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Brookstone Business College

Professional Experience: 20 years in Human Resources with the last 16 years helping run Wachovia's internal staffing division, FirstPlace

What specifically drew you to Mom Corps?
Mom Corps' unique brand and strong community. I knew that after being displaced from my previous position, I wanted to continue my passion in the staffing industry – after considering other opportunities, Mom Corps' national presence, strong leadership and customer loyalty locked me in.

What industries do you feel have the most potential for flexibility in Charlotte?
The recession has impacted almost every industry forcing companies to do more with fewer resources. As the economy strengthens companies aren't going to rush into adding to their core workforce making temporary and flexible hiring practices a smarter and more attractive option. Companies will want to ensure a consistency in the economic recovery before adding to their full-time resources – supplementing their workforce with flexible resources.

What's your favorite Charlotte activity to do with your family?
I love to travel. We are typically planning our next trip before arriving home from the last.

What's your go-to stress reliever after a hard day on the new job?
I unwind after a long day by running to the sound of my favorite tunes on my iPod. My dogs get so excited when my running shoes are pulled out of the closet as they know once I return they will get a long, brisk walk before the shoes are put away.

Name: Stacy Keefer

Education: University of North Carolina, Charlotte, 1985, BA Business Administration

Professional Experience: 22 years staffing and recruiting experience, with 16 years running Wachovia's internal contract staffing division, FirstPlace.

What specifically drew you to Mom Corps?
The strong brand and an industry that I love. When my division was phased out due to a merger, Mom Corps presented a wonderful opportunity to continue in the staffing industry and with a brand and niche that has strong appeal with candidates and resonates with companies.

What industries do you feel have the most potential for flexibility in Charlotte?
We feel that the recession has truly impacted the way companies view and will manage their human capital now and in the future. Currently, many industries are beginning to think about hiring, but most are considering contracting and/or flexible employment as a lower risk way to get work done. As the economy continues to recover and the shortage of talent resumes, companies will have to become more strategic and flexible in their approach to hiring to remain competitive.

What's your favorite Charlotte activity to do with your family?
Though outside of Charlotte, we definitely love the beach and consider the quick travel time one of the key benefits of living in this great city.

What's your go-to stress reliever after a hard day on the new job?
Going for a run with my dog. She's very happy when I put my running shoes on :)

Name: Kimberly Symonds

Education: Hiram College, 2002, B.A. - Ashland University, 2011, MBA

Professional Experience: 13 years as an executive in the non-profit healthcare field.

What specifically drew you to Mom Corps?
I loved the concept! I watched the company develop and grow over a few years and when franchises were made available, there was no question this is what I wanted to do. The business model is one that works. It matches business' needs to have an on-demand, extremely talented work force with professionals' desire to work on a flexible basis.

What industries do you feel have the most potential for flexibility in Akron/Canton, Ohio?
I am finding there is incredible interest and potential across all industries.

What's your favorite Akron/Canton, Ohio activity to do with your family?
My husband and son are good tennis players, so we will often go out and play as a family. We enjoy riding our bikes on the Towpath Trail and camping at Pymatuning. So hard to name one activity, there is so much to do in Ohio.

What's your go-to stress reliever after a hard day on the new job?
If I'm still still awake after dinner, dishes, homework, and bedtime rituals, I will sit, knit and catch up on Tivo.

Name: Jamie Flynn

Market: Greater Seattle Area

Education: Georgetown University Law Center – Juris Doctor 1996, Duke University – Bachelor of Arts 1993



Professional Experience:
Most recently, I was a Regional Development Partner for Campus Crest Development, an owner and operator of university student housing, during which time I developed projects in a number of western states. Prior to that, I practiced international finance law in London, both at a Japanese investment bank and in a law firm. I started my career as an environmental lawyer in Washington, D.C.

What specifically drew you to Mom Corps?
I was on a business trip a couple of years ago when I saw Allison O'Kelly, CEO and founder of Mom Corps, interviewed on NBC's Today Show. I found the Mom Corps concept so powerful, because I had been struggling for years to balance the twin demands of family and career. Once I found out that Mom Corps had started franchising its operations, I immediately jumped on board, knowing that both Seattle area companies and candidates would greatly benefit from Mom Corps' services.

What industries do you feel have the most potential for flexibility in the greater Seattle area?
Because the greater Seattle area is such a progressive region, I am confident that employers across a broad spectrum of industries will recognize the value in hiring contract workers.

What's your favorite Seattle activity to do with your family?
We love getting outside as a family – either going to a park, beach or swimming pool.

What's your go-to stress reliever after a hard day on the new job?
Going for a run.

Contributed by Ronkisha Terrazas. Ronkisha is a finance consultant and freelance writer residing in Northern Virginia. From 2003-2006, she worked in the home full-time caring for two young children.

Slaving at your 9-to-5, dreaming about what it would be like to be home with your kids, dreaming about not worrying about the balance of home and work that is never met? Decided you are going to take the plunge - quit your job to stay-at-home. Stop!!! Think before you sink. There are lots of wonderful advantages to being at home full-time. However, you need to make sure that your finances and your ego can withstand the tolls of being home before you leave the security of your job. Have you considered other options in lieu of unemployment that may allow you more time at home, such as telecommuting, working part-time, job sharing, flex-time, obtaining in-home care? After considering these options, if you still think that staying at home full-time is the best option for your family, make sure you are prepared before turning in your pink slip.

Losing a full-income can strain even the most financially astute. To prepare yourself for this financial challenge, you need to know the answers to these questions. How long do you plan to be at home? What are you willing to cut in your finances to make it work for the timeframe you want to be at home? To answer these questions, you first need to ask what are your core values--what is most important to you? Categorically, what areas are you willing to cut and not cut from your current lifestyle. For example, when I decided to stay home, for my family, education advancement and maintaining good health/nutrition were two top values. Although our finances were thinned from losing my income, ensuring we still strived to take educational courses and spending money on holistic nutritional products remained a financial priority. However, we did cut back significantly in household luxury choices - we drove older cars, downsized in home maintenance, got rid of cable. Know where you must keep your money and where you can cut yet still maintain your core values.

Once you know what you want to maintain and what you can cut, then create a realistic, workable budget and start to stick to it before you need it. Make sure your budget includes all your expenses, including non-routine items such as minor repairs and discretionary spending for non-essential items such as going to the movies. Test and revise this budget before it has to be active.

Next, set aside a larger dollar amount for emergencies and larger repairs. This emergency fund should cover between 3-6 months of your monthly expenses. If you do not have this amount of money saved, then create a list of your assets. Know what liquid assets you can sell if needed for an emergency without going into debt. These liquid assets are assets that you can turn into cash within a couple of weeks. Have a realistic worth of the asset that is conservative on the low-end.

After you see financially you can make at home for the timeframe you want work from assets you can sell, monies saved, and areas you can cut in your finances, then go for it.

Now that you are own your pathway to staying home, make sure you prep your work benefits. Inventory all the company benefits you have and get a plan of how those needs will be covered after you leave. These benefits may include health insurance, life insurance, disability coverage, dental insurance, or other supplemental policies. Ensure whatever benefits you are losing will either be okay to forego, covered by your spouse's employer, or you have a supplemental plan to maintain them. For instance, you do not want to suddenly discover after you have left your employer, that you no longer have dental coverage or life insurance. Watch out for timing of coverage as well. You do not want to find out after-the-fact that you cannot be covered for health insurance under your spouse's work plan until open season. If you have invested into a retirement account at work, make a wise decision about what you will do with your 401k/403b or other employer retirement plan. When you leave, you will need to make a decision to cash-out of your retirement, transfer into another retirement account, or let the funds sit in the employer account without additional contributions. Cashing out to help cover at-home costs may sound appealing, but remember the IRS will charge you a 10% penalty for early withdrawal if you are under the allowable retirement age which is currently 59.5, and for any age, the amount you withdraw will be taxed as ordinary income. (There may be some hardship exceptions to the 10% penalty, yet the funds are still taxed as ordinary income. Check with the IRS or your tax advisor.) Plus more importantly, if you cash out early, you are losing the opportunity to have that money available for when you retire and the potential exponential growth from earning compound interest.

Settle any anticipated loans before you leave. If you are planning to refinance your mortgage, get a loan, or any financial issues that would need to have your income secured for approval, settle these securities before you quit your job. It is more difficult to get financing without full-time employment.

Stay in good contact with work colleagues--network while away. You may need them as a reference at a later time and good to nurture those relationships to help you stay abreast of your field. If you are able to do contracting projects on the side for your employer, this is good for networking and helping your income. By starting a self-employment/contractor venture, you may gain several tax benefits by being able to write-off expenses that are not allowed as an employee.

If after being at home, you find yourself struggling financially and will soon run out of saved resources, start a part-time or self-employment venture well before you run out of funds. It takes time to get a self-employment venture going. Get it started and profitable before you are in a situation in which you feel forced to go back to work full-time because you have to in order to survive financially. Give time for your venture to succeed or to save the additional income from a part-time job to keep you at home longer.

These are financial considerations; however, there are mental challenges you need to consider as well before leaving the job-security nest.

Don't forget about yourself. With children and home demanding 100% of your attention with no pressure to look or perform at a business level, you can easily lose focus on yourself and slowly lose your personal identity. You have to fight to maintain a high sense of self value. Take time to care for yourself and your own goals. Do not feel guilty getting good part-time babysitting when needed. You can only give your best to others from the overflow of you being fulfilled and energized.

Being at home is a good time to increase your credentials--take college courses, obtain certifications, start a small business venture, pursue a career change that is closer inline with your passion, get in shape. This is the time to take risks. Go for goals you really could not have focused on while working full-time. Keep your identity of who you are growing.

Also, you must be confident in yourself and decision to stay at home to dodge the arrows of misconstrued family members and friends. Expect that some family/friends will not be supportive, will criticize you for giving up your wonderful career, wasting your education to settle for being a full-time babysitter (in their opinion). Be confident in yourself and your decision. Be ready to justify this attitude--"well you must just sit around all day and have it easy. You should have time for everything now that you are home." Before you stay-at-home, you may have these same misconceptions which are far from the truth. Staying-at-home will be very demanding on your time if you are caring for young children. There is more work, higher household appearance expectations, and overall it is more mentally taxing. There are no dependable lunchbreaks, unless you create them which can still be taxing with young children on your heels. You must organize your time. Just because you are home does not mean you have to do all the little projects. Prioritize what is important to you. Create a daily or weekly routines list that helps you stay on track to achieve your goals and maintain balance. Be realistic about what you can do given your situational limitations. Reward yourself for achieving your goals and keeping pace with your routines list.

ENJOY this time. Remember why you want to stay at home. Focus on making your dreams of what this time can be a reality. Document this time with your family; it passes quickly. Remain balanced. Don't get so focused on kids, to the point that you lose yourself. Yet don't go the other direction and get so caught up into creating a fulfilling career, participating in events, or completing chores to the point that you start to lose focus on your family. Either extreme is easy to do.

If planned wisely, this could be the best time of your life to gain balance, discover what you truly want in life, and nurture your kids all at the same time. Good luck!!!

Featured Candidate Success Story: Lily Pabian

Life is full of ups and downs; mine was a roller coaster with 2 consecutive years of "the first drop." In November 2006, my mother-in-law then 59; suffered a major stroke. She stayed in the ICU for several weeks with a very poor diagnosis. The hospital was an hour from my husband's midtown office so many long lunched were needed to fill out paper work and actually sit by her side. The journey brought her to a nursing home followed by a stay within a senior assisted living facility the following year - the year my husband was laid off and when Mom Corps entered my life.

My husband was sending his resume and fixing his mother's house to sell during the last couple of months of 2007. When 2008 rolled around and he was still jobless, I knew that I had to consider looking as well. I began sending my resume out through job sites and finally received a call back for an interview. A before my first interview in over 5 years, I was invited to attend Mom Corps Own Your Life seminar. I remember walking into the seminar surrounded by business dressed corporate woman; I wore a $10 dress purchased from Target the night before. I sat down not knowing what to expect and then the guest speaker, Leslie Bennetts got me thinking about my career - - something I hadn't done in years. She talked about the importance of staying in the work force (reasons ranging from divorces, death of a spouse and job loss). At the end of her speech she asked for questions. Without hesitation, I raised my hand, received the mic and said "my husband lost his job and I have an interview next week, what do I say if they ask what have you done for the past 5 years?"

Sure enough the question came up in my interview and sure enough I used the answer I received that day. In the end, I turned down the job because it required me to travel and work between Beijing and EST time zones. I signed up with Mom Corps as a candidate and have worked several consulting jobs. Through Mom Corps I am able to own my life as a stay at home mother, be a financial contributor for my family and am able to focus and build my own career patch, what more can I ask for.

Lily Pabian is a mother of 3; an 8 year old son and 4 ½ year old twins. She currently works through Mom Corps as a Marketing Services consultant. She lives in Mableton GA with her husband of 12 years. During 2007, she was the PTO President of her son's school, devoting 30 hours a week in building up their local charter school. Life is still a juggle; through Mom Corps, it's nice to know that there are work options that can support it.

Contributed by Eisha Armstrong - Regional Owner, Cincinnati

More and more, women are using the economic downturn as an opportunity to start their own businesses. In fact, the National Association of Women Business Owners is reporting a surge in membership in some parts of the country. Experts predict that within the next decade, female-owned small businesses will grow from creating 16% of the US economy's jobs to creating more than one-third of jobs.

What is driving this increase in women entrepreneurs? Some women may be using the event of a layoff or buyout package to pursue an entrepreneurial dream. Others could be re-entering the workforce by starting their own venture. Many believe, as I do, that if you have a great idea and some capital, a recession is the perfect time to launch a new business.

This past fall, I took the plunge and became an entrepreneur after a more than decade-long career with a business research company. I purchased a franchise of Mom Corps, a staffing firm that places top-tier professionals in flexible work arrangements. Although I am still early in my new career as an entrepreneur, I would advise other aspiring entrepreneurs to do the following:

1. Talk to other entrepreneurs to get a sense of all of the different options that are out there for you to launch and structure a successful business. Plus, being an entrepreneur can be lonely and it will be very helpful for you to build a network of other entrepreneurs to bounce ideas off of. I found the book 50 Entrepreneurs useful in helping me understand what the life of an entrepreneur is like.

2. Research your market. Take the time to assess market demand for your product, to understand who the competition is, and to decide if your market is growing or shrinking. You'll want to do enough research to answer those questions, but don't succumb to "analysis-paralysis," either. At the end of the day, you'll need to make a gut decision on whether to launch a new venture. In my case, I saw a great market opportunity for the Mom Corps concept – more professionals need flexibility and more companies need a flexible workforce. Plus, in my market research I discovered that the staffing industry tends to be one of the first to recover in a recession.

3. Manage the risk. Opening a new business is always risky, so think of creative ways to gain access to capital and to keep your costs low and/or variable. One of the best ways to manage the risk of a new business is to launch it while still keeping your day job. I am managing the risk of my new business by having plenty of capital on hand (courtesy of diligent savings and a buyout package) and by purchasing a franchise of a proven business that comes along with a support system of the Mom Corps founders and other franchise owners. In addition, I have started this business from my home, which helps me keep my overhead costs down and frees up more capital to invest in marketing. Apparently, I am not alone. There has been an explosion of successful home-based companies the past few years.

4. Have passion for your product. Starting a new business is hard. It can take long (and lonely) hours and requires a leap of faith that you will be successful. If you are passionate about your product or service, that passion will fuel you through times of uncertainty and will make you a much better representative of your company.

5. Have a plan. I don't believe you need to create a full business plan (unless you will be applying for credit or seeking investors). But you should at least have some idea of who you will market your product to, how you will create the product, what investment is required, and how much you need to sell and at what price in order to make money. Your business plan will constantly change as you learn more about the market and uncover new opportunities, but it's good to have some sense of what you need to do to be successful. I am a fan of a having a six-week operating plan (with success metrics), a one-year revenue and market penetration goal, and a five-year dream for your business.

Of course, every entrepreneur's story and advice is going to be different, which is what makes opening your own business so exciting. Some other resources that you should consult are:

• SCORE - http://www.score.org – Get free advice on running a small business from volunteer business professionals

• National Association of Women Business Owners - http://nawbo.org/index.cfm - Members can network with other women business owners, access resources and training to help grow their businesses, and stay abreast of trends affecting small business owners.

• Small Business Administration - http://www.sba.gov/ - Access tools and services to develop your business plan, seek capital and grow your business.

Eisha Armstrong is the Regional Owner of Mom Corps for Cincinnati, Ohio. You can follow her business at www.momcorpscincy.com.

There are many terms for women who choose to take a detour from traditional full-time employment--my favorite is "sequencing". There are also various reasons women give for this move: taking care of children, taking care of a sick spouse or parent, changing careers, going back to school, or devoting more time to personal investing. But what is common among most of these women is that finding a part-time, professional level position presents considerable challenges. Here we will discuss how to stay in the workforce on a part or flex-time basis and still find challenging, gratifying, high-paying positions.

If you feel your current full-time position is not conducive to your personal life right now for whatever reason, ask yourself some of these questions:

• Have I established myself in my job as a high-performer?
• Have my performance reviews been exemplary?
• Have I been given increasing responsibilities over time?
• Have I demonstrated commitment to this company?
• Have I always focused on solutions rather than problems?

If you answered YES to all of these questions, then you are in a good position to make a proposal. Notice I did not say, "ask permission," or "ask for part-time or fl ex-time." You can make a proposal that includes some of the following points: Exploit current gaps in your functional area – for example, projects that do not get enough attention, results that always fall short, etc. Convince your supervisors that you, on a part-time basis, can specialize in these much-needed but neglected areas and allow your current job to be filled, demonstrating to your employer that all business-critical needs will be met without hiring another full-time "head".

Additionally, you can train the new person (include exactly how in your proposal) so productivity is not lost during your transition. It is important to emphasize your commitment to the company, to your career and to your reputation. Also stress that you are not falling off the career path, but remain focused on continuing to learn and improve your skills so that you will be prepared when a full-time opportunity becomes an option again.

If you are faced with finding a part or fl ex-time position out in the open job market, first, ask yourself the following questions:

• What are my top 3 transferable skills?
• What measurable accomplishments can I demonstrate?
• What's in it for them if they hire me?
• Do I have credible references?
• Did I help friends or colleagues while I was not on a payroll?
• Do I know what I'm worth?

Once you have answered these questions, you are ready to start your job search. Here are some tips and strategies that worked well for me.

Look for jobs posted as regular or full-time (or non-specific). Why? First, you are creating more opportunities for yourself. Second, you never know what can happen and you might find a perfect position with a person or company thrilled to have you on any terms (if you sell yourself right!). Focus on small companies who are in a growth atmosphere. They might be more open to alternative schedules, especially in exchange for a high-performer who will cost less than a full-time employee.

The most important thing to remember is that you do not have to mention part-time work until you are offered the job. This is not deceptive because you might actually work full-time on a flexible schedule. Or, you might tell them you want the position but would prefer to limit your in-office time to 30 hours/week. The key here is to use your leverage – they want to hire you. Focus on a solution that works for both parties. You might accept a lower salary than offered in exchange for fewer hours. You can also build in a performance-based bonus system to prove you are going to be a significant addition to the company, and offer assurance that part-time hours don't equate to part-time effort!

Kristin Scott owns and operates her own marketing consulting firm, Monday Morning Marketing. She has two children and lives near Philadelphia, PA. This article originally printed in Wise Women Investor.

As Maid Brigade's new Consumer Health Advocate, I believe that "green" living is such an important step in healthy living. I feel there are still so many people that are confused with what is "green and healthy" for their families and the environment and what is not, especially when it comes to green products and green cleaning. I can understand how doing research on this topic can be very time consuming, so through my role as Consumer Health Advocate, I plan to do the research and keep our readers informed about proper green cleaning and how this way of life is healthier for our families. This way you can focus your time on more important things in life.

I am uniquely qualified as Maid Brigade's Consumer Health Advocate as a professional wellness manager, a nurse and a mother of three beautiful children. For the past thirteen years, I too, have been trying to juggle my role as supportive wife and working mother during the day, while still trying to maintain a clean and healthy home for my family. There have been times when I feel so "unbalanced" because it seems as though my work never ends. I sometimes feel like I have two jobs, working outside of the house all day and then coming home to clean and take care of the kids at night. Some days I feel like I am spending all my time cleaning and it actually becomes stressful. I'm sure most of you can relate! Hiring outside cleaning help is a great way to help with work/life balance. This is where Maid Brigade can help tremendously.

I also bring first-hand knowledge of the potential health risks associated with cleaning chemicals. The first job that I ever had was working in a boatyard cleaning boats. The chemicals that the boatyard used were so strong I remember getting headaches from the strong chemical odors. I would breathe in the fumes of these chemicals all day long and it sometimes hurt to breathe. To this day, I suffer from headaches and asthma. Using chemicals to clean poses such a health hazard, why would anyone want to expose their families to this?

Maid Brigade is such a great solution to not only keep your house clean, but keep it "green clean". Maid Brigade's industry-leading Green Clean Certified® program includes cleaning solutions which contain no toxins, neurotoxins, or carcinogens. They don't contain any skin/eye corrosives. Maid Brigade teams use four-level filtration vacuums that are certified under the Carpet & Rug Institute's Green Label Program, and can remove three times more irritating particles from the air than traditional vacuums. Their green cleaning system is very effective at removing airborne asthma and allergy triggers in the home. Maid Brigade 's Green Clean Certified® program is all about helping you balance your life with reliable, consistent and thorough cleaning while also protecting the health of your family and pets, which is so important.

To sum it up, Maid Brigade does a thorough, yet healthy, green clean, which is safer for families, pets and the environment. Maid Brigade teams are reliable and consistent, which means less stress for you. This safe and thorough green clean will free up some time for you so you don't have feel like you have a second job. Maid Brigade can help take away some of the everyday stressors of cleaning which leaves more time to focus on achieving and maintaining work/life balance back. When we have more "balance", we have more time to focus on what we want to do, whether it is spending time with ourselves, our families, or both.

I am looking forward to sharing all of my research on toxic chemicals and explaining how conventional cleaning chemicals are linked to certain health issues, such as asthma, autism, ADHD, and even cancer. I will write about how living green is so much healthier for our families, our pets and our environment. I will help to educate people on which green products really are "green". But most of all, I hope that the information I write about will help people get a better understanding of how cleaning can affect the mental and physical aspects of balance in our lives.

About Marie – Marie Stegner is a registered nurse and a mother of three children who resides in New York. She spent the majority of her career in the health field where she developed and implemented health and wellness programs for people throughout the NYC metropolitan area. Through MomCorps, Marie has teamed up with Maid Brigade to help educate the public about how green cleaning can affect both the mental and physical aspects of balance in our lives.

Retreat, recharge, refuel and regroup at the end of the busy workday...in a home cleaned by Maid Brigade.

Call 888-79GREEN to find Maid Brigade in your area.

The Charlotte Mom Corps team is excited to start the New Year off with you! Come in from the cold and meet your new Charlotte Mom Corps team - Bonnie Ceran, Gretchen Rost, and Stacy Keefer - enjoy some hot coffee and great networking with other local professionals just like you.

While we spent last quarter building our client contacts and focusing on business development, we are now looking to familiarize ourselves with our candidate base, as well as expand our growing network of Charlotte professionals. The staffing industry has seen recent gains in a number of areas, and in Charlotte especially, we have seen an increase in both temporary and contract hiring. Please join us to discuss the current work opportunities we have available and to learn more about how Mom Corps can help you find a flexible, contract, or full-time work arrangement that works best for you.

Thursday, January 21, 2010
Drop-In: 7:30 am - 10:30 am
FABO Gallery & Cafe: 1523 Elizabeth Avenue, Suite 120, Charlotte, NC
FREE to attend, FREE parking behind Carpe Diem

Don't miss this chance to meet our team and to spend time with some of Charlotte's premiere merchants offering products and services geared towards busy professionals. PLUS - register to win a number of fabulous giveaways!

Feel free to forward to other moms, friends, or colleagues! Please RSVP to momcorpscharlotte@momcorps.com to let us know you will attend. We look forward to meeting you!