well as for clients and vendors. “In a working situation, I’ve always referred to her as
Chris,” Miriam says. “It helped make a distinction that she was my employer and paid
me to be there.”
The mother-daughter team established the
ground rules early, with conversations about
compensation, expectations, employee revie ws
and other traditional employee-employer struc -
tures. Nonetheless, family gatherings occasionally
presented a dual reality for the mother-daughter
combo. “Chris was always pretty good at being mom a t
family gatherings,” Miriam says. “And then she’d say,
‘Can I get you for a half-hour on the other side?’ which
meant the office on the other side of the duplex.”
In 2002, Miriam began the process of separating from t he
family business, taking a series of outside jobs. She still does
work for Chris on a freelance basis, and admits that there are
certain aspects she misses. “Working for a family member is
working for someone else, but it’s not working for The Man,”
she says. “My understanding of leadership really came from
Chris. That’s the product of working for someone who loves
what she does—even her worst days are pretty good.”
Although she’s no longer employed full-time by Chris,
Miriam still continues the split-personality, dual-role tradition.
“When she calls from her current job, I have to
listen for whether she’s asking a Mom question
or Chris question,” Chris says. “So, I just need
to consider whether I’m answering as a Mom
Consultant or as a Management Consultant—
because a mom might say something an
employer would not.”
Of course, no matter what name you use,
the kind of support (or constructive criti-
cism) you get from a family member tends to
come with perks. “Family members will go to
great lengths to make sure you’re successful,”
Meagan says. “I’ll be on a business trip, and it
might be 9 p.m., but my dad will see something
online that could help my presentation, fax
papers to me and have them slipped under the
door. I wonder if the average staff member does that?”
Jake Poinier has been a full-time freelance
writer since 1999. In addition to commercial
copywriting for clients such as Dial
Corporation, Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Worldwide, and Apollo Group, his magazine
and newspaper credits include articles in
USA Today and Golf Illustrated.
Vistage International Presents . . .
Rock the house in New Orleans!
It’s all about increasing your income—
onstage and off. From positioning your
unique expertise to creating recurring
revenue through products and services,
whether you have them now or not.
And what good is a product or service if you
can’t promote it? That’s why you’ll also learn
how to sell them on the Internet or from the
platform without feeling pushy.
If you want to see your income climb the
charts, you want to be in the front row at
this Jam Session.
Old School. New School. Your School.
NSA Jam Session:
Product Development Lab
Nov. 30–Dec. 2, 2007
New Orleans, La.
To learn more about Jam Session performers,
program details, host hotel information and
online registration, visit www.nsaspeaker.org.
And remember, if you attend three of
the four Jam Sessions and SpeakerPalooza,
you will get a front row seat at the opening
and closing session at the 2008 Convention
in New York City. If you didn’t attend the
NSA Jam Session on Technology, then
make New Orleans a must-see stop on
the 2007–2008 concert tour.
