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At  Content costs little; Context costs lots. Contact for fees.
Mom Inc. Asks: Five kids? Two Careers? How do you do it? |
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Charmaine: We see our life's work as a family enterprise with a mission; to help women find the middle -- the balance ... to help them win. . . |
Jack: We have had to make a series of decisions to do what we think we our vocation, our calling, compelled us to pursue. It was not always pretty and not for everyone.
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| Continuous learning is for everyone. Even Shadrach, the dog genius, had the benefit of going to obedience school. (Some students, however, were better than others in learning to keep off cars.) |
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Mom Inc.: What sacrifices did you have to make?
Charmaine: A home. We made the decision to sell our home and other real assets to fund our dreams.
Jack. A car. Back in the mid 70's when I was in the Army, I bought a 1958 Corvette convertible. Years later it was a bit hard to fit a child car seat into and impractical for business trips and, well, Charmaine's tuition was due. We sold it. |
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Mom Inc. : You sold your house?
Charmaine: We decided to make some short term sacrifices and moved into a cramped two bedroom apartment so that I could concentration on finishing my dissertation without distraction...
"Always work with a person you can learn something from," Gilbert Crouse, Ph.D; Charmaine's father pictured on the left.
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Jack: Did I tell you about my '58 Vette? Completely refurbished but with a newer 350 (truck block with 4-bolt mains!) Close-ration four speed and...
Mom Inc.: Are you still in that apartment with five children?!
Charmaine: No. We stayed there two years then moved soon after baby number four. We have moved 7 times in 13 years of marriage.
Jack: ...power windows! Very rare in 1958. The 350 was not original, of course, but the external dimensions are the same for the Chevy small block. I rebuilt with a 350 hp hydraulic cam -- you know what a hassle it is to adjust valves on those old ..
Mom Inc.: When you talk with women about work and winning, what is the most common issue that women raise?
Charmaine: Actually, it seems like most women want to know what and how men think. Jack and I review with our clients what men think about ...
Jack: ...cars. She had the original electrical -- a generator! (At least it was 12 volt. VW kept a 6 volt system until '66.) The guys loved that driving machine at the gym...
Mom Inc. : Sports? It seems that's what men get emotional about.
Jack: ...I wonder where that old girl is now...
Mom Inc. : Speaking of sports . . .Why do you write that women have to sit on the bench before they can sit on a Board?
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Every player deserves the best coaching. 
John Yoest III, age 8, after the Big Game, lifted up by very proud father Jack Yoest.
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Charmaine: Research shows us that sports activities are different for men and women. Women will only join large teams if they play. But women can make things happen -- change agents -- Women will not ride the bench, We want to be like Sosa on the field at the ball park. But like, Rosa Parks, we also will not sit on the back of the bus. |
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Jack: I wish I could swing like Sosa. I could sit in the dugout all day and watch him...
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Charmaine: Men will sit in hard stadium seats in the rain all day to watch a favorite team. Men will not willingly sit inside in a comfortable chair and watch ballet half a night. |
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Top performing women are always on stage.
Helena and Hannah, 2003.
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Jack: Unless it's to cheer my little girls... |
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Charmaine: maybe next time you could leave the foghorn at home . . .? |
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Mom Inc.: Speaking of sports teams, were you trying to come up with your own basketball team? What's up with all those children? |
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Charmaine: Just working to make the world the better place.
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Mom Inc.: Charmaine, you had a desk in the West Wing of the White House. What did you do? |
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Charmaine: I worked in Presidential Personnel , the office that reviews the backgrounds of nominees for Senate confirmation -- human resource management for the President. Ronald Reagan said, "Personnel is policy!" |
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Charmaine Yoest, fourth from left, in the Oval Office, 1987. |
Jack: I've alway had a weakness for women who worked in the West Wing. (with Lily Tomlin.) |
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Hannah 2001 |
Mom Inc.: You say that women have to manage their own careers. How do you do that?
Charmaine: Fast-moving women will move from assignment to assignment and will change reporting relationships just as fast. There should be a constant for these women and that should be a business manager, a mentor, who is advising and looking out only for her and her interests.
Every new skill, like Hannah's tennis instruction, should have a coach. And your coach should be in the background, off camera but always available. You are the star on center court. |
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All actors need advice and support even on the basics, the obvious. When son John, age 4, won a part in a movie about Thomas Jefferson, we told him he got to be Jefferson's grandson . . ., but John started to cry!
"I don't want to be in another family!"
In a new environment, even the simplest roles are confusing. A good director, a coach, can help.
Call Charmaine and Jack.
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Jack: Marketing is getting exposure, getting ink. In times past a lady was in the paper only when wed, bred, or dead. Times have changed. . . today women have to know the marketing basics of reach, frequency and awareness...
| Charmaine: ...It takes real talent to sell an intangible ~ to sell Mom, Inc.! ~as a knowledge worker. |
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Career success depends on working with and persuading men. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Call Jack and Charmaine for advice on running with the big dogs with style. |
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Every accomplished woman learns from a teacher. |
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Helena Gilbert Yoest, our Diva, age 5. |
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| Hannah's first Corvette, with her favorite driving instructor, 1997. This model 'Vette is so much better than the '58. |
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Copyright © 1995 to 2004 Charmaine & Jack Yoest |
