Mom Spotlight – Sarah McNeill & Cheryl Nakamoto

Sarah McNeill and Cheryl Nakamoto, cofounders of McNeill Nakamoto Recruitment Group

Overview of Company

Sarah McNeill and Cheryl Nakamoto started McNeill Nakamoto Recruitment Group, a full service temporary and permanent staffing company, in 1996. We jointly run the company, provide strategic planning, mentorship and business network to our team.

Now that we both have school aged children, and participate actively in their lives, we both each work 25 to 30 hours a week. It used to over 50 hours! Somehow we have also found time to be on local community boards. Sarah is a director of the Vancouver Opera board and on the honorary board of Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland. Cheryl is on the board of Dress for Success.

We are a mom friendly operation – 60 % of our team are mothers! We have created an excellent work environment where mothers can achieve business success.

Family

Sarah has been married to her husband Cameron McNeill, owner of MAC Real Estate Solutions and MPC Intelligence, for over 14 years. We have two children, ages 6 and 8. We have a fantastic care giver who keeps the house in order and picks up the children twice a week from school. Cameron takes our eldest to school most days and Sarah juggles our youngest’s morning activities until school begins at 12:30. Many a morning is spent at the Arbutus Club in the Billie Mitchell room working while classes are in session! Sarah is often found on line after 9pm. Sarah and Cameron try as best as possible to plan out meals each week. Sarah’s mother comes in at least once a week to support.

Cheryl has been married to her husband Ed Klarich for 15 years. Ed is an Area Manager, Vancouver Entrepreneurship Centre, at the Business Development Bank. We have two children, ages 7 and 10. Now that our children are in full time school we have a part time caregiver. Cheryl shares the school drop offs and pick ups with other mothers. Cheryl and Ed try to plan out meals but have a real affinity to healthy takeout!

Organizations or Individuals of Influence

Both Sarah and Cheryl are in unique situation whereby they have participated in their husband’s career in a mentorship capacity as much as their husbands have been in theirs. Sarah and Cheryl have both benefitted from their nine year membership in the Entrepreneur’s Organization

Insight

Get to know other mothers from school and get into your mix of contacts both working parents and stay at home parents. They can be life savers!

Sarah and Cheryl have been most successful in planning lunches with other women entrepreneurs (working mummy power lunches!). We’ve found innumerable ways to support each other and sharing of ideas on how to juggle the mommy/business balance.

Advice on Balance

Do work that gives you a sense of fulfillment.

Take time to Breathe. Do Yoga. Walk.

Be present for your children. Stop, Look and Listen. They are only little once.

Schedule time for you and your kids; take time for yourself and also with your spouse.

Time can slip away and overwhelm you with competing priorities.

Mom Spotlight – Susan Matheson

1) Provide an overview of your company and your role within the company; how many hours you work.
I am a co-founder and managing partner of The Image Builders along with my business partner Denisa Nica. We share equally in all aspects of the company.
At The Image Builders, we work with groups and individuals to help them better understand the impact of image in achieving personal and professional success. Specific areas of training include business and social etiquette, cultural awareness, style and wardrobe assessment, and personal branding. Our clients have included everyone from women returning to the workforce and students preparing for university or articling positions, to lawyers and engineers working in multicultural and globally focused environments. We pride ourselves on tailoring each program’s elements to the specific needs of each client.
While we have yet to encounter a “typical” week or even day, on average we work full-time hours. Those hours may occur at our downtown office, at a client’s boardroom or in our home offices during traditional work day hours or just as easily in the wee hours.

2) Provide an overview of your home life, how many children you have, childcare arrangement, if married your husband’s career and how you share the responsibilities at home.
My husband and I have two boys, aged 10 and 11 and a large hairy dog. The boys are in school full time from 8 am until 3:30 pm daily. I make every effort to schedule meetings and presentations within those hours in order to be available to pick the boys up at school every day. It is an important ritual to me and they tell me they appreciate my being there as well – for now! Our afternoons and evenings often involve hockey or other sporting commitments and my husband and I both share and participate as much as possible in taking the boys to their activities and cheering them on. Between the two of us (and the help of our BlackBerries) we are usually able to manage. When scheduling conflicts arise or one of us is away we are fortunate to usually be able to rely on the help of Grandparents or fellow team parents.
Due to the more flexible nature of my work schedule I tend to be responsible for most of the home front. My husband is certainly there to actively help me when needed. He receives his fair share of “Could you pleeeeease pick up milk/bread/small child on your way home?” messages and is always accommodating! His work in developing and managing airports requires him to travel fairly regularly and he is definitely missed when he’s away.

3) Are there certain organizations or individuals who have been the greatest influence and support in terms of assisting with your career and business decisions.
Both Denisa and I have husbands with sharp business acumen and a willingness to offer respectful guidance when asked. “When asked” is the key phrase! They are always patient and supportive and we consider them important participants in our business success.
We are supporters of MomCafe and its mission and regard its founders, Jill Earthy and Hilary Wooller with great respect.
Denisa and I are both insatiable readers and have been influenced by many books and articles in our decision-making as well. It is important to note that we have paid attention to times when we’ve been un-impressed by an individual or organization as well and have consciously sought to approach our own business differently.

4) Can you offer insight into ways that “professionally minded moms” could be supporting each other.
We have been very fortunate to meet a number of successful business people who’ve shared their thoughts and impressions with us. We are members of a few professional groups, some focused on women, and enjoy time spent with entrepreneurially-minded friends as well. All have been appreciated as much for the brutal honesty as the sincere empathy when it comes to developing a new business and managing a family.
I find e-mail notes (NOT jokes!) and forwarded articles relevant to one another’s business interests also helpful. For those working at a home office a little reminder that someone out there at their desk is thinking of them and their endeavour lifts the spirits while also augmenting one’s research into what’s current in their field or with the competition!

5) Can you offer any advice for achieving a balance between your family life and your career?
I personally don’t strive for a specific state of balance; I aim for balance over a period of time. There are days when The Image Builders deadlines have me preoccupied and other days when I receive a call from the school nurse and need to drop all work-related tasks. If, at the end of a year I have managed to be present, contributing value, and happy, with both family and career, I consider it balanced. I do grapple on a daily basis with guilt (laundry not folded or an article still unwritten) and often find at midnight that I’ve simply run out of hours but if I look back over time and seem to have managed to do both well I am content.

Susan Matheson is a Founder and Managing Partner of The Image Builders (www.theimagebuilders.ca). Whether working with a mother returning to work or a business going global The Image Builders lead the way to achieving and optimizing professional image. Contact 604-601-8250.

McNeill Nakamoto Recruitment Group – Full Cycle Bookkeeper – 6 month contract

McNeill Nakamoto Recruitment Group is a Vancouver-based staffing company that attracts raving fans – raving employers and raving talent!

WOW, FUN, PEOPLE. That is our centre. And every new raving fan delights us to new levels. We just can’t stop ourselves.

The best part – We absolutely LOVE to make a difference in people’s lives. And what fun it is to do so! We hope it shows.

Full cycle Bookkeeper – 6 month contract
Location: Richmond, BC
Salary: $35,000 – $40,000

We are –
Connecting exceptional people with outstanding employers creating environments where people buzz

You are –
A self motivated and reliable full cycle Bookkeeper Administrator with 1-3 years experience managing invoicing, accounts payables, accounts receivables, multiple account reconciliations, payroll and assisting with month and year end reporting responsibilities. Experience with using ACCPAC would make you a very ideal candidate.

You have excellent attention to detail, strong communication, self motivation, and an easy going and social nature. You thrive on small details while embracing variety in the workplace. As a team player of this close knit and fun group, you will pitch in with general administrative areas.

Our client is an established, popular, and buzzing franchise restaurant group who provides an excellent opportunity for an easy going, fun nature and intellectual Bookkeeper Administrator to step into this role with the opportunity to learn and grow into a permanent member of team!

To apply, please send an email to jobs@mcnak.com, along with an updated resume, entering “Bookkeeper-ST” in the subject line. For other opportunities with our clients, visit www.mcnak.com

Thank-you for your response, we will be in contact with you, should a meeting be required.