PROFILE
An Interview with Carol Evans
by Jackie Papandrew
Ask Carol Evans, owner and CEO of Working Mother Media, why she wrote “This Is How We Do It: The Working Mothers’ Manifesto,” and she will tell you she wrote it because she got mad.
“I was really angry,” Evans explains, “because I was still being asked to do interviews on the topic of whether mothers should work.”
Evans says her frustration at hearing the same question raised in the 21st century that was bandied about in the 1970s when she began working for feminist causes, led her to spend a year writing a book that would help women transcend the guilt, stress and sacrifice associated with being both a worker and a mother.
The book is based on interviews with the mothers who read Working Mother, many of whom also who attend the various conferences and events sponsored by the magazine each year. It offers creative solutions for moms seeking to balance career and family. Evans says “This Is How We Do It,” published in 2006 and in paperback May 2007, has received an “incredible” reaction from readers.
“They thank me for writing a book that is so positive,” she says, “one that tells our side of the story. It shows how valuable we are to our families and to our communities. So often, working mothers feel attacked. They feel (the book) gives them solid ground to stand on.”
Evans says one of the biggest surprises of her research was how full and varied were the lives of the women she interviewed. Not only were they working and raising children, but they were doing a great many other things: “having fun with their kids, gardening, home projects, exercising, reading books, spending time with friends. People think that (working mothers) don’t have time for those things, but they do.”
Having worked for Gloria Steinem’s Ms. magazine in the late 1970s before moving on to McCall’s, Evans became part of the launch team of Working Mother magazine in 1979. She became publisher of the magazine before leaving to work at other business publications. She was eventually able to buy Working Mother, closing the deal just three weeks before the terrorist attacks of Sept.11, 2001 precipitated a severe downturn in the industry.
“It was terribly devastating,” she recalls. “The industry dried up. We had a huge gap in our revenue. It practically killed us. But we were very determined. We found advertising investors who were willing to stand by us.”
Evans says the crisis forced the magazine’s staff to “hone in” on what made Working Mother magazine “so different, so special.” It also shaped the publication’s mission statement: We Serve Women Boldly.
“That became our rallying cry,” according to Evans, who has been instrumental in creating the magazine’s well-known lists of the best companies for working mothers; best companies for multicultural women; and best small companies, along with awards for mom entrepreneurs.
Besides writing the CEO blog for Working Mother’s Web site and doing a great deal of business writing, Evans, the mother of a 20-year-old son and 17-year-old daughter, has written a children’s book that “I’ve never taken time to get published, although I’d love to.” She also keeps a daily journal that came in handy when writing “This Is How We Do It.”
“I used my own journals from when my kids were little and when they were babies. I was able to really remember what it was like to be the mother of a two-year-old.”
Evans is also considering writing a book encompassing all she has learned while launching her publication’s list of companies that are the best employers for women of color. Another book idea concerning being a woman executive in what she says is still a man’s world, also sparks her interest. “I’d like to give the woman executive’s side of the story. I want women to know that they don’t have to accept stereotypes.”
As for the so-called “mommy wars” between working mothers and stay-at-home moms, Evans says her magazine plays a peacemaker role in this much-hyped battle. Each group “can rely on the other for the help that we each don’t get enough of,” she says. “We’re all strong, and everybody is longing for more balance in life. I have great respect for stay-at-home moms.”
Evans says her children have been able to watch her learn and grow during her years as a working mom, “and do things I didn’t know that I could do.” But like any other mother, she sometimes struggles to maintain the right balance.
“The thing I’d like most is if I could be in two places at one time,” she explains. “I don’t want to give up my career, but I also don’t want to give up on being the best mom I can be.”
Jackie Papandrew is a freelance writer, wife, mother and coffee addict living in Florida. Her syndicated humor column, Airing My Dirty Laundry, tickles the funny bone with tales of troublesome teenagers, the agony of aging gums, laughing llamas and bizarre Blackberry behavior – and that’s just for starters. Her work appears regularly in a variety of publications, including the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, The Oklahoman and Hybrid Mom magazine, as well as on several websites. You can read more of her work at JackiePapandrew.com.
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