The First 100 Days - Family Computing and K-Power Magazine ...

HOME BUSINESS
FROM DIAPERS TO DISK DRIVES
One mother finds that running her own business doesn't
mean leaving home.
BY JON ZONDERMAN
Ii is September, and Karen Black
burn has begun her yearly advertis
ing campaign, putting up signs at
the Boston University School of Law.
Her business, writing resumes and
cover letters for B.U. law students
seeking both summer and full-time
employment, has been booming for
these last two years.
The computer power she com
mands with a Commodore 80-32
computer allows her to compete effi
ciently against large word-processing
firms that include this work as part
of a full-service business. But Karen.
a one-person shop, has decided to
specialize in this type of word pro
cessing. She works out of her home
with a low overhead and has special
knowledge of the difficult process of
finding a job after law school (her
husband graduated B.U. Law this
past spring). So Karen can offer a
number of advantages: she is willing
to do her job with a personal
touch—writing an extra letter, a spe
cial one. to the firm where someone
has a connection: dashing off a
quick thank-you letter to a firm that
has just offered a candidate an inter
view; and even helping students cre
ate a statcgy for finding a job.
The business is perfect for the
mother of two young boys—Christo
pher, age eight, and Winston, who
likes to be called Wink, age five. She
is busy for about six months a year,
during the peak seasons for job
hunting. Her kids' vacations coin
cide with her customers', so there is
little conflict between the mother
and the businesswoman.
This past summer, Karen spent a
working vacation at Cape Cod, put-
JON1 ZONDERMAN is a contributing editor
to Computer Update, the magazine of
the Boston Computer Society. His work
has also appeared In The New York
Times. Science Digest, and The Boston
Business Journal.
30 FAMILY COMPUTING
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ting her lists of law firms onto her
new dala-basc-management program
for easier access this coming year
and updating all of her lists, which
she does annually. But because her
husband Gregg bought a second 80-
32, which spent the summer in
their Cape Cod home, and her data
base work didn't require a printer,
she left her entire system at home in
Brooklinc. Massachusetts.
Brooklinc. one of the streetcar
suburbs of Boston, is a 20-minule
walk from the law school. The Black-
burns own a spacious thrcc-bed-
room condominium in an old brick
building on a tree-lined road. (Resi-
ILLLSTKAVOS HY MQNA MARK
dents fondly call it '■Sesame Street.")
The computer sits in a room that
once served as maid's quarters,
which the Blackburn family has re
designed as an office. Both Karen
and Gregg shared the room at first,
but Gregg found it too small and too
noisy to work in. He moved the fam
ily's second Commodore to the mas
ter bedroom so he could continue to
take notes from his law school read
ings, and write briefs and assign
ments.
At 36. Karen Blackburn has been
working sporadically for 13 years.
Her word-processing business began
continued on page 32