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job,” Carolyn half-joked. “And, I told her in

the beginning that employees would see her as

my daughter, so she would have to earn their

respect.” She even introduced Jamie as “my

business partner Jamie Higdon” to help

establish neutrality. Necessary or not, it worked

because according to Carolyn, “She came in

and has done whatever it takes, earning

everyone’s respect.”

Jamie stated that working with her mom is

just plain fun. “Carolyn is much more the

people person,” she began. “I learned long ago

that she is constantly working, always recruiting,

even if it is to strike up a conversation with

a friendly checkout clerk about employment

opportunities.” And while she is the perfect

social engineer, they joke about her technical

shortcomings. “They know not to give me the

password to the accounting software,” Carolyn

admitted laughing.

Perhaps their most important strategy is

their firm belief that there is a time for work

and a time for family. “We don’t take our work

home,” Carolyn stated, “because it can totally

consume you.” Jamie admits this took practice.

“When we were at home or on vacation, I

wanted to talk about issues at the office.

However, at this point, Carolyn is able to walk

away when I stray into conversations about

work.”

The two women are clearly a balance of

forces: Jamie being the “back-office person”

and Carolyn the “front-office person” but they

have found a way to cultivate and embrace

their differences. They have even become

intentional neighbors. In fact, while most

children look forward to vacating the nest and

finding their own path in life, Jamie, along

with her husband Scott and two children, built

their permanent “nest” right next to her

parents. Scott recently joined the family affair

by taking the job of IT manager at TempStaff.

Bethany and her family also enjoy living very

close to both mom and big sister.

While Carolyn may be slowing down after

some 40 years in the staffing industry, she has

no intention of stopping. “Jamie thinks I am

going to retire one day…” Carolyn began. Jamie

interrupted lovingly by stating, “No, she may

never retire. We’ll simply put her ashes on the

shelf at the office and keep on going.”

44 • MAY 2021

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