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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