Sunday, 16 February 2014

Running a $16 Million company from the living room

Allison O'Kelly was on the corporate fast track: She had an M.B.A. from Harvard, had worked as a CPA at KPMG, and was climbing the executive ladder at Toys "R" Us. But everything changed when she had kids. Now, O'Kelly's Atlanta-based staffing company, Mom Corps, is helping her--and other working moms--spend more time at home. Entrepreneur Allison O'Kelly  told her story to Inc. contributing editor Darren Dahl.


I was always passionate about retail, which is why I pursued a job at Toys "R" Us. After several years, I was up for a big promotion to become the only female district manager in the Southeast. Then I had my first child.
My boss was amazing. He told me I could work three days a week until I was ready to get back on track. But I found I needed more flexibility. The idea that I had to be anywhere at a specific time was challenging for me.
When I resigned, my boss was like, "I don't get it. What more could we have done?" I felt bad because there was nothing.

Eventually, I realized that there were many talented people like me who wanted to work but on their terms. At the same time, I saw that companies were short on top talent. I figured there was a market if you could match those two things up. That's how Mom Corps was born.

No comments:

Post a Comment