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 Family
matters
Barbara
May created a strategic marketing company that spawned her
consulting business, while successfully leaving room for both
family and community.
Starting
her "family"
When Barbara May of Toronto talks about her eight
children, she's referring to her four businesses as well as
her daughter and three sons. May started her first company,
BMA Concepts, 11 years ago, with part of her severance package
after being downsized from her position as director of sales
planning at McGuinness Distillers.
May,
who had just had her first child, was having difficulty finding
work. "My resume immediately opened the doors,"
she recalls, "but as soon they saw my maternal condition,
the interviews ended quickly and excuses were made. I soon
concluded the only person who would hire me was me."
Growing
May landed such clients as Molson Breweries, Borland Software
and Timex Canada. "I had contacts inside who knew me
from my corporate life, knew my abilities and didn't care
that I had children. All they wanted was high-quality work,"
she explains. "We focused on servicing, not selling,
our clients, listening to what they wanted and needed, which
all led to our business growth."
North
York, Ont.-based BMA Concepts is now the "mother company"
to three spin-offs: The Corporate Support Group, Merchandising
Means Business and E Compu Wear.
Balancing
act Heading up four businesses and a family comes
with challenges. There's the business "growth and financial
balancing act," then there's family and community. With
May's encouragement, her companies sponsor more than 14 teams
and community organizations.
"Out
of the boardroom, my children and my community still have
me," says May, who coaches her children in baseball and
hockey. "My children are so proud of "Coach Mom!"
She received the Most Dedicated Coach Award this year for
her work with seven hockey teams.
"How
do I do it? I don't know," says May. "Some call
us the "triathletes of the '90s - balancing family, business
and community."
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