Mother’s Day is upon us and here at Hunter PR, it’s a baby boom. In the last two months, we celebrated the birth of three baby boys and in the process three professional women have taken on the new role of “working mothers.”
And while we welcomed three women to ranks of working moms, the public relations industry recently lost one of its first working moms, Jean Schoonover, the former CEO of D-A-Y Public Relations, and beloved sister to the founder of Hunter Public Relations, Barbara Hunter.
Jean passed away in early April at the age of 90. A remarkable woman, Jean, in partnership with Barbara, became the first woman and mother to own and operate a public relations firm in the United States. This “sister act” (as they were called when they were named to BusinessWeek’s list of 100 most powerful women in business) achieved success in the early days of the public relations industry which in the 1950’s and 1960’s was an era dominated by men with wives who did not work outside the home.
At Jean’s memorial service, there were many remarks made by her business associates about her acumen, smarts and determination as a CEO of a major public relations firm. All of these comments were very accurate as I was fortunate enough to work with Jean first at D-A-Y, and again when she served as a consultant to Hunter PR in the 1990s.
But what touched me the most were the remarks given by Jean’s children and grandchildren. They spoke of Jean’s important role –that of their mother and family patriarch. Even though Jean worked day and night in service to her clients, supervised several offices and dozens of employees and traveled the world for business, Jean was first and foremost a loving and attentive mother. At home she was mom – a woman who displayed intelligence, contentment, confidence, resourcefulness, caring and concern.
Jean Way Schoonover with children, Katherine, Daniel and James.
As a public relations agency owner myself and mother of three children, I often experience the guilt that comes from having a career rather than being a career mom. And, around Mother’s Day, I wonder if I am really worthy of receiving the same accolades as mothers who make a career of being home to nurture and care for her children every day.
However, after being reminded of Jean’s success as a mother of three, I learned that the example you set for your children with your professional life can be as powerful as the time you spend with them. Jean’s life and legacy shows that success for working mothers in PR can come as a result of how you lead and grow in your professional life, not in spite of it.
To all the working moms in the public relations field (and especially the three new moms here at Hunter Public Relations): Happy Mother’s Day. Let us hope that we all achieve the same professional and personal success as one of the greatest mothers in and of the agency business, Jean Way Schoonover.
