Brenda Barnes' Impact On Professional Women
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Kathleen Henson runs a Chicago public relations and marketing firm that employs 50 and bears her name, but she's most proud of being the mother of five.
"You can be great at your job, but it's important to be great outside of your job too," Henson said.
At Henson Consulting, employees are encouraged to make family time a priority. Henson has created an environment where her workers know they don't have to juggle everything at once.
"Balance -- I try to debunk it all the time," she said. "There's no such thing, it's more about finding harmony for different days."
20 years ago, Brenda Barnes made quite a statement when she stepped down as PepsiCo's CEO to spend more time with her three young children.
"I became famous for quitting my job," Barnes said
At the time, Barnes was one of the nation's highest-ranking women in corporate America. Still, she says it was "absolutely the best thing I could have done; it gave me perspective on everything."
When her children were older, Barnes became the CEO of Sara Lee and remained there until a stroke forced her to step aside. She suffered a second stroke on Sunday and died Tuesday at the age of 63.
Andee Harris, the Chief Engagement Officer at HighGround, notes that Barnes received a lot of backlash from that decision, adding, "I think that was very telling of what that climate's like for women."
A climate that Harris said made many professional women put family concerns on the back burner. The mother of two, however, said working women everywhere learned something from Barnes' bold move.
"I think that she showed that you can have it all, but you might not have it all at the same time and that sometimes you need to take a break and focus on your family," said Harris.
And that may be Barnes' legacy carried on by the next generation of female executives leading the way.
"Allow other women to understand that it's OK to be great at their jobs, but also be great as being a parent," Henson said.
