~ by Georgette Pascale – Founder and CEO of Pascale Communications
In my opinion, the most important invention known to mankind today is not the computer, the microwave or the electric car. It’s the mute button. It’s simple in design, easy to operate and it saves lives. (OK, so maybe it doesn’t really save lives – but it certainly helps preserve sanity, which is almost the same thing – right?) This small, unassuming, low-tech device has enabled me to live two very different lives simultaneously – that of devoted mother of three small children and CEO of a busy virtual PR firm. Without that little button, I would not be where I am today.
Nearly eight years ago, before I had my kids, I decided to start a business – one that I could run from home. I wanted to be available to greet my future offspring at the school bus at the end of the day when I could, and have no commute, to boot! This and other child-related activities, of course, would all have to be meticulously scheduled in-between international conference calls, new business meetings and managing a virtual company comprised of colleagues who live in each and every time zone in the continental U.S. Not too complicated – or so I thought.
Up until that time, I’d been working at top-notch public relations agencies with a roster of clients that ranged from rock stars to up-and-coming corporate luminaries. It was exciting, challenging and exceptionally time consuming. However, over the din of brainstorming meetings, major public events and jet engines, I heard the distinct tick-tock of my biological clock. Little did I know that the din I’d experienced would not stop as a result of my new life, it would merely change (and become ever-present). And that’s where my beloved mute button comes in.
Now, as the CEO of a successful, eight-year old virtual public relations firm and mother of children aged three, four, and six, I’m living two completely intertwined lives, both filled with never-ending noise producers, from the pitiful, ear-splitting screams of a three-year-old to the barking of our two giant dogs to the deep rumbling voice of a potential client who’s been on the phone for over 35 minutes, insisting on something or other. It’s when all these voices and noises overlap that the mute button becomes my very best friend.
- I let the client bluster at length while the kids are having hissy fits near my office when I’m “supposed” to stop working on time. (Mute on).
- During conference calls where I’m there to assure a client that I’m always on the case, I say hello, then multitask to my heart’s delight, plan parent/teacher conferences, play dates, etc. (Mute on).
- When I desperately have to pee in the middle of a regularly scheduled catch-up call with my entire staff, I pee. (Mute on, if they are lucky).
I only wish that my mute button also worked in reverse. How blissful it would be to only listen to the sounds you wanted to hear. How fabulous it would be to mute the whining woman at the pharmacy, the car alarm going off at 3:00am or the head-banger band that the neighbor’s son just launched in their garage.
My family, at their quietest and their noisiest is my greatest joy and my business is my greatest challenge. I would not feel whole without them both. I’m so thankful to have these two separate lives – made possible, in great part, by that little button labeled “mute.”
Pascale Communications LLC. (PC) launched her own virtual company in order to address an underserved niche within healthcare PR. To fulfill her goals, while avoiding the constraints and office politics of a brick and mortar firm, Georgette assembled a community of experienced, self-starting colleagues from around the country, who embraced the virtual model she envisioned. Currently, with a staff of 14, aged from 21 to 59, Pascale Communications is a company that’s both closely managed and exceptionally flexible, accommodating the schedules of working mothers (seven) and busy freelancers.(www.pascalecommunications.com)
