Kim Kleeman

Working mom | 33 | Glenview

After being a teacher for several years Kim now juggles a husband and three young children with running her family-friendly company Shakespeare Squared, which produces educational materials. Working Mother Magazine named Shakespeare Squared one of 2007's best small companies and Inc. magazine recently named it one of America's fastest-growing companies.

Running a business is like running a big classroom. I was a teacher for 5 years and really, really enjoyed it. I'm the eldest daughter of five so I was pretty used to bossing people around -- my brothers and sisters can attest to that!

We need to stop thinking that teachers get summers off -- they're either perfecting units or taking professional workshops or working on committees. It's like being a singer -- you're on stage for a short while but all the practice happens in the background.

Be realistic! Teachers cannot solve all of the world's problems. We ask them to teach content, manners, rules and boundaries but we need to take that role on as a society by volunteering and making it a point to be a good role model. Take time to show kids what a good citizen is.

Kids get sick, that's just how it goes. It's not a weakness, its not the "mommy track," that's just life. You can't just pay lip service to being a company that is "family friendly." Sometimes you have a sick child or a school issue and it's out of a parent's control, but you have to take things in stride -- we're all a team.

Being a working mom, you have to clearly articulate what you need. People want to help you. They say, "Gosh, I wish I could help but I don't know what to do." One of the things I've really had to do is ask for help and know that it's not a weakness. If you can clearly verbalize what you need, then it's not quite so hard.

You have to have a really solid sense of humor -- a lot of stuff happens in the world and a sense of humor is key to handling anything that comes along. In late August of 2005, the dryer in our house caught fire and damaged our entire four-bedroom home. My husband, our three children [ages 7, 1, and newborn] and I found ourselves in the midst of a chaotic personal disaster with no place to live and no clothes to bring along. Although we were very lucky and no one was hurt, it was very difficult. We stayed at a hotel for six weeks! But we laughed; you have to show your kids by example how to go through a tragedy.

Gratitude helps you keep your perspective -- nobody in my family got hurt, the world kept turning. But I still wanted to crawl into bed some days.

I don't think we need to look too closely at the news to see something is going wrong. People aren't taking responsibilities; we have the responsibility to impart family values on our kids. We shouldn't let our little girls go around in midriff tops and shorty shorts, and say "boys will be boys." It's our responsibility to show them what's right.

I don't think there's much everyday conversation among regular people about the presidential race because its so far away. Though it's definitely something to watch, I think it should go lower in our priorities. Let's look at how to solve immediate issues like the war.

You have to be optimistic but realistic in life. You can't think that everything is OK in life, you have to know change is going to happen. If you're flexible and adaptive, it won't come as such a shock.

If you're not happy with how your life is, start by making a plan. You don't have to stay in that job, that relationship, wear those clothes or be that size. Make baby steps and just change it.