Women@Work: How New Economy Moms Manage Work and Family Balance by David Pereyra The business world has changed considerably the last three years. In many ways, the dot-com world has really allowed women to punch through into boardrooms and executive suites. Meg Whitman leads eBay, Joy Covey is Chief Strategy Officer at Amazon.com and Jan Brandt is President of Marketing at AOL, and widely credited with the move to mail millions of disks and CDs across the nation to launch the company's initial spectacular growth. That's not even mentioning the innumerable thousands of women now managing their own companies or playing significant roles in shaping the new economy. According to the National Foundation for Women Business Owners, 38 percent of U.S. businesses are owned by women. Additionally, half of all women who leave the corporate world start their own businesses soon thereafter. Great. According to numbers cited by Advancing Women, women in executive, managerial and administrative jobs still earn only 69 cents to their male counterparts dollar. Motherhood and success in the business world, especially in the dot-com industry, is a very tricky mix. The work/family/life balance is essentially about individual choices. BlueSuitMom.com spoke to three such women. Their stories indicate that in today's business environment the so-called Mommy Track is a thing of the past, having been dismantled by women themselves. Julie Meringer, Research Director at Forrester Research With a 19-month-old daughter and a husband with a flexible work schedule Julie is able to excel her career in the Internet world. Kellie Smythe, Director of Internet Partnerships at ANC Kellie gave up several "brass ring" offers in her search for a family-friendly company. In the end, she found a balance between work and family life at ANC. Sharon Collins, Graphic Designer and Owner of SecondSiteStudio.com As a small business owner and the family breadwinner, Sharon has become the man she always wanted to marry. Her business success has allowed her to work her own hours which allows her to spend more time with her family. David Pereyra is a writer, father of one and a partner of a BlueSuitMom.