Hanson-Rodriguez: I had excellent rapport with men in the workplace but I noticed that when I became a stay-at-home mom with a baby it seemed I had become invisible. I felt like I had to wave my arms and point to my mouth to get a contractor, who I might add I was paying, to listen to me. Suddenly it felt like I had zero credibility with men.
CJR: How do women react or treat you differently?
Hanson-Rodriguez: Conversely, becoming a mother opened more of a communication medium with women. Regardless of age women who have experienced childbirth and raising children, with or without having made sacrifices to their career, have a common bond. Suddenly I had a richer base of commonality with women and deeper communication seemed to flow from that.
CJR: What would you want people to know about you but they likely don’t?
Hanson-Rodriguez: You have to be strong, but malleable in reacting to what life hands you. Right now our family is coping with a debilitating emerging strain of Lyme bacteria. It’s taken every bit of what I’ve learned from past experiences to cope with the magnitude of how this is affecting our lives. I’m writing a book. It’s not the book that I ever would have wanted to write, but writing it is helping me keep my sanity.
Cheryl Bowers: Independent, focused, giving, motivated
Cheryl Bowers, vice-president of Rondout Savings bank, is a lifelong resident of Kingston. She has been married to Tim Bowers, a detective with the Kingston Police Department for 24 years; they have a son Christopher, and daughter, Angie. Bowers started her career in banking more than 30 years ago as a part-time job to help pay for college, but realized that banking was more than a job, it was a career. She came over to Rondout Savings Bank in 2001 with Jim Davenport, the current bank president. Together, they started the Business Banking Department at Rondout. “Throughout the past 12 years, I have had the opportunity to oversee many areas of the bank,” she said “I am grateful to be a member of the Executive Team of the bank, where my voice is heard and my ideas become reality on a daily basis.”
Cheryl Bowers.
Carrie Jones Ross: Why would one say that you are a “strong woman”?
Bowers: I demonstrate perseverance, despite the obstacles or challenges I will not give up. I truly believe if you are committed to an outcome, there is nothing that can stop you from being successful. Being strong comes from deep in my soul — there is no other way I can be.
CJR: How have you managed to be successful in a man’s world?
Bowers: Banking has historically been saturated with successful men but I think what leads them to be successful is in many ways what has led to my success: intelligence, determination self-confidence, positive thinking. I really don’t think of the world in terms of a “man’s world.” I see it as a world of opportunities. Sometimes as a career woman, wife and mom I have to work a little harder to achieve my goals, but in the end that makes success that much sweeter.
CJR: How do you think you got that way? What from your upbringing or background helped to form your strength, or were you always a strong woman?
Bowers: I have always been surrounded by strong women in my life. My mother has always supported me and my sisters in any opportunity in life, from when I was a young girl, she always let us know we could achieve anything we were determined to do. Gender has never been a valid reason not to be successful. My grandmother was one of the strongest women I have ever known, she supported her family as a single mother, dating back to the 1940’s. Her strength and determination was evident in everything she did. I come from a very hard working, Italian family from humble means. We are a close family who has always rallied for each other in tough times and in celebration of success, my family has always been my biggest support in my career.
CJR: What are some words you would use to characterize yourself as a “strong woman” — both positive and negative?
Bowers: Positive — highest level of integrity, helpful, career-focused, giving, independent, nucleus of the family, driven, determined, aggressive. Negative — Perfectionist, trying to be the best employee, mom, wife and friend, balancing all of these responsibilities takes a lot of strength). Over-committed. Can’t say “no.”
CJR: What are some words others might use to describe that trait — both positive and negative?
Bowers: Positive — leader, loyal, committed, intelligent, professional, high-energy, successful (unwilling to fail), hard-working, happy, motivated, mom, friend, volunteer, determined. Negative — over-achiever, workaholic, tenacious, stubborn, restless.
CJR: How do men react or treat you differently?
Bowers: The greatest compliment I can receive is to be treated as a “peer,” regardless of gender. This is what I expect and demand but often I have to prove myself to male peers in order to earn their respect on the same level as a male counterpart.
CJR: How do women react or treat you differently?
Bowers: As a female, there is a balancing act between being too strong or tough — that can be perceived as “bitchy” — or being too soft and motherly — that can be perceived as emotional or weak. Women in professional roles tend to show each other more empathy, especially when they too are balancing family and career.
CJR: What would you want people to know about you but they likely don’t?
Bowers: I love my life! If I ever became independently wealthy – my dream job would be to be a full-time volunteer. I love to serve those in need; the fulfillment I get when I volunteer or help others is un-paralleled. PS: I’m hooked on watching the cooking channel!
Karen Clark-Adin: Sturdy, unyielding, dependable, energetic
Karen Clark-Adin has owned Uptown shop Bop to Tottom since May 2000 and expanded it to Bop Too in 2011 to feature more clothing and home décor items. She’s lived in Kingston since 1982, and was born and raised in Syracuse. She holds a bachelor of science in psychology and English from SUNY Cortland and has worked in the wholesale/retail world for whole of adult life. She’s sat on numerous boards of directors, including the Kingston Farmers’ Market board and Friends of the Senate House board, and says that birthing the farmers’ market is one of her most favorite successes. She enjoys building community. “We were all put her for one reason or another, and we are all meant to flower,” she said. Clark-Adin likes to garden for replenishment, and uses meditation and the power of intention and positive thinking for moving herself onward and upward.
Carrie Jones Ross: Why would one say that you are a “strong woman”?
Karen Clark-Adin.
Clark-Adin: After thinking, I always speak my mind when appropriate.
CJR: How have you managed to be successful in a man’s world?
Clark-Adin: Persistence, integrity and being authentic.
CJR: How do you think you got that way? What from your upbringing or background helped to form your strength, or were you always a strong woman?
Clark-Adin: I come from a long line of resilient women who posses a high-octane work ethic. I am my maternal grandmother “Mary Kate” incarnate.
CJR: What are some words you would use to characterize yourself as a “strong woman” — both positive and negative?
Clark-Adin: Sturdy, unyielding, dependable, energetic, assured and forceful.
CJR: What are some words others might use to describe that trait … both positive and negative?
Clark-Adin: Spirited, stalwart, vital and forceful.
CJR: How do men react or treat you differently?
Clark-Adin: Overall men react positively and are very open and at times relieved that I do speak my mind. That said, it also depends on how comfortable they are in their own skin.
CJR: How do women react or treat you differently?
Clark-Adin: Women embrace me, and I them … we are all sisters.
CJR: What would you want people to know about you but they likely don’t?
Clark-Adin: I am a very compassionate person. Folks sometimes think that when one is assured and confident there is no room for compassion. Putting myself in others’ shoes is part of my daily practice.
