Cindy Somers may look like the girl next door, but don’t let that fool you — she is a pillar of the local business community. She runs the local franchise of Spherion, a recruitment and staffing company with offices in Champaign and Decatur. An active volunteer, Cindy is a longtime mentor through the C-U One-to-One Mentoring Program; is active in Champaign West Rotary Club and the United Way Board of Directors; and is a tenured member of the C-U Jr. Woman’s Club. Somers has been married to husband Mike for 10 years, and is mom to 9-year-old Justin and 6-year-old Lainey.
See why we think Cindy Somers is a Chambana Mom to Know.
Q: What are the challenges of being a mom and owning your business?
I must say I have a wonderful staff who work autonomously and that allows me the benefit of being able to leave work and be a stay at home mom with the kids after school. I also have a great husband who does a LOT of errand running on his lunch hour so we don’t have to worry about grocery shopping on eves or weekends! So, I guess I am blessed to be able to balance both at the moment. It has cut back on my volunteering a bit since I can’t attend meetings in the afternoons.
Q: You have worked with your dad for many years. How has your relationship evolved over time?
I have worked with my Dad for 18 years. The relationship has evolved from him mentoring me and developing me into who I am today. We now relate as peers. He was also a wonderful help when I had both kids here at the office with me for their first six months, he was the built-in nanny!
Q: You work in the staffing business, and keep close tabs on employment trends. Do you have any advice for women looking for flexible work environments?
Signing up with a staffing company is a good start – we hear about a lot of positions that may not be traditional; part-time hours, short-term assignments, etc. I think that smaller companies, even family-owned businesses are also more “Mom friendly”.
Q: What tips would you have for moms who want to own their businesses?
Depending on what they are looking for, a franchise offers a lot of benefits; support and backing. Beyond that they need to consider how many hours they want to work – whenever you are starting something up it is definitely going to take an investment of time to get it up and running. Hiring the right people can help to make the situation easier on you.
Q: What is your biggest parenting challenge right now and how are you addressing it?
One of our biggest parenting challenges right now is getting kids to practice piano (I don’t ever remember a kid saying they loved to practice piano!) and getting the two siblings to get along better (I think they get along pretty well most of the time). We just continue to try and give positive reinforcement when they do practice & get along – other than that we are considering buying bigger belts (JUST KIDDING!)
Q: What is your dream vacation?
I think my dream vacation would be on a small cruise ship through the Greek Isles! But the dream vacation I have taken so far was to Maui on my Honeymoon!