75 www.CharlestonWomenPodcast.com | www.ReadCW.com | www.Instagram.com/CharlestonWomen remember when I was younger, just graduated from college, and had my first two children, working a corporate job Monday through Friday 9-5, and my sweet kids were up and out so early and often the last kids picked up from aftercare. I had the worst feeling in my stomach, stuck in traffic racing to get to them. I lasted six months at that job. “My soul was craving home and the ability to be there for my babies and for the past 15 years I have been blessed with the capability to make a great living and also always be available for my home and kids,” Rothstein said. For Rothstein, the biggest benefit is being able to seamlessly switch between mom life and work life. Throwing in a load of laundry between meetings, opportunities to prepare meals in advance and sneaking in walks with her dogs and hubby are priceless advantages of her work situation. Glenna Antenucci, a scrum master and software testing manager for Bosch Global, shares Rothstein’s sentiment that working from home is an ideal option for herself and other working moms. She has been working from home since the pandemic shutdown, and it went so well for her and her team that they never returned to the office. For Antenucci, there are several benefits to this arrangement, including saving time not sitting in traffic and saving money on gas. Her previous 7-mile commute down Dorchester Road took 45 minutes each way. But the biggest plus for her is that she’s there when her kids need her. However, there are drawbacks to remote work as well. Antenucci finds the lack of interaction with the outside world to be the biggest downside, and it is definitely something she misses now that she works from home. For Rothstein, the biggest challenge is finding the quiet they need for important meetings. Their busy home with four kids, two dogs and a cat is rarely quiet! Fortunately, with a little planning and focused effort, they can address both challenges with practical solutions. She and her husband also make exercising a priority and are a part of fitness communities, which gets them up and out of the house and provides the opportunity for much-needed human connection. Both Rothstein and Antenucci have dedicated workspaces in their homes which contribute to their success. It helps to draw much-needed boundaries around work hours and provides a measure of the quiet needed for meetings and phone calls. But having a dedicated space doesn’t mean they always stay in one place to work. Rothstein’s favorite place to work is on the back deck under the pines. She loves being outside, and working from home affords more opportunities for that than an office job. For Antenucci, the ideal home office has a window that opens into the backyard, is a cozy space with couches and chairs and is easily accessible. From Rothstein and Antenucci’s perspective, working from home is a good option for moms and has become increasingly popular since the pandemic. The New York Times even called this move towards working from home the “silver lining to the pandemic” for working moms, with more employers noting the success of working from home and therefore extending the opportunity to more of their employees. For moms, whether owning and running their own businesses like Rothstein, or working for big corporations like Antenucci, working from home offers the opportunity to have more time and availability to meet the needs of customers and clients, along with the even more important obligations of motherhood. It might be worth taking the time to consider: Could this option work for you? Charleston Women at Home Jackie Rothstein, director of sales and owner, Island Web Solutions. Glenna Antenucci, scrum master and software testing manager at Bosch Global.
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