by Collette Liantonio, President, Concepts TV Productions

I am a 58 year old female entrepreneur, who has raised three children while starting and running a now 25 year old business. Many consider me a feminist. since 10 of my 12 full-time employees are women at the executive level. I vehemently oppose bringing children to the office, since the practice infringes on the rights of other employees. At best, children are distracting, and children deserve true quality time as well as employees.

Shortly after starting my business from my home office, I was visited by two gentlemen from Japan who wished to create an infomercial for a "wok". I carefully instructed my nanny to please make certain that my 18 month old child take her scheduled nap at the time of the business meeting. After scrupulously following, the international business protocol of deep bowing and respectfully examining their business cards. our meeting was abruptly halted by the enthusiastic entry of my toddler carrying her potty chair. She sat on her potty chair and did her business, as we had so painstakingly been working on for the past month. Rather than disrupting her training, I clapped for her "accomplishment" with a big smile on my face. My clients also clapped. My 18 month old daughter was successfully trained as of that week; however, I did not "land" the account.

That same week I began searching for office space, because I came to the conclusion that it's impossible to serve two such demanding masters. My business is thriving, and has grown one-hundred fold. My toddler is now in her last year of her ivy-league university, and we all learned some very important business lessons.