Woman of the Week – Carol McGuire

Each week, we feature a fantastic new woman we think you should know. Some of these women are clients, some are friends, some are women we’ve only just met. But they all have this in common: they are dynamic, interesting gals who have agreed to share with us their insights and secrets to success.

Carol McGuire

My Current Job/Company:
President, CAM Associates, LLC

My Birthdate:
11/13/1950

My Work:
After years of publishing magazines and working with trade shows, I am in the process of shifting my work life in a new direction toward project management. I was asked recently to manage a residential renovation project and found that I thoroughly enjoyed it and was actually quite good at it.

My Passion:
My friends and giving back to my community.

My Family:
I have three younger brothers who have families, and my stepson, Scott and his wife, Gina and their two girls, Mia and Sophie.

My Heroes:
The Dalai Lama, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Barbara Jordan, and most recently, the 15-year-old Pakistani girl, Malala Yousafzai, whose extraordinary bravery and courage in fighting for an education sets an example for all of us.

My Escape:
Twice a year, I attend International Women’s Forum conferences that are held inside and outside of the U.S. These meetings are an opportunity to connect with women from all over the world, and where compelling panels and programming stretch one’s mind and heart.

My Pet Peeve:
Currently it is the horrible negative campaign ads from both political parties that we are all being constantly bombarded with. Whatever happened to civil discourse?

My Indulgence:
Dark chocolate, of course!

My Roots:
I’m a life-long Ohioan from a modest working class family.

My Future:
New directions with a new emphasis.

My Love:
My wonderful friends and my dog, Jake, a 16-year-old black and tan miniature dachshund.

My Movie:
I don’t go to a lot of movies but two favorites are “Michael Clayton” and “Charlie Wilson’s War.” Now TV is another story with PBS’ Masterpiece Theatre at the top of the list, specifically, “Downton Abby” with AMC’s “Mad Men” coming in a close second.

My Quote on Life:
“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” -Dr. Seuss

My Accessory:
Gratitude. Having an attitude of gratitude is the best “accessory” I can think of except for maybe a killer pair of shoes!

My Advice to Young Women:
Be an ardent supporter of other women. It is essential and critical that we do this, more so now than ever before. As Madelyn Albright says, there’s a special place in Hell for those women who don’t.

How I Balance it All….
I don’t profess to have a good answer to this. It seems so individual to me. I do think it is important to ask oneself when addressing the many issues and situations we face on a daily basis – How important is it? The answer can help one prioritize…and determine which battles to fight or ignore; what things matter and those that don’t.