Forty Under 40 Honorees Balance Family With Professional Lives

The business world loves statistics because numbers can be insightful and revealing. But can simple statistics demonstrate what it takes to be a high achiever?

The Northwest Arkansas Business Journal staff polled this year’s class of Forty Under 40 honorees with questions ranging from “What do you like to read?” to “What’s the biggest challenge in your life today?” A look at most of the results is on Page 49.

Through the anonymous survey, the Business Journal hoped to gain some insight into the 40 young up-and-comers’ lives and maybe tap into some commonalities about what makes them tick.

We wanted to know what they drove (it’s split 50/50 between foreign and domestic), how many were the oldest child in their families (47.5 percent) and how many spent their lunchtime working (100 percent since the question was posed in such a way that made it impossible to answer otherwise).

And there were some clear statistical chart toppers: 82.5 percent of the class is married, 72.5 percent were males, and 74 percent had at least one child.

We wondered if some of those numbers had anything to do with the 40 up-and-comers’ stability at home and if men were more apt to be competitive in the workplace.

But those are only surface indicators, we were told.

Dig a little deeper and some of the fuzzy lines start to paint a slightly different picture.

Ronald McInroe, a Fayetteville psychologist, pointed out that we didn’t ask if this was each person’s first marriage or not, though he suspects it is for most in this age group.

Too, we were told that the answers were probably affected by each person’s gender, and since the Business Journal didn’t track which answers came from men and which from women, the stats might be more general than specific.

Kevin Fitzpatrick, professor of sociology at the University of Arkansas, said the honorees probably responded to the “challenge” question according to what they are not doing well in their lives.

“Maybe they’re not challenged by earnings potential or by climbing the ladder because that’s what they’re spending their time doing,” Fitzpatrick said.

Apparently, what they’re not doing is spending the time they feel they should be spending with their families — 35 percent said that was their biggest challenge.

Combine those respondents with the 22.5 percent who said more personal time would be nice, then more than half the class is challenged by activity not related to their jobs.

Throw in the “getting-more-exercise” option, and the statistic jumps to 31 people out of 40.

That’s interesting, Fitzpatrick said, given that 55 percent of the class say they work between 50 and 70 hours per week on average.

In fact, mention the balancing act between family and work to almost any honoree and they sigh or groan. Then they launch into an outline of their own course of action.

Clearly, the most of the Forty Under 40 honorees grapple with the pressures of professionalism and family on a daily basis.

And that’s the way it should be — this year’s class are parents to a total of 62 children.

Bob Balfe, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, spends about three hours a day commuting from his Bella Vista home to his office in Fort Smith and back.

He said the decision to keep his family in Benton County while he commutes was the lesser of two evils.

His wife and children get to remain a part of the community, giving them more stability, he said.

“I’m either at work or it’s family time,” he said. What has gone by the way side are leisure activities like golf and movie watching, Balfe said.

Dr. Missy Clifton is a dermatologist and owner of Premier Dermatology and Skin Renewal Center Inc., which has offices in Bentonville and Springdale.

Clifton said that she and her husband sit down and strategically plan out the week, “just like you would at work.”

Clifton said she works a normal 40-hour week mostly, and the fact that she doesn’t have to take weekend or night calls makes a big difference in her family life.

Lee Scarlet runs three different businesses — Celtic Construction Co., The Flying Monkey LLC (a development company) and a Nationwide Insurance Agency franchise. Scarlet said he juggles three jobs because “that’s what it takes these days.”

But, “my wife insists that I sit down and have dinner with my three daughters every night — come hell or high water,” he said. Dinner time is 6 o’clock sharp and since Scarlet doesn’t cook much, when the food is gone, it’s his job to do the dishes.

Michael Clark is the chief operating officer with Mitchell Communications Group Inc. in Fayetteville. He was a Forty Under 40 honoree in 2005.

He said friends and family often chide him for working too much.

“I work every day – I mean every single day,” he said.

The quintessential workaholic, Clark said it’s not a problem because a lot of it can be done when his family is asleep, a commonly heard defense among the 40 high achievers.

Clark maintains that he plays as hard as he works, though he admitted that on one recent weekend he had 94 BlackBerry messages — he only responded to about 50 of them.

Is there such a thing as balance between a successful work life and a successful family life?

Clark said: “Yes, there is. Have I figured it out? … I’m trying to every day.”