Bret and Jemaine

While not nearly as awesome or innuendo-filled as Flight of the Conchords have expressed it, I owe a large amount of who I am to the female authority figures in my life. This isn’t to say my life would have been aimless or wasted without them, but I’ve had a rather successive streak of influential women that have passed through my life as mentors.

It’s a rather remarkable streak once I lay it out. I’m not sure if they weren’t in my life would I have married  Sherri simply because it’s one thing to understand and respect women in power, another entirely to live with them. I’m no chauvinist or mysoginist in any respect, but I see plenty who are. These people discount women who try to get ahead at their jobs through hard work and merit. I see it constantly, especially now since the wife is one of very few girls in a all boys club field of work: finance.

Starting at the beginning, here are those who have molded me well.

• Mom – The biggest by far, and most notable obviously. She went back to school after having me and my brother and has been running her own travel agency business for about 15 years. She shows no signs of slowing down either.
• ???? – I cannot recall the name of the chiropractor I worked for in junior year of college, but it was for about six months, and I was her front office person. She was great to work for, but most details are lost on me.
• Mary D. – My senior year of college I got my first real job/internship at a local webhost company that also built their client websites. She ran the business for many years before I arrived and after I left. She took a chance on me, chewed me out when I slacked, and ultimately helped me love the career field I have been in since then. She was also a sibling to our soccer coach (which made sense considering how alike they looked)
• Wilma M. – When I worked for Northrop Grumman out in California, she was a stern but fair boss of a large portion of us contractors. I don’t recall if I interviewed with her but definitely worked under her during my 6-became-18 months out there. She tried to help me get a transfer to a closer office to where I was going to live in Philly, but Wilkes-Barre is not even remotely nearby. Still, it was a wonderful gesture.
• Terry W. – After moving to Philly from Cali, I worked for a start-up website development and branding company. Terry’s husband actually owned the business, but after about six months when we worked in a bigger (and our own) office, she came on board as our branding manager. She wore the pants of the relationship; considering she also handled most of the client contacts and discussions, it worked out well. She eventually became like a second mother to me. And now I find myself in a marriage that highly mimics their dynamic, which is hilarious every time I think of it.
• Katie F. – My current-ish boss; I worked under her for about three years before answering to our lead developer, and now I technically work under him but still help and assist KT. She is in charge of our web branding and design, and is also an island in a sea of male fish. She has helped me on many personal levels in times of crisis, but most of all introduced me to my future wife. It’s been an exciting five years, i can tell you.
• Sherri – Of course, my wife. She’s a take-no-prisoners, suffers-no-fools, ‘show me the money’ type of lady. Very tough but fair, and wonderfully loving. She’s a mix of most every other person in this list, and then some, as she brings a ferocity that I didn’t realize exists for wanting to be the CEO of a company someday. When she does achieve such stature, I’ll happily stand by her side and be perfect trophy husband*.

*She would not suffer an actual trophy husband.