The desire to have more time with her family inspired JoAnne Adams-Gabbert to launch her own business.

That was in the fall of 1999, just three months after she submitted her resignation as a telecommunications and management consultant for Ernst & Young. Adams-Gabbert left the corporate world to spend the summer with her two children.

But when school started that September, Adams-Gabbert got back to work. She mailed out introduction letters to prospective clients and launched Adams-Gabbert & Associates, a Lee's Summit-based operations systems consulting firm. She and her father were the only employees.

Today, Adams-Gabbert's father works part time. The firm employs 24 other professionals. She has a base of 10 clients, with at least six accounts active at a time. Her clients include Birch Telecom, Sprint, Aquila and Interstate Battery.

The consulting firm provides large project management-process analysis. If a client adds a new product or service, Adams-Gabbert's firm helps define the operations process from order entry, billing, collections and product integration. If Sprint adds a new cell phone, for example, Adams-Gabbert makes sure customers can order it from the company's Web site, that Sprint has that entered it into its billing system, and so forth.

The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce recently acknowledged Adams-Gabbert's success as an entrepreneur. The organization named Adams-Gabbert & Associates as one of the top 10 small businesses of 2003.

"If you're in the top 10, you're in great company," said Sherry Turner, director of small business and entrepreneurship of the chamber.

Adams-Gabbert competed with about 99 other companies for the award, which is given to businesses that maintain three basic principles: community service, good business practices and good employee relations.

Adams-Gabbert's associates receive 160 hours of paid time off annually.

"They use that at their discretion," said Adams-Gabbert, owner and president of the consulting firm. "And they work with their clients to make sure they can take their time when they need to. I also have moms that work a part-time schedule so they can be with their children one or two days a week."

Employees can use the time for vacations, sick days and personal days.

"Work-life balance means something different to everyone," said Adams-Gabbert, who estimates she works a 50-hour week. "And what it means to me is I can take off during the day. I can grocery shop in the middle of the day. It's a way of life for me, and it works really well."

Adams-Gabbert no longer schedules early morning meetings, so she can cook her children breakfast and see them off to school. By eliminating all business travel, Adams-Gabbert is home evenings to tuck them into bed. And, she has weekends available to spend time with son, David, 10, daughter, Maddie, 8, and husband, Dan, who works for IBM.

Adams-Gabbert's dedication to quality time in both her professional and personal pursuits is in part what lures colleagues to Adams-Gabbert & Associates, she said.

"A lot of management consultants also were desiring work-life balance," Adams-Gabbert said. "And, through word of mouth from my background, started questioning what I was doing, and wanted to know if there was room for them. A lot of them were traveling full time, and also desired that balance."

As the bulk of Adams-Gabbert's clients are based in the Kansas City area, her associates do not travel for work.

"The majority of our clients are downtown and in Overland Park," Adams-Gabbert said. "Our office staff is in the Lee's Summit office. Our consultants are all over the city, from Olathe to North Kansas City to Prairie Village, they go to their client site every day."

In defining the line between personal and professional pursuits, Adams-Gabbert and her associates are up-front with their clients and responsible about maintaining work-related communications.

"My consultants are really acting as a partner with the client, so there is constant communication that takes place," Adams-Gabbert said.

"I encourage all of my associates to plan ahead, to make sure the client is comfortable that they'll be gone that day. We've had no problems. When we sell a consulting role, we tell the client about our work-life balance, that we are going to be there about a 40- to 45-hour work week, and if we need to go beyond that in an emergency, we will -- but that needs to be the exception, not the rule."

The same goes for Adams-Gabbert. If a work-related project requires extra hours, she works evenings after putting her children to bed. And during business hours, she's just a telephone call away.

"I have two business development associates -- they're here if I'm not," Adams-Gabbert said. "And, if it is an emergency, my cell phone is always on."

In other words, Gabbert can negotiate a major sales contract with a new client while checking the expiration date on a jug of milk at the grocery.

For information:
Adams-Gabbert & Associates, Inc.
(816) 347-0077