When Margie Flynn was pregnant with her second child in the early '80s, she approached management at National City Bank for a more flexible schedule. At the time, Flynn worked in corporate communications, a department she helped create and grow.
"I credit some key executives there for supporting my ability to go part time, given that I was working very closely with the executive management," recalls Flynn, now the mother of three teenagers and married for nearly 25 years.
Eventually, the part-time schedule turned into a job-share position, one she shared for six years with her good friend, Barbara Brown. They were promoted three times together and named vice presidents and heads of the department. But in 1996, the two left National City to start their own company, BrownFlynn.
Today, Flynn believes in setting a strong example for other women and making a positive impact in the community. Through speaking engagements and mentoring, she provides advice to help women build upon their strengths, instead of focusing on their weaknesses.
"I have a strong commitment to supporting women of any age in business and I never turn away anyone asking if I'd be willing to spend time with her," Flynn says. "I believe it's extremely important to ‘carry as we climb' and provide, based on our experiences, those things we used to build successful careers."
Flynn is also a firm believer in giving back to the community, which has been instated into the BrownFlynn culture. "Looking around the landscape of Northeast Ohio, we realized there wasn't a company that was dedicated to what we coined as ‘community relationship management,'" she says. "A firm that would advise companies on how to be strategic in how they are engaged in the community."
That's why, in celebration of its 10-year anniversary last year, BrownFlynn sponsored the Circle of 10 competition to identify the top 10 nonprofit organizations that demonstrated creativity, enthusiasm and passion to help engage the next generation for the betterment of the community.
"It was a program conceived by one of our team members," Flynn says. "The hundreds of hours we allowed our team to take out of their regular workday to dedicate to Circle of 10 was a commitment we felt was important."
A graduate of Miami University with a bachelor's degree in communications, Flynn grew up in Cleveland Heights and says she absorbed her commitment and passion for community change from her late father, Joseph D. Pigott, who was president of University Circle Inc. for more than two decades.
"I believe the core of what we do and our mission, he inspired that in me," she says. "He also inspired, as did my mother, an obligation to give back to others and make a difference in the community."