Almost everyone is familiar with sacrifice on the way to success. Luckily, we got some advice from South Jersey women about how to deal with sacrifice during this year’s Women’s Roundtable and our first Women’s Empowerment Series panel.

When you’re starting out in your career, those sacrifices don’t seem like sacrifices. You want to get the best out of everything and be the best you can. I always saw the bigger picture. When you’re 21, 22, and you’re out on your own, you’re not thinking of it as sacrifice, you’re thinking of it as a work ethic. You’re trying to show an employer that you will do what you need to do to get where you want to get.
Assemblywoman Carol Murphy

I sacrificed a lot of family time. But I would do it again, because I’ve paved the way for my daughter. She doesn’t have to go through a lot of the same things I’ve gone through. But she does have to work hard. I make sure she does.
LaNette Keeton, CEO, Serenity Home Healthcare & Nursing

My mother was there for everything, because she was a stay-at-home mom. I am already thinking I haven’t shown up enough for my daughter, who is only 2. It’s just the beginning, but I’m already sad because I think about all the things I’m going to have to miss that my mother never missed.
Rabbi Tiferet Berenbaum, Temple Har Zion

I got my first job at a news station in Florence, South Carolina. I was three months out of college, and I accepted over the phone. I had never been out of the Virginia, D.C./Maryland area. I hadn’t met anyone at the station – I had sent a video of my work. When they called, I was like “Yes, sure, I’ll be in Florence. When do you need me there? And I’m sorry, where is it again? How far down 95 South?” It was the scariest thing I’ve ever done, but the best thing I’ve ever done. I would not be in Philadelphia, Market 4, if I hadn’t started in Market 114. I took the steps, and the steps are necessary.
Natasha Brown, Co-Anchor, CBS 3 Eyewitness News

I haven’t sacrificed anything that I felt was important to me. I don’t think I gave up anything that I truly wanted. And I would do it all again.
Sherrill Little, Co-Director of Women’s Imaging, SJRA

When I can’t make events for my children, I make sure they know I enjoy my work, and there is give and take. I let them know I might not be there for this event, but I’ll take a day off for that one.
Joanne Connor, President’s Chief of Staff, Rowan University

I have a lot of regrets about when my son was growing up, because I was on the phone constantly. But knowing down the road this would be my business, it becomes a part of you. I have memories of him wanting my attention and me being like, “Honey, I’m on the phone with a customer. Give me five minutes.” Then an hour later, I’m still on the phone. My son is 25 now, and for a period of time, he worked in the business, so it brought that balance back, because we had lunch every day. He’s an amazing young man, so I think today he would say, “Mom, it was worth it.”
Elaine Damm, CEO, ACCU Staffing Services