Moms & daughters share a

unique bond by working together

By Jennifer Becknell - Jennifer Becknell

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Smith said she appreciates the way her daughter looks out for the company while considering the success and welfare of the tenants who lease their property. "She really goes out of the way to be helpful to them," Smith said.

Said Carswell: "I'm more and more amazed at my mom, in a man's world, holding her own without my dad. She has been able to blaze her own trail."

All in it together

Fonda Hyatt says she and her mother, Alma, and her daughter, Linda, are best friends. They're also co-workers. And neighbors, too.

The three women -- who work together with the rest of the family at Hyatt Insulating and Gas Logs in the Catawba area -- are together almost 24/7.

Alma and her husband, John Hyatt, started the business 30 years ago, when John was still working at The Bleachery. All of their four children have worked there.

Fonda, 48, is the bookkeeper and handles accounts receivable and the fireplace aspect of the business. Her daughter, Linda Jordan, 28, is her assistant, handling work tickets and scheduling. Alma, 74, is secretary and treasurer, and she's "trying to retire," she said.

They all live off McAllister Road south of Rock Hill, where the company is located. And after work or at lunch, they still want to spend time together.

"We do have our ups and downs, but overall we get over things quickly and get right back on track," Fonda writes. "We have always been a pretty close family."

The other family members who work in the business are Fonda's brother, Johnny, and her nephew, John. Often, they all go out to lunch together.

Alma said when they started the business, she and other family members helped with all the dirty work. "I used to crawl under floors and put in insulation," she said.

Now with more employees, they don't have to do that.

When they're not working, they also enjoy going to the beach, the races or to Alma and John's lake house. Said Fonda: "We actually live together, more or less."

Jennifer Becknell • heraldonline.com

Whether they're fighting or laughing, fixing a meal or buying a dress, mothers and daughters share a unique bond. Imagine such a tumultuous relationship in the world of work.

For this Mother's Day, we spoke to some mothers and daughters who work together -- both in their own business ventures or as co-workers for the same employer.

Some of these mom-daughter teams are so much alike that they have to keep a bit of distance between them. Others don't ever seem to tire of spending time together.

The food is homestyle and the atmosphere is country at the Cracker Barrel eatery on Fort Mill's Carowinds Boulevard. And the employees? They're family.

The restaurant counted five sets of mothers and daughters among its 120 employees until last week -- the number dipped to four after one mom moved to another store.

They include pairs like Brenda Heath, 47, a backup cook whose daughter Shontae Hensely, 30, is a server. "We see each other every day, because we work the same schedule, same days off," said Heath. That's a good thing, she adds. "We don't ever not get along."

Heath recruited her daughter for the job. And so did Michelle Blue, 38, a server and trainer whose daughter Kelsey Reece, 17, is a server.

What's the advantage? "Seeing her striving in what she does," Blue said. "I give her pointers at home." Kelsey agreed: "My mom helped me memorize the menu."

Cherlisa Billie, 30, a server and trainer, got her mom, Michele James, to apply for a retail sales job at the store. They like to work together -- just not too closely.

"We love each other to death, but we're just so much alike," explained James, 57. "We clash sometimes because we have very similar personalities."

Two other mom-daughter pairs who work at the Fort Mill location are Niccole Marshall and her daughter Devaney and Kimberly King and her daughter Megan. Kimberly transfered last week to a store in Gastonia, N.C.

Cherlisa Billie says they're like one big family. "Everyone really looks out for each other here," she said. "That's why a lot of people bring in their family members."