In a time when women executives are having children later in life or not at all, former president of SoftSheen-Carson’s division of L’Oreal USA wanted to make a shift. Candace Matthews didn’t get married until she was 40 years old, but knew she wanted to start a family immediately. Uterine fibroids would derail that dream, but Matthews opted for an equally viable option, adoption.
Matthews would become a parent to twin girls Sydney and Simone, and a son Seth, now 15 and 8 respectively. As her home life became more hectic, the beauty exec made the decision to leave her post at L’Oreal to become the chief marketing officer of Amway.
“People were saying, ‘Oh my gosh, you were the president of SoftSheen-Carson. How in the world would you give up that job?’” Matthews says now. “When things that are important to you are being compromised, you can’t do it. I have a wonderful job [now] that sends me around the world doing things that I never envisioned doing.”
In a recent interview, Matthews dished to matermea.com on advice for young women. Read an excerpt below:
What advice would you give young women who are entering the working world and want to be where you are right now?
“I would advise them to find a mentor who is willing to be very honest. Many times, when you are so focused on driving your career, you don’t take the time to reflect on the good, the bad, and the ugly in yourself. A good mentor does that with you. She doesn’t allow you to say “Oh, well, this was their part.” She’ll say, “What was your part of the situation? Let’s talk about that. What are you going to do differently? Now come in here, cry, get it out, and put your game face back on, because you’re going back out there to deal with it.”
Read the full interview at matermea.com.
