Making her way

Check out this interview of Christine Beshar, Senior Counsel at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, and her son, Peter Beshar, General Counsel of Marsh & McLennan

Highlights:

• Mrs. Beshar didn’t attend law school but studied for the bar & became a lawyer on her own. Pretty bad-ass, in my book! And then she became the first female partner at Cravath. Double bad-ass!

• Mrs. Beshar modeled her marriage after her own parents’ partnership: She & her husband were a team & worked together, in the beginning traveling together for the same organization. At first, I thought this was just quaint & antiquated. But then I thought of my own project(s) with MFA Dad & the husband-wife business ventures of some good friends. It can really be fulfilling to work toward a shared goal alongside your life partner! And it’s not something most couples have the opportunity to experience these days.

• She started an on-site childcare center at her white-shoe Wall Street law firm! There’s so much awesome about her story about this, including how she orchestrated the whole thing with the other (male) partners & the fact that it was always open to all employees of the firm.

• Mrs. Beshar talks about the sinking feeling you get when facing a childcare disaster. (Oh, boy, do I remember that feeling, too! … Nothing like having to call your tax prof the morning you’re on call to report that the nanny is MIA. …)

• What really struck me about Mrs. Beshar, though, was the sense I got that she expected a lot of herself but was able to roll with the punches. She comes across as laid back & willing to follow the twists & turns (& opportunities) life has thrown her way.

There are really so many wonderful things about her life story! (And in case it seems odd as you watch & realize she isn’t being interviewed with her son, stick with it – they are interviewed together later.)