CityView Magazine

12 | March/April 2015 BY BILL MCFADYEN McFadyen's Musings T he first woman in business that impressed me was Annie Elizabeth Bowles. She kept the books at McFadyen Music on Hay Street originally for my grandfather and subse- quently my father. She paid me my first wage out of petty cash when I was probably seven. My rate was thirty-five cents an hour. I remember the specific rate of pay be- cause it equaled the amount that she deducted from my first cash-out as a result of my having broken a bottle of cymbal rouge while wielding a feather duster. She was one tough inventory and payroll clerk. As my professional responsibilities grew over the next ten years, I was intro- duced to many businesswomen through my association with Falcon, North Caroli- na's Hurley Randall. Mr. Randall was as famous for selling pianos out of McFadyen Music's Gillespie Street warehouse, as he was Falcon's Children's Home BBQ tick- ets. As I aged into adulthood and he aged out of it, one of my responsibilities was to escort Mr. Randall to Massey Hill Drug on summer aernoons for hand-spun milkshakes. I sucked down my icy delight while he bantered continuously with every one of those women in business that staffed the lunch counter. Kimo's Restaurant in Maui was my first full-time employer aer college. Tule Souza was the manager on the vast majority of my day shis. I never gave consid- eration to her gender as it related to how I was held accountable for doing my job. She required excellence the same way every other manager in that fine establish- ment did. I confess that at my 23 years of age, I noticed that she was more physically appealing to look at than were either Ms. Bowles or Mr. Randall. In that particular grading scale, however, even Manager Tule was somewhat out-classed by my work- ing peers. With the exception of the crusty Montanan bartender, the Mexican cook and country-ole me, the entire day staff was comprised of prime-of-youth twenty- something businesswomen from all over the world dressed each day in Hawaiian attire. I can confidently assert to having been happier with that set of co-workers than to any others before or since. Back on the mainland and firmly entrenched in our family business again, we had women in key roles. Sharon Upchurch commanded the receivables division. Julie Helms was our marketing guru. Gina Rodriguez was store manager in More- head City. Women were key in our repair operations in Fayetteville and Charlotte. Almost all 14-store locations relied on women for day-to-day fiscal accountability. WOMAN'S work Specializing in private and small group classes. Offering Ayurvedic Consultations, Reikie, Thai Massage and Tai Chi. Check out our workshops! To learn more visit www.livingbalancestudiosnc.com LOCATED AT MCPHERSON CHURCH SQUARE SHOPPING CENTER 201 S MCPHERSON CHURCH RD. FAYETTEVILLE NC 434-409-6415 LIVING BALANCE STUDIOS THE "SPA" WORKOUT EXPERIENCE Buy online at www.cfrt.org or call 910-323-4233 presents... March 5-22 April 9-26

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