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Subscribe at GravitasMag.com | 33 owned a home down here in Florida, so we said, "Hey, if you're retiring , why don't you go to Florida and live in the house and take care of it for us." Of course, they jumped on that opportunity. Why wouldn't you from Michigan, where it's cold and drear y? We started vacationing down here more, and I thought, "Why am I going home all the time?" en, we had a great opportunity to relocate, so we hopped on it. Unfortunately, when we did that the house we owned was just a lile too small for the four of us to move into. So, we didn't k ick my parents out; we let them stay, and my husband and I got a rental. Of course, that first year we were down here with my parents, we were always together. We'd go out to dinner together, shopping together, golfing together, they'd be at our house in the pool, we'd be at their house having dinner. Finally one day, I said, "is is ridiculous. We're paying for two of ever y thing. Why don't we just sell this house, get out of our rental and buy a big house together that we can all live in and be happy. You guys can take one side of it, we' ll take the other side of it, and we' ll share the family room and the k itchen." My parents are ver y young , they're still in their 60s, so it wasn't out of necessity, as neither of them are sick. It was really just out of convenience because we share our lives together. It made sense for us. It certainly wouldn't make sense for ever yone else. ey call me the princess. My mom takes care of the house, and my dad still works part-time, but he k ind of takes care of the outside stuff, while my husband does the cook ing and laundr y. ey've afforded me the opportunity to be the businesswoman. I could not be more grateful for that situation. Has that support system been critical to your success? Absolutely. I have the best support system that any businesswoman could ever have. I have a partner, that's my husband. Not only is he my husband, but he's a true supporter of ever y thing I do. We laugh because he is the one at home mak ing the dinner and doing the laundr y—those sort of household chores—but it's what he loves to do, and it's how he helps support my career. He has been an amazing support. e cool thing , too, is that my parents, aer paying for my college for so many years, they're happy to see it finally paying off. ey see it, and they k now how hard I work and how much time I put in, and they're so supportive of all my endeavors, so it's great to have that support system. What is your advice for maintaining a long-term marriage? We're by no means perfect, but probably about ten years ago, right at that seven- year mark of our marriage, we learned that communication is critical. Now, we don't let any thing go unsaid. We just make sure that we put ever y thing out there. We also have an understanding , the key is compromise, and that we have to find a middle ground that will work best for both parties. Really, we just talk. We're really good friends. We share the same beliefs and values, and I think that really helps, of course. But it comes down to communication. We also k now each other well enough that aer twenty- one years together we can sense if the other is having a bad day, and we' ll give them a lile space. Q: What advice would you give young women who aspire to lead? Women, traditionally, are ver y good listeners and problem solvers. I think the key is just to be true to yourself. at was the one thing that I made sure that I did in my own career. Even though I could talk the men's talk and walk up to that water cooler and start doing the gab, you do need to k now your place at certain times, and you do need to be yourself. If you find yourself in a career where you're tr ying to be something you're not, it's time to reevaluate. K now your values and k now your goals. Don't be afraid to let people k now about those goals. Don't be afraid to go to your manager and say, "I k now I'm not chief marketing officer today but in ten years, I want to be and I want to get there with you. A nd maybe I won't be your chief marketing officer, maybe I won't be your lead engineer, maybe I won't be your #1 employee, but I hope that while I'm here you can see that I want to be." Be true to yourself, k now who you are, build on your own strengths, don't tr y to find someone else's strengths. Find the right career for yourself. If you do those things, the rest of it k ind of works itself out. D TOP TO BOTTOM: Jennifer and Michael Saunders. Jennifer with her family. With her husband doing one of their favorite activities: golf. Jennifer with the guys at Quicken Loans.

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