What is the gender and position of your typical client now?

Baer: It’s about 50/50 male/female. Our CEO/CFO clients tend to be male. Our MarCom clients tend to be female. Not a great statistic.

Oberman: Our typical client right now is the head of their department or their business and they are women, but our typical client is always changing.

Decker: CEOs are all male; Communications officers are predominantly female; Investor relations officers are predominantly male

Fili: Mostly male CEOs of small companies. Sadly, some of my worst clients have been women. (I must clarify that: women who are sole owners of their business who have no life other than their work.)

Helfand: We deal at a very high level with the founders and directors of large foundations: all good people, and mixed men and women.

Heller: Split fairly evenly between men and women. Owners, CEO’s global creative directors, marketing managers

Kuhlmann-Leavitt: The CEO’s are all men. Most of the VP or Director level positions are men with a few exceptions. Our non-profit clients are mostly women with only two exceptions.

Raye: We work with a higher percentage of men. I didn’t even think about it until asked, and I have no idea why. In the past year, we’ve had three clients with women in charge: Adobe, who had both a woman and a man calling the shots; Sedgwick Road, an advertising company in Seattle; and Simon and Schuster. In contrast, over the past year we’ve worked with approximately 15 companies with men in decision making positions.

Scher: High level women and men.

Weese: Usually a female upper level manager, working for a male director/dean/president.

Werner: It’s really hard to say, I think at the moment many of our clients are women but I don’t think that’s always the case. We work with many start-up companies and many of them happen to be women.

Willoughby: Many of our clients are women, but I don’t think this is the point. Women influence almost 80% of the products and services purchased. Women demand more and so, by designing better experiences, we try to enhance the lives of women and their families.

Why do you think men tend to be more successful? Are the reasons behavioral, or systemic?

Fili: That depends on your definition of success. Money? Power? Recognition? Quality of work? Who is creating these standards? Probably men!

Raye: I think it’s probably a little of both. Men are more successful because they don’t let fear hold them back as much. You’ll seldom hear a man question whether or not he is qualified or ready for a job. More importantly—and yes, I know I’m talking in stereotypes—men typically love the spotlight and attention.

One of the big questions is the decision to have children. Is it possible to be highly successful with kids?

Fili: In having my own business I may work harder, yet I report to no one other than myself, which provides the flexibility needed to run a studio and a family.

Weese: If you’re willing to cede some control, work collaboratively, stretch out the time frame in which you want to achieve success, and if you have supportive and complementary partners at home and at work, then, yes. You may not be a superstar but I think you can produce great, meaningful work that has a lasting impact. I also think that kids help prevent burnout—I’m enthusiastic about going to work every day.

If I were still working 80 hours a week, would I be more successful? Yes. Would I still be married to my husband? Maybe. It’s simpler to either choose just the career or just the family, and harder to strike a balance between the two. This is not to say that working and parenting in equal measure is an easy road. I’ve accepted a lot of hard compromises, become comfortable with perpetual change, and continuously use every ounce of available energy in this juggling act. Now I obsessively plan my work and work late into the night. I’ve become the master of the same day round-trip to L.A., and I take a baby (or, preferably, my whole family) with me on all overnight business trips. I’ve given up on socializing much in the studio and with colleagues (though I do have plenty of hang time with my kids). I question my abilities as both a mother and a designer, and feel that both, at times, are compromised.

Decker: It depends on what success is. Having children is a major life choice that brings many people joy and happiness. It shouldn’t be a choice.

Willoughby: Yes, but not everyone may choose to work and have a family as it can and will be stressful at times. There is an old saying that you can have most anything you want but you can’t have everything at the same time. This is especially true when it comes to children and work.

Werner: I’ll get back to you on that…. I hope so!