The Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce’s September Women in Business event turned the spotlight on three of the women whose husbands lead the community.
Toni Seals-Johnson, wife of Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson, and Karen Keen, wife of Augusta University President Dr. Russell Keen, joined Charlene McCorn, married to Paine College President Dr. Lester McCorn, for a panel discussion on balancing their responsibilities with their personal lives.
The women came from different fields in their own careers. Seals-Johnson was in tourism, then she started Augusta Office Solutions with her husband. Keen and McCorn were both educators.
Keen summed up the role they all play, saying there is no job description, but there are expectations. She said she and her husband approach it as a team.
“And the way that I see my role is to be the biggest supporter and advocate for Augusta University, and that is everything from meeting with stakeholders, the students, it is literally supporting the faculty, staff, and students in every way that I can,” she explained.
For Seals-Johnson, the target is to remain focused on the mission at hand and how she can contribute.
“The people that you serve and interact with every day in your everyday life, at the beginning, middle, and end of the day, and everything that I do, I would try to do the best of my ability with prayer and uphold what this community represents anywhere I am,” she said. Because Augusta, it’s who we are, and I would love for others to come and learn who we are, so they can take part in the joy that we all share in our community.”
Dr. McCorn assumed his position at Paine College at the beginning of this year, making his wife Augusta’s newest First Lady. Like Keen, she said students and the campus are priorities.
“I’m still getting to know Augusta. I am on campus a lot, and it is my greatest joy to be able to see the students and be able to talk to them, and to be able to have time with them, to know what’s going on in their lives and how we can support them,” she said. “I support the students in figuring out what it is they need to do. How can I be present for them?”
Jessica Hall, Workforce Services and Talent Management at Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, which sponsored the program, moderated the discussion. She turned the focus on how each woman finds a way to balance their own career and identity with the public role that comes with their husband’s position.
“Don’t feel guilty when you need space and when you need time. That’s how I balance,” advised McCord. “It’s very important that you find your why, find your niche, find your it, whatever that is. For me, it’s long walks. Those quiet spaces where there’s no one around me, no one asking anything of me, no one requiring anything of me. That’s how you keep going.”
Seal-Johnson said she also finds time to unplug from what she does as First Lady to let go and re-group.
“Don’t ever lose who you are, or perspective of who you are. Each and every one of us has a name, each and every one of us has a prayer. Never lose sight of who and what that is,” she said.
Keen said the challenge that brought them to Augusta came at the right time for her. She had finished a career as an educator in Effingham County, and their daughters were both ready to leave for college, making them empty nesters.
“When I’m with students, it just feels very natural to me, because that’s what I did for so long, even with my own children,” she said. “How can we do the best for them? How can we give them the best opportunity? And when we’re on campus, that’s exactly what I think with our students. It is the most natural fit for me I could have ever imagined.”
Asked how they hope people will remember their service as Augusta’s First Ladies, Keen summed it up with a quote from poet Maya Angelo, “People will forget what you said and forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”
