Press Release: Highland Park, IL Couple Shares Work From Home Space; Each With Their Own Businesses

Highland Park husband and wife consultants share spaces as they build their complementary businesses.

Highland Park, IL (PRWEB) September 18, 2008 -- Highland Park, Illinois residents, Riv Harel-Lynch and James M. Lynch have come 'home' to do business. They each run their own home-based business and share parenting duties for their 3 children all under the age of 11. For this family, it is the ultimate dream circumstance; combining work, family, and the lifestyle they've always wanted.

"Riv grew up in Highland Park", says Lynch, "and her parents and sister still live here so when we left Chicago for more space to raise our children it was a clear choice for us to settle down here. I loved Highland Park from my first visit 12 years ago and have really made it home". Lynch has been involved at the Art Center as an acting teacher (a former career) and a few years ago created the 'Highland Park: City Gallery' project to create a synergy with local artists and businesses. 'City Gallery' is still occurring, but with different management and is now called 'The Highland Park Art Walk'."

Three years ago Riv Harel-Lynch, who moved to Highland Park from Israel when she was 8 years old, followed her passion and created her own organizing business, Sacred Spaces, http://sacredspaceshome.com/. Most of her clients have consulted her for their home spaces but recently she has extended her work to smaller business offices, including taking on a long-term contract as Director of Operations for a Northbrook based financial planning group. "The company of 8 employees was moving to a new office space and it was the perfect time for me to get involved", says Harel-Lynch. "I had input on every detail from setting up their workspace to phones, computers and hanging pictures." Her ongoing work with the team is to help them get maximum efficiency from their work space and get rid of the clutter that creates 'speed bumps' to productivity. "It's only a few days a week and still gives me the freedom to work with my other clients, mostly in the north shore area".

Her work with clients includes a 'discovery meeting' where she visits the home and hears what the homeowners would like to have as a result. "Once we've done a walk through of their house and discussed the scope of the project it's pretty simple to set pricing and schedule the work. The hard part is getting started for most people and it always works for them to keep their eye on the end results". Har-El Lynch works with the client; it is not a service where the work is done with an absentee owner. "If the owner is not 100% involved in the process then the tendency is for the situation to repeat itself in time. Working hands on with them is so rewarding because they begin to 'lighten up' as we go and when I check back with them even months later they're still 'working the system'. Most people feel that they have more than just a new home when we're done, they have whole new outlook, whether it's just one room or the entire house we do together".

James M. Lynch has a new business, JM Lynch Training and Consulting, and he is building a pool of clients to utilize his business model, Making it Happen: No Matter What. The model is one he developed over the last 8 years as General Manager and then Chief Training Officer of a Skokie based Pharmacy Staffing Agency. "Using this model we took an $8 million, loosely organized business and turned it into the unparalleled national industry leader with close to $40 million in annual sales, a top 40 ranking in Crain's for women owned businesses in Chicago and a place on Inc. Magazine's 5000 Fastest Growing US Businesses. We gave ourselves 10 years to do what we accomplished in 8 and then we sold it for top dollar; at that point my work was done and it was time for me to open up my own shop. My goal is to help other small(er) businesses grow at a breakthrough pace whether their aim is getting ready to sell at a great price or just expand to the next level". Lynch's book, Making it Happen: No Matter What, A Practical Guide to Transforming a Smaller Business into a Bigger Business, will be available in late 2008 as an e-book on his site, http://jmlynchtraining.com.

Working from home gives us both a chance to get out and get business done and so far we've been able to share the parenting and household duties very well. "It took some getting used to", say Harel-Lynch, "but in a good way. James is a fabulous cook and I really enjoy coming home and having a really great dinner on the table." Their two companies complement each other well and they have already written a combined effort proposal for a local company; she to help them get the most from their desk spaces and to budget their time, he to work with owners and managers on having the 'culture of success'. "It's not just how we'd work for others", says Lynch, "Riv has a very smart and timely small business, a great gift for what she does plus a passion to 'make it happen'. She has been able to use me as a business coach without applying the filter of 'husband' and the added bonus is that we can hold our consultation meetings in our backyard over a cup of tea." Harel-Lynch's applying home organizing principals gives them both a place to get work done without too much distraction. "My office is all over the house", says Lynch, "and I do most of my work by phone or on the internet but we have a central shared desk space and everything gets put in its place every night so we can separate home and work in such a way that we never violate the 'sacred space' of our very comfortable, 'homey' dream house."

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