‘She left quite a legacy’: The mothers and daughters with the same job

Since the Industrial Revolution, men have encouraged their sons to follow in their footsteps by taking over the family business, or by continuing the family name in their chosen industries.

For women, too, their first career role model is often their mothers. By paying attention to their mothers’ stories, women can create a picture of what a working life might mean for them, including the impact it could have on having a family of their own.

Ellen Sullivan, co-founder of Even, a holistic professional development platform for women, says it makes sense for women to follow the same career path as their mothers “because the role-modelling effect that a mother has on her daughter is extremely significant”.

For many women, their mothers are their earliest career role models.Credit: iStock

Here, three women explain how much their career path was influenced by their mother’s, and what it has meant for their relationship with Mum.

“Mum gave me the confidence to be bossy”: Jenny van Gemert, 47, registered nurse and midwife

“When I was a kid, I thought my mum’s work seemed exciting and rewarding. She [Marita] talked about it a little bit at home, but my most prominent memory is of seeing the babies through the glass window when we picked her up from work.

If I look through my photo album, there are so many pictures of me wearing Mum’s nurse’s hat and badges. Clearly I wanted to do it for a long time. Over time, I realised how much she got out of her work. Her job was just so fascinating, and I wanted that in my life.

Marita (left) and Jenny van Gemert. “I’m just so proud of Jenny,” says Marita. “Our nursing experience is a lovely thing to share.”

I didn’t feel any pressure to pursue nursing or midwifery. Mum neither discouraged nor actively encouraged me because it’s a hard job. You can’t just follow in someone’s footsteps for the sake of it. If you don’t love it, you’re not going to be good at it.

Mum, by example, taught me the importance of not judging anybody because you never know what they’re going through. She also taught me the importance of the basics of nursing. It doesn’t always need to be complicated. I still open the windows, and I always tell patients to exercise, to drink water, to sleep, to get fresh air and sunlight. Mum gave me the confidence to be really bossy, and I realised early on that if a nurse is telling people what to do, they’ll do it.

When I was in my first year of nursing, I was confident but still needed some back-up. I used to debrief all the time with Mum. I once helped someone who needed to be resuscitated at an accident. While I was doing it, I got someone to call Mum and put her on speakerphone. She didn’t need to tell me to do anything different, but I wanted her to be there in case I had a question.

Mum’s had an extraordinary career. She was also very lucky to have had a job she really loved. Not everyone gets that. She left quite a legacy. I meet people all the time who have been cared for by Mum, and now I’m working with doctors who remember working with her. They say they were always happy to deliver a baby when Marita was in charge.

I’m grateful to her for being open about her career and showing us so much of it because she was exceptionally good at it. I have such a sense of pride about that.”

“We’re pretty lucky, we don’t fight”: Jacqui Bonnett, 52, fashion retailer

“I was working in fashion and didn’t really love the company I was working for, so I decided to find another job. At that time, Mum [Susanne Hoppe] had two clothing shops, one on each side of the street targeting slightly different clientele, so she wanted me to work with her for a bit. I thought it would be OK for a short time. It’s been 27 years, and I’m still there.

Mum bought the first shop when I was in my teens, and I was inspired to pursue the same career path because I’ve always loved fashion. The most valuable lesson she taught me in business was the importance of customer loyalty – to be honest and build good relationships with clients. I also think learning the art of what suits people and what people feel comfortable in from her has been something special.

Susanne Hoppe and Jacqui Bonnett. “Jacqui is very capable,” says Susanne. “She’s very good at compartmentalisation.” Credit:

I remember Mum saying that even though the shop was never going to make us millionaires, it would give us a great lifestyle. I saw her balance family and work. She had a nice wardrobe and went on some fun holidays, buying stock for the shops. It provided the same for me when I became a parent with young kids. And because it was so close to home, we could both walk to work.

I received daily guidance and mentorship from Mum throughout my professional journey. It wasn’t anything structured, just her leading by example and me following, changing if she needed me to.

With both of us, what you see is what you get. We’re pretty fair, and we want people to be happy with their purchases. I’m more focused on the front-end styling and have everything organised so that when a customer walks onto the shop floor, everything’s done, everything looks good. Mum focuses more on the back end and the paperwork.

We’re pretty lucky, we don’t fight. We’ve probably fought more outside the business than we’ve ever fought in it.

Mum has always modelled the benefit of hard work and I mirrored her approach. I like to work hard and play hard. She probably taught me that too.”

“She’s the quiet pillar of strength”: Lisa McGuigan, mid-50s, winemaker

“I didn’t join the wine industry initially because I didn’t want to do what my parents did. My mother [Fay] was a pioneer in wine exporting, and my father assumed that I would be a winemaker like him. But I wanted to be an artist.

My parents sent me to Switzerland to finishing school and it changed my world. I’d never been away from home for more than one or two nights, and I was used to being around my mum, grandmother and sister all the time.

Fay (left) and Lisa McGuigan both work in the wine industry. Credit:

After that, I fell in love with hotels and worked in five-star places for years. Mum made sure I didn’t leave the hotel business before I was ready because she knew my father and I would butt heads if we worked in the same industry, even if we weren’t working together.

When I started my own wine label, I was confident. As kids, my sister Vanessa and I sold T-shirts. We lived five kilometres from anywhere in the Hunter Valley [NSW], so instead of doing swimming club and things like that, we started a business. Running a business was just part of how we grew up, and it was a bit of fun as well.

After Vanessa died of ovarian cancer at 21, my mum was the person who kept us all together. She’s the quiet pillar of strength behind everybody else.

I call my mum Fay because I’m cheeky, and I learnt that from her. I also thought it would be more professional if I spoke to her like that instead of saying ‘Mummy’.

Fay taught me how to behave, how to treat people and how to build relationships so people would buy from me. She showed me how to keep the customer engaged; that it wasn’t just about the wine. Business isn’t always about selling, it’s about connecting with people.

I never had to ask for her advice; she’s just always been there, softly in the background. Fay encouraged me to take it slowly and work out what I wanted, so I started a small label. I wanted to do it on my own, and Fay was my biggest supporter.

Mum and I have two relationships. One is the mother/daughter one, which is respectful. But then we can put on our business hats, and I can tell her what she can and can’t do.”

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