Name: Jennifer Smith-Turner
Occupation: Chief executive officer, Girl Scouts of Connecticut
Location of Business: Statewide organization – central office: Hartford
Accomplishments: Smith-Turner received her M.A. from Fairfield University and her B.A. from Union College. Her greatest joy is in being a loving daughter, sister, sister-in-law, aunt and friend and, most important, being a loving spouse to her husband, Eric Turner.
Who was your most influential role model, and why?
I can remember speaking with a group of college students and being asked this very question. I felt they expected me to name a corporate executive who I admired and someone who had mentored me in my career. I replied, “My mother.” This caught them off guard. It just seemed too out of context for an aspiring professional. When I explained that my mother’s formal education ended in the seventh grade, that she obtained her GED when she was in her thirties, and that she started to take college classes in her fifties, all while raising my siblings and me and preparing us for college and careers, they began to understand. Sometimes the most important role models are right in front us, the very people who know us best and give us unconditional love.
Why are you good at what you do?
In whatever I do I take a deep dive and seemingly get lost in my focus for the particular effort. I love to read so I always spend time exploring information about the world in general but especially about my particular focus. My mother once explained to my husband, Eric, that “Jennifer needs to understand how things work; she wants to look inside the machinery to see how the wheels turn.”
How does your organization give back to the community, and what role have you played in those efforts?
Girl Scouts gives back to the community through everything we do and what we stand for. Our mission is – Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place. We have over 42,000 girl members across the state and we teach them how to be outstanding citizens and strong leaders, and we give them the tools they will need to succeed at whatever they choose in life. I joined Girl Scouts because I wanted to personally impact the lives of girls. The most important moments for me are when I am interacting with girls and helping them grow into the strong women I know they will become.
What has inspired you in your career or where do you draw your daily inspiration?
Doing good and doing well are concepts that I have always embraced in my career and personal life. This idea, coupled with a strong sense of fairness and equality, fuels my energy and drive. If there are voices that need to be heard, I want to assist in creating the platform for that to happen, if there are policies that need to be changed to better the lives of others I want to bring attention to the needed change. Effecting positive change, particularly in the face of seemingly impossible odds, gets my adrenaline flowing at full speed.
How have you tried to balance your career and your personal life? Give an example or two.
In the early days of my quest for corporate success I had no clue about what it would take to succeed professionally while balancing my personal life. My laser-like focus on the professional side of my life blocked out all concern for how my personal life was, or was not, taking shape. When my mother passed away it all became so clear to me. I “dropped out” of the familiar professional world I had lived in for so many years and decided to dedicate my time to writing – something my mother always wanted me to pursue. As is my way – I took a deep dive into the writing life. Now as I find myself once again in a large complex organization. With clarity of what is truly important in life, I am never far removed from the “person” of who I am that is the “professional” in my work life.
