What inspired you to coin the term “Womenomics” and write a book about it together?
Kay: Claire and I have talked over the years, sometimes in secret, about how to carry on working and still make sure we had enough time for family life. At first, our conversations were kind of tentative because we didn’t want to admit to not being ambitious or accepting a big job or going for a promotion or climbing the ladder. I’d call Claire and say, “I’ve just been offered this job. What do you think?” She was my touchstone, the one person who would say to me, “Well, that’s a great job, but this is really going to screw up your time. You’ve worked out this balance with your children. Are you sure you want to be at the White House at 5 o’clock every morning and not leave until 5 or 6 o’clock in the evening? And travel every time the president travels?” We realized we could confide in each other about how to keep this balance. We’d make choices that might seem counterintuitive, like turning down promotions or saying no to assignments when the expectation was that we would jump at eve
