Bonny Cook left teaching in 1966 and entered the business world as a programmer. She joined Xerox Corporation in 1973 and worked her way up to vice president, against the background of the women’s movement. She also traveled to all seven continents and had many adventures along the way. The knowledge she gained will be useful for anybody working in business today.
When Bonny Cook was growing up in Connecticut she wanted to be a school teacher, and she didn’t want to hear about any other possibilities. Actually, in 1960, the career possibilities for women were pretty much confined to teacher, nurse or secretary—or getting married and becoming a housewife.
When Bonny graduated from college in 1962 she went to California and taught for four years. She became disillusioned with teaching because of bad principals, quit, and shoehorned her way into becoming a business computer programmer, a job that had only recently been created. After gaining several years of experience she joined Xerox Corporation, and eventually worked her way up to vice president.
Bonny did this against the background of the women’s movement, which started about 1960. She was one of the pioneers as she broke through the so-called glass ceiling that prevented women from rising to high positions in the business world. She and others like her paved the way for young women of today, and made their climb easier.
The story of how she did it is interesting and exciting, and contains not only history, but also tips for today’s people in the workforce, whether female or male.
Excerpt
“Forget about gender, race, or family background barriers. Continually work on building your own self-esteem. Make an effort to become a more interesting person. Have fun in your work and personal life. Gain business experience in a broad set of areas; don’t just stay in one, comfortable environment. Alternate between leadership positions and follower positions. Keep your eyes and ears open and look for new ideas and opportunities.”
When I was a vice president at Xerox I gave this advice to the Women’s Information Network, which included all the women who worked at Xerox throughout the world, and it was published in their newsletter.
In one of the mystery novels written by my husband, Alan (Catch a Falling Knife) the lead character who is a senior citizen, says, “When do we get old enough so that we’ve learned all the lessons?”
Unfortunately, the answer appears to be “never,” but I’ve certainly learned a lot in my life, and writing this book has brought some of these lessons to mind.
Interwoven with the lessons have been many of what psychologist Wayne Dyer calls “peak experiences,” and I’ve included them too. After all, don’t we live for peak experiences?
An early lesson I learned was that if you want something done you probably have to do it yourself. That’s why I started the Hi-Folks Guild in my hometown of Old Saybrook, Connecticut. It gave me experience in leading a group of people and it led to a peak experience—spending an afternoon in the home of Katherine Hepburn.
When I was a teacher I learned that your principals won’t necessarily support you. That was one of the reasons I quit teaching, but it also helped prepare me for being a manager. As a manager, I always tried to support my people.
A definite peak experience was meeting Alan. On our first date we drove over a hundred miles to the San Diego Zoo, the prelude to many wonderful trips all over the world. Having our son, Andy, was a peak experience, but we had many anxious moments until he became healthy.
After I quit teaching I became a programmer with no formal education in computers and no experience in programming or business. If there’s a lesson here, it’s to keep your options open when you’re young, and don’t shut yourself off from possible opportunities.
During my first week working at Xerox I almost got fired. If I had been fired I probably wouldn’t have become a vice president, and certainly not at Xerox. I would never have had responsibility for a fifty-million dollar budget. I hate to think what the lesson is here, but it’s probably something about what part fate plays in our lives.
I took a class introducing me to the Xerox way of doing things. The instructor invited some members to his home to go skinny-dipping in his hot tub. I was glad I wasn’t invited. Not everybody at Xerox was like that, but when I was still new at the company I was kissed by a vice president. I punched him in the nose, which, as it turned out, was probably the right thing to do. He never tried anything again.
I traveled all over the world for business and had many interesting experiences, including eating a twenty-nine course meal in Japan, practicing for a presentation in a simulated coal mine, and being protected by the mob.
When I won the Xerox President’s Award the ceremony started out badly for me because members of the Xerox Board of Directors, who apparently weren’t yet used to female high achievers, congratulated Alan instead of me, but it turned into a peak experience with the help of the people who had assisted in getting me there.
And when I attended my first staff meeting as a vice president of Xerox, the first question somebody asked me was, “Bonny, what are you doing here?” It took time and a lot of hard work before I was fully accepted by my peers, but I always received support from my friends, and that helped keep me going.
In my career I met a lot of remarkable women, such as Sally Ride, the astronaut.
As a world traveler I’ve accomplished three of my major goals: sitting on the steps of the Parthenon, kissing on the Great Wall of China, and sitting in an ancient ruin under a full moon.
Looking back, I wouldn’t have missed these experiences for anything.
Professional Reviews
Great read!
Bonny Robinson Cook’s memoirs, Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling, Traveling the World and Other Adventures is not only entertaining but it is a realistic depiction of what it was like for a woman to be successful in corporate society during the second half of the 20th century and beyond. Bonny not only beat the odds in a man’s world, she did so in a likable way juggling home life with career and travel. This should be required reading for young women everywhere who are still meeting career challenges. Highly recommended for everybody!
--Geneticgenie
Bonny Cook has had two amazing and remarkable careers
Bonny Cook has had two amazing and remarkable careers. At Xerox Corporation, Bonny climbed the corporate ladder with tenacity, determination and an insatiable desire to achieve. After she overcame many obstacles and received recognition for her successes, she ultimately became vice president of a technical area; and as such, she gave presentations in over 12 countries. After retiring from Xerox Corporation, Bonny went on to become a very successful genealogist specializing in DNA genealogy. She is a member of 14 genealogical societies in the U.S. and UK. For nearly 50 years, Bonny has traveled the world doing genealogical research, including work in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands and the U.S.. Currently, Bonny co-administers the SCGS DNA Project and gives presentations on genetic genealogy. It was fascinating to read of Bonny's many adventurous experiences. The information contained in Bonny's book can be of enormous help to other brilliant women wanting to achieve unbounded success in corporate America.
--L. K. R. Frear
Encouraging and Interesting
Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling, Traveling the World, and Other Adventures, by Bonny Robinson Cook is about the adventures of Bonny Cook in her own words,where she encourages readers to enjoy their work and personal lives and becomeinteresting people. The author's story depicts how a woman can succeed in hercareer and also juggle work and home effortlessly. The book chronicles herjourney up the ladder at Xerox Corporation, and also has interesting tips formen and women alike on how to become more successful at work. Her upliftingstory is definitely an inspiration for all young people out there; especiallywomen on how to break the glass ceiling which has prevented them from reachingthe top and achieving success in the corporate world.
I found the author's story and words encouraging and interesting. The book alsoguides many women on how to handle their careers and break into positionsconsidered to be the male prerogative in the work place. Her story andexperiences are realistic and tangible, and will reach out to readers in a bigway. The author advises youngsters not to limit themselves as there are manyopportunities and new jobs are created all the time. The author motivatesreaders to live, make their lives more exciting, and not lead a boring life.The author's enthusiasm to live life, travel, and be successful is infectiousand her words will definitely make it easier for young women to climb theladder of success at their work place.
--Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite
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