Jennie Pollock, 35

By Barbara Connors

“I think it’s important for women to know that they can be leaders and mothers—even if it’s hard. It’s important to try.”

In her mid-20s, Rockford Register Star deputy managing editor Jennie Pollock, 35, faced the crucial decision many career women who also happen to be newmothers face:Do I forge through on my upward-bound career track, stay where I amor even go backwards, for the sake of work-life balance?

“My boss encouraged me to keep going, and I’m glad I didn’t give up growing in my career.”

With 10- to 11-hour work days and two children ages 5 and 3, Pollock says she keeps her work-life balance through the support of her husband and family. She also volunteers regularly at SwedishAmerican Hospital—crediting themedical center’s staff with saving her life during the birth of her first baby.

Never wanting to be anything other than a journalist, Pollock grew up watching Tom Brokaw on the news and serving as editor for both her high school and college newspapers.

Fresh from college, the Wisconsin native landed a job at the Rockford Register Star copy desk. Mentor Linda Grist Cunningham, executive editor of the newspaper, quickly saw her as a “go to” person who was strong in details and follow through. At 25, Pollock attained a management position as news editor; running a nine-person night copy desk and achieving a 100-percent, on-time deadline performance in 2000. An important accomplishment in such a beat-the-clock industry.

From the night copy desk, the funnel where all of the news, photography and production ends, Pollock says she got the chance to manage utilizing her areas of strength in strong copy editing and intradepartmental relationship building.

Admitting to a discomfort for change, Pollock says her environment now is one of “controlled chaos,” and she’s enjoying it. As “product launch queen” she’s helped oversee the launch of the paper’s new press, as well as its magazines and nicheWeb sites, like the popular RockfordWomanMagazine, a project geared toward the influential group of older Generation X and Baby Boomer women.

She appears weekly on air as part of a partnership with WREX-13, a chance that’s moved her from communicating in a technically perfect way to communicating on a more conversational level.

Her success in launching new products has led to leadership of “Star Dig,” a task force that identifies innovative projects and gets themgoing, such as the development of the newspaper’s new health magazine.

When not at the newspaper or at home, Pollock says she enjoys spending time on the golf course, going to classes at the gym, and attending St. Mark’s LutheranChurch.Combining her love of outdoors with her enthusiasm for community service, she also participates on one of the top 10 fundraising teams in Rockford’sMaking StridesAgainstBreast Cancer walk, and is the newsroom’s representative for the United Way task force at the Rockford Register Star.