Page 14 - Priorities #18 2002-April

Trustee Profile
Trustee Dotty Hayes’s life seems to have two major themes: music—and managing money. Dotty and husband Terry sing, and daughter Carolyn sings, plays three instruments and composes music. The schedule of rehearsals and performances encompasses just about all of their free time. In her professional life, despite Dotty’s mother’s advice to "become a secretary—college is a waste of time for women," she earned a bachelor’s and two master’s degrees and has spent more than two decades in highly responsible positions in corporate finance.
As a WPS Trustee, Hayes works on the finance committee, where she can bring her analytical skills to bear. One responsibility she enjoys includes reviewing reportspreparedbyoutsideauditors. "It’sfuntolook at other people’s budgets for awhile," she says.
Carolyn, a junior, is studying oboe and cello, and she also plays English horn. She plays in the High School Orchestra and the Chamber Music Society, and she sings in the High School and the Advanced Chamber Choirs. She also plays in the El Camino Youth Symphony, a community-based orchestral group. She is a serious musician and plans a college major in performance. Hayes says that decision was entirely her daughter’s own, with no pressure from the parental front along the way to either pursue music or to practice it. "She accepts her own responsibilities and the consequences," Hayes declares.
The trustee laments the paring down of musical curriculainmanyschools. Shesaysshebelieves some musical education should be part of a basic foundation for learning
Dotty and Terry sing with Crescendo, a 20-member ensemble of friends who sing a capella at gatherings, as well as with Foothills Congregational Church chancel and chamber choirs. Probably most demanding is their participation in the highly regarded Schola Cantorum, a community choral group with weekly rehearsals and concert engagements in established venues.
Schola recitals range from Renaissance and classical to Broadway tunes, among others. Recently, the group has performed the music of South American churches in their colonial periods, Negro
spirituals, and the compositions of historically overlooked women.
"You get a good education," says Hayes. "Every concert is a completely different experience."
Schola’s demands are akin to "forced recreation," Hayes jokes. However, each member is crucial to the team effort, she notes, and her lively, pleasant speaking tone takes on a serious edge. "You’ve got to hold your own or the quality of the group deteriorates."
On the professional front, Hayes deals with the daily drama of bottom lines.
In her 26-year-career, Hayes has been a financial manager through periods of rapid growth, downsizing,cautiousgrowthandmergerand divestiture in large and small companies. Since 1999, she’s served as Vice President/Controller of Agilent Technologies, a Palo Alto spin-off of Hewlett-Packard Company that in the last fiscal year had revenues of $8.4 billion. Previously, she was the transition general manager for HP, a role where she was responsible for program management processes to facilitate the separation of Agilent from HP.
Twelve-hour workdays are routine, as is the challenging task of "keeping up with the messaging flow."
Last year, the Hayes family took on an added responsibility by hosting Alena Harajdova, from Bardejov, Slovakia, who attended WPS as a member of the senior class. Harajdova, recently was accepted to architecture school back home.
The host experience "kind of forced us to more conscious family togetherness," Hayes recalls. While their role required packing one more responsibility into an already busy schedule, "you end up being a better person by stepping out of your rut," Hayes concludes.
Her secret for keeping up with it all? She has started to enjoy the monthly quiet reflection of Father Martin’s Taize services at the Priory. And, over time, "You learn how to deal with stuff and not get hung up with the minutiae," Hayes says.
Despite Dotty’s mother’s advice to "become a secretary—college is a waste of time for women," she earned three degrees and has spent more than two decades in highly responsible positions in corporate finance.
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