Exploring how women leaders integrate caregiving responsibilities with professional excellence, discovering that personal challenges reshape leadership into deeper compassion, authenticity, and meaningful connection with their teams.
Her Story
About Carri
Dr. Carri Brown, PhD, MBA, CGFM, is the elected County Auditor for Fairfield County, Ohio, bringing nearly four decades of experience in government and public service. In her role, she oversees financial reporting for a county with a $230 million budget, manages property tax assessments and appraisals, and supervises licensing and county settlement activities. With a strong foundation in both business and government administration, Carri holds a Bachelor and Master of Business Administration from Ohio University, a PhD in Organization Management from Capella University, and is a Certified Government Financial Manager. Her career spans leadership roles in human services, county administration, and finance, consistently earning recognition for innovation, transparency, and excellence in public service.
Throughout her career, Carri has been a committed advocate for mentorship, particularly for young women seeking to discover and reach their potential. She is widely respected for her ability to guide and empower others, helping them navigate complex professional landscapes. Her dedication extends beyond professional mentorship; she actively serves her community as a former board president of the United Way, a contributor to Destination Downtown Lancaster and the Special Improvement District, and an instructor for reentry programs supporting women returning from the criminal justice system.
Carri’s leadership philosophy centers on transparency, efficiency, and long-term impact, balancing rigorous financial management with a deep commitment to community engagement. She has been recognized with multiple awards, including achievement awards from the National Association of Counties, the Athena Award from the Lancaster Fairfield Chamber of Commerce, and the Floyd Wolf Volunteer Award. Through her work, she continues to champion ethical government practices, community development, and the empowerment of future leaders, building a legacy defined by service, mentorship, and meaningful impact.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Carri
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my faith, the steadfast support of my family, and a strong network of friends. These pillars have helped me build resilience and navigate both the challenges and opportunities in my personal and professional journey.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received came from my father-in-law, and it was to have patience. To understand and to gain patience, you have to go through adversity to try to learn lessons through every challenge that you have. As I think back on that advice, it has really shaped how I approach difficulties in my career and helped me grow through the challenges I've faced.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would tell young women entering my industry that every first step—especially the things you don’t yet know—is the beginning of gaining wisdom. Embrace every opportunity, be willing to take chances, and don’t let uncertainty hold you back. That’s where learning and growth truly begin.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges in my field is maintaining a high level of efficiency with limited resources, while navigating the complexities of legal and compliance requirements. The work often involves long hours and significant effort, but it’s always rewarding. I’ve learned the importance of giving yourself grace along the way.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that are most important to me in both my work and personal life are helpfulness, kindness, and a willingness to give of myself to others. I also prioritize long-term thinking over short-term gains, which shapes how I approach my professional responsibilities and personal relationships.
Her Content Hub
Articles by Carri
Leading Through Challenge: Women’s Leadership, Work–Life Harmony, and Quiet Strength in Times of Care
How caregiving reshapes women's leadership, deepens resilience, and reveals the power of work–life harmony.
Leading Through Challenge: Women’s Leadership, Work–Life Harmony, and Quiet Strength in Times of Care
There are seasons in life when leadership is not forged in boardrooms or strategy sessions, but in hospital waiting rooms, in late-night phone calls, and in the quiet, steady act of showing up for those we love. For many women leaders, the experience of caring for a parent during a medical emergency does not pull them away from leadership—it reshapes it. It softens the edges, deepens perspective, and reveals a quieter, more enduring strength.
In these moments, the idea of work–life balance often feels too rigid, too transactional. What emerges instead is work–life harmony—a fluid, compassionate integration of roles in which presence matters more than perfection. Priorities shift, as they must, and leadership becomes less about control and more about intention.
Scholarship offers language for what many women intuitively practice. Greenhaus and Powell (2006) describe work–family enrichment as the way experiences in one domain of life can improve the quality of another. The patience learned at a bedside, the emotional awareness sharpened through caregiving, and the clarity gained from facing uncertainty often find their way into how leaders show up for their teams. These are not distractions from leadership—they are expansions of it.
Similarly, Eagly and Carli (2007) suggest that women often lead through connection, collaboration, and relational strength. In times of personal challenge, these qualities become even more vital. Teams do not simply need direction; they need steadiness, empathy, and meaning. Leaders who have walked through difficulty often carry an enhanced ability to offer all three.
Kossek et al. (2012) further emphasize the power of modeling flexibility. When leaders allow space for life’s realities—both their own and others’—they cultivate environments of trust and reciprocity. In doing so, they do not weaken performance; they strengthen it. Teams become more engaged, more loyal, and more willing to rise together.
There is also something quietly transformative in allowing others to step forward. When a leader must redistribute responsibilities, it becomes an act of trust. New voices emerge. Hidden strengths surface. Leadership, in this sense, becomes shared—less a singular role and more a collective practice.
Sometimes, the most important thing in communication is something unspoken. Leaders shaped by caregiving often become attuned to these quiet signals—the pause in a voice, the unspoken strain—responding not just to tasks, but to people. In practice, leading through such seasons may look like this:
- Speaking with honesty, but also with care—sharing enough to build trust while holding space for privacy.
- Letting go, when needed, and trusting others to carry forward.
- Redefining success, not as constant presence, but as meaningful impact.
- Extending compassion inward, recognizing that leadership, too, is human work.
What emerges on the other side of such experiences is not diminished leadership, but transformed leadership—leadership that listens more deeply, acts more thoughtfully, and connects more authentically.
In the end, these seasons remind us that leadership is not separate from life. It is shaped by it. Sometimes, the most powerful way to lead a team is not by standing above the moment, but by walking through it—with grace, humility, and quiet resilience.
References
Eagly, A. H., & Carli, L. L. (2007). Through the labyrinth: The truth about how women become leaders. Harvard Business School Press.
Greenhaus, J. H., & Powell, G. N. (2006). When work and family are allies: A theory of work–family enrichment. Academy of Management Review, 31(1), 72–92. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2006.19379625
Kossek, E. E., Lewis, S., & Hammer, L. B. (2012). Work–life initiatives and organizational change: Overcoming mixed messages to move from the margin to the mainstream. Human Relations, 63(1), 3–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726709352385
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