Trenesa Stanford-Danuser, Estée Lauder VP, Shares Insights On Her Work-Life Balancing Act

Laughter is a sound that's never too far away from Trenesa Stanford-Danuser family's Brooklyn home -- and it usually has something to do with her two energetic kids, Dylan and Romon, ages 11 and 4 respectively.

“My husband [executive producer Chris Danuser] just said last night ‘I don’t know why we pay for cable because we never, ever have a chance to watch TV -- sorry, Time Warner!” the 43-year-old says, laughing. “Even when we are sitting down to watch TV together, somebody’s standing in front of the TV saying ‘Look at me!’”

Stanford-Danuser's happiness comes from having found a way to balance being a loving and present mom and a successful high-powered executive -- she's vice president of global communications and strategic alliances for Estée Lauder’s Origins skin care and Ojon hair products.

"We birth a strategy, we roll it out, and then I’m able to go into those [international] markets and see how those strategies are interpreted,” Stanford-Danuser says. “It’s amazing…to know the moment when you’ve said ‘Ah-ha! This is what we’re going to do,’ and then to see it executed in various ways across the globe.”

The international travel required of her job sometimes takes Stanford-Danuser away from her family, a fact that doesn't come without a fair share of guilt, she says.

"I’m empowered to put work on pause for my family, the guilt comes when I put family on pause for the work," Stanford-Danuser explains. "[But] I believe my children understand that mommy works so hard for them. Work-life balance isn’t an act, it’s a requirement."

Read more of Trenesa's story and meet these other fabulous mothers at matermea.com.