Faith, family and freedom Marilyn Carlson Nelson is this year's Swedish-American It is certainly fitting that a horse guard parade is gathering outside the Radisson Strand hotel as we meet this year's Swedish-American, Marilyn Carlson Nelson, chairwoman and CEO of Carlson Companies. The parade is there to honour Jan Eriksson, the famous 18th century Swedish inventor whose vessels played a big part in the US Civil War. He would certainly, in his day, have received this prestigious Vasa Order award, but today it is the turn of Ms. Carlson Nelson, in recognition of her strong Swedish heritage and prominence in the global business community. The Vasa Order of America began more than a century ago as a fraternal society for the benefit of Swedish immigrants to the United States. Ms. Nelson's grandparents came to the United States from Filipstad, in Värmland, as did John Eriksson. During the last weekend of July, he is commemorated at Kyrkviken where the battle of Hampton Roads between the ironclad vessels the Monitor and the Merrimac is replayed. Not surprisingly, the Monitor comes out as the winner each year. And not surprisingly, with her great love for all things Swedish, this year's Swedish-American was there to watch these special 200th birthday celebrations, along with Sweden's Royal family, who took the opportunity to present Ms. Nelson with her award. In 1998 Ms. Nelson took over the running of the privately held travel empire Carlson Companies Inc. from her father, the company’s founder and Vasa's 1981 Swedish/American. By then she was already the mother of four, and a proud grandmother. Five years on the petite executive is full of beans, showing no sign of buckling under the pressure of her busy schedule. "I am blessed with a lot of energy", she says as she sits down, "I think it's my Viking genes. I am also blessed with wonderful help at my office and wonderful help at home. What I sacrifice is that I don't have so much time with friends, or to shop, but I do keep time to exercise and time to spend with my grandchildren and my children." Despite her being one of America's most powerful women in business, regularly making the Fortune magazine's top twenty, she is clearly a family woman at heart, with her Swedish roots playing both a personal and a professional part in her life. "My husband and I love to ski and we have a home in Wyoming that is called Tallbo (Pine Nest). We have Swedish antiques from the 19th century, the folk style that Swedish immigrants brought to the United States." She goes on to describe a sign hanging above the door, which says in Swedish 'Faith Family and Freedom’. "I think it is important that our children understand that we are fortunate to be able to acquire things, but what in the end is most valuable is our faith, our family and our freedom. I think we must never take that for granted." Marilyn Carlson Nelson’s business concerns maintain professional connections with Sweden, such as the successful partnership with SAS Scandinavian Airlines. On the restaurant side there is TGI Friday's, and on the travel side, there is Carlson Wagonlit Travel. However, the jewels in the Carlson travel crown can be no other than the seven luxury cruise vessels that make up the Radisson Seven Seas Cruises division. The cruise line was a focus of Ms. Nelson’s when she became CEO of Carlson Companies, and it concentrates on the high-end small ship sector of the cruise industry. The Seven Seas Voyager sails between Copenhagen, Stockholm and St. Petersburg at the moment, and the Scandinavian Carlson connection is immediately apparent, with much of the art on board this elegant vessel by local artists. Most impressive is the eye-catching centrepiece 'Medusa', by Finland's Stefan Lindfors. In 2001 the cruise line was named the World's best small cruise line by readers of Travel and Leisure magazine and for 11 consecutive years it has won the best price-to-value honours from Ocean and Cruise magazine. It seems that Carlson Companies can't help but attract awards, yet the one that might mean most to Ms. Nelson is the ranking of Carlson Companies by Working Mother magazine in their top 100 of "best companies for working mothers". Certainly since Ms. Nelson became CEO, conditions for women have become better and better. "When I took over we had less than 20 per cent of female executives in our company, and now we have almost 40 per cent." "We put a day-care centre in our office in Minnesota where we have several thousand employees. And we made contracts for special pricing for day-care in our other centres. We also put in more flexible hours, allowing these talented women to take time off to pick up their child at day-care, and to start an hour earlier, or work an hour later. If you are a mother of young children your career during that period will be different, but I want to make it a great place for women." When her own children were young she chose to stay at home with them, and she feels she was fortunate that her family situation allowed her to do so. "However, I do believe that women have to understand choice. I think that in my own career I have been fortunate in that. I knew that I wanted to be a mother, and because of my family situation I was blessed that I could afford to stay at home with the children for a while. I think more women could stay home than think they can, because they're not willing to make the choice. I think that time together is time you can't get back." Waiting for the children to grow up and start lives of their own, Ms. Nelson embraced community projects such as the nine-month long "Scandinavia Today" celebrations in the US in 1982/83. Her efforts earned her the Royal Order of the North Star, First Class. Another one of the community projects was her initiative to bring the Super Bowl to Minneapolis. When I mention this, her eyes begin to shine, and her innate ability to balance work and family immediately becomes clear. "It was during the big parade that we received word that our eldest daughter was in labour in New York. We sent the car home to pack a small overnight bag, and we arrived just a few hours before the baby was born." The next day they returned to take part in the post-game activities. Finally, reflecting on her own vision of quality management she tells us about the new Radisson motto: ‘Rattitude’. All employees wear badges with 'Yes, I can," written on them. "It is a question of attitude," she reminds us, "If I am wearing a badge saying 'yes I can' I am not going to say I can't." And that, I think, sums up Ms. Nelson, this year's Swedish-American; a mother and grandmother, who also happens to be the CEO and chairwoman of one of the world's most influential private companies. -Lysanne Sizoo © 2006, Swedish Bulletin. All rights reserved