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The two lives of Judge Glenda Hatchett
Ebony, Oct, 2004 by Kimberly Davis
IN court for her hit syndicated TV show, Judge Hatchett, which just began its fifth season, Glenda Hatchett is a compassionate but tough advocate for young people--trying to keep families together, promoting reconciled relationships and showing young people in trouble that they can do better.
Out of court, she's the same way--trying to make sure that her two adult sons know that they are her top priority, promoting children's welfare issues on the lecture circuit and showing the business world that although she left corporate America to become a judge, she can still hold coveted positions on corporate boards.
As a single mother, the Atlanta native says putting her children first wasn't a hard decision. But the biggest challenge, she says, has been setting aside significant time for the other parts of her life--romance (she says she's dating), work and solitude.
"It was easy for me [to decide to focus on my children] ... That was the premise from which I made everything else work in my life," says Hatchett, who has been divorced since 1996 and is fiercely protective of her sons, Charles and Chris. "I really wanted children badly and took it very seriously. And I told myself that if I were blessed to have children, I would really try to do right by them."
An Emory University School of Law graduate, Hatchett spent nearly 10 years in the legal and public relations departments at Delta Airlines before accepting an appointment as the chief presiding judge of Georgia's Fulton County Juvenile Court. In her eight years on the bench she developed a reputation for hard work, creative sentencing, intervention and youth advocacy. That reputation has followed her to the Judge Hatchett TV show and is reflected in the causes that attract her interest.
"I have always had a great passion for children's issues, even before I went on the bench," says Hatchett, who is national spokeswoman for the Court Appointed Special Advocate association for abused and neglected children. "There are countless children in our society who really don't have a voice to speak for themselves, and it's important that those of us who do care about the issues are willing to advocate on their behalf. At the end of the day, our children are all we have with which to build a new generation of men and women, and it's absolutely imperative that we do what we can--when we can--on their behalf."
Hatchett, who serves on the board of directors for Gap Inc., and Hospital Corporation of America Inc. (HCA)--two Fortune 500 companies--was recently elected to the board of the NFUs Atlanta Falcons. She says serving on those boards gives her a way to stay in the corporate life that she left to become a judge.
"My involvement with corporate boards has been important to me because it has really kept me greatly involved in the corporate sector," Hatchett says. "It's been rewarding for me to be able to continue to play a role in the growth and leadership of Fortune 500 companies. And my newest involvement on the Atlanta Falcons Board of Directors allows me to enjoy both my commitment to serving on corporate boards and my longtime love of football."
And although the TV show takes up lot of time, and she is busier than ever (her book Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say: 7 Simple Strategies to Help Our Children Along the Path to Purpose and Possibility was released last year), Hatchett says she has begun to focus on taking care of herself.
"I had a horrible bout with pneumonia two years ago," Hatchett says, "and it really was a wake-up call for me--that the things that are truly important to me, I have to be able to do."
Those "things" include being able to tuck in her sons--one college-age, the other in high school--at night, whenever possible. It's become the family joke, this tiny woman tucking in her grown and nearly grown sons, but Hatchett says she wouldn't trade those quiet times at night--when she has the chance to really listen and learn--for anything.
"I've learned from [my sons] that this whole piece of just being honest is the only way you can make it work," says Hatchett, who splits her time between Atlanta and New York where she tapes the show. "Do I feel like a martyr, like I should get some big pat on the back? No. I love it."
COPYRIGHT 2004 Johnson Publishing Co.
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