The Long View

Julie Chaiken emerges from her home office, baby in one hand and cell phone in the other. "I'm seriously multitasking today," she says. As the founder and president of Chaiken, a clothing line for fashion-forward professional women, and as the mother of 10-month-old Zach and 2-year-old Ethan, it's safe to say Julie is almost always doing several things at once.

Except, that is, when she drops into a soft white chair in her living room and stares out the windows—at a San Francisco Bay view so wide that it includes the Presidio, the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. Suddenly, everything is calm and washed in Pacific light.

And Julie, who spends nearly a quarter of her time in New York running a company that now has its clothes in more than 300 stores nationwide, is visibly relaxed. "I can have a crazy day and come home and immediately feel"—she sighs a deep sigh—"I'm home."