Holding down a full-time job and attending business school while making time for family and friends can be daunting for even the most adept schedule-jugglers. Bob and Gladys Gabriel know firsthand how challenging (and rewarding) that balancing act can be: The couple and their four young sons have been through the Wharton experience not once but twice.

Gladys, now global director for purchasing at International Flavors and Fragrances, attended the Wharton MBA Program for Executives in Philadelphia and graduated in 1999. Her husband, Bob, president of Genesis Aromatique, a perfume developer and manufacturer, attended the program at Wharton West and graduated in 2003.

How did they do it? "Patience and tenacity," say the duo, who even moved the family from New Jersey to California and back to accommodate their busy schedules.

The following interview took place while Bob was completing his second year at Wharton.

Back It Up
Gladys, who was development manager for household and institutional products at the chemical company Rhodia before attending Wharton, was fortunate to get a great deal of support from her company. "You really have to make sure your employer is on board," she says. "Rhodia was very supportive and got involved with the annual sponsor events. They were very understanding."

Family support was also crucial. When Gladys was in school, the family lived in Princeton, New Jersey. "We have a large extended family in the Princeton area, so they helped us take care of the boys, and the kids got to play with their cousins a lot," remembers Gladys.

Bob and Gladys both joined the Clorox Company - Bob as a director for technology and Gladys as purchasing manager - in Oakland, California. The family moved to the East Bay area, near San Francisco. "When we moved to the West Coast, one issue was the lack of a close network around us initially," notes Gladys. Soon, they found a church and got in touch with distant family in the area, creating a support system and finding a source of occasional backup babysitting.

Gladys also reconnected with some of her former classmates and Wharton staff. "We found that four of my classmates had also relocated to San Francisco. We re-established contact with them and became quite close," she says.

As a student at Wharton West, Bob has found the same level of personal attention that Gladys enjoyed on the East Coast. "The administrative staff at Wharton West really has gone all out to make sure everyone is happy and comfortable," he says. "The campus in San Francisco has an intimate quality that makes the time we spend there a great experience for both learning and networking."

Carve Out Time
While Gladys was attending classes at Wharton's Philadelphia campus, Bob would take the kids to cultural institutions in the region. "The kids were coming to an area with a lot of activities they could participate in," she recalls. "When I was in school, Bob would often bring the kids over from New Jersey on Friday night for dinner and they'd go to museums on Saturday. Family vacations were important, too. When we relocated back to New Jersey, we came back to the same area so the kids could reunite with their previous schoolmates and teachers. It's a nice, warm environment, and it really helped the kids readjust quickly."

Now that Bob is in school on the West Coast, Gladys often flies out to San Francisco to spend time with him. "I could have transferred to the other campus (in Philadelphia) after the first year of the program," notes Bob, "but I felt that I had created valuable contacts on the West Coast and I didn't want to give them up. Also, I wanted to be part of the first graduating class of Wharton West."

Quality time is key: "We make sure to take time off for ourselves, too," says Gladys. "We often take daytrips together."

Stick to Your Schedule
If you're trying to balance everything, know your limits, says Bob, and do whatever works for you. "Gladys studied all night during exam weeks; she was a great crammer, while I have a more consistent pace of studying."

Gladys agrees. "Going to school doesn't mean you have to change your study habits. If you're a crammer, you can be a crammer; if you're more disciplined, that's fine, too. You find what's right for you - you can sneak in some study time between customer meetings, for instance, or run to Starbucks to read for an hour. I always tried to study when the kids were asleep - after 9:30 or 10 p.m."

"Gladys went to Wharton first and set a very high standard. So now there's pressure on me to achieve at the same level - especially when I have the same professors she did," says Bob. "It is unique for a couple to have so much in common. We feel very blessed."

Classmates help out, too. "Wharton assigns you to teams, so we have no choice who we work with. We had one team member who took charge of the organization and set up dates and meetings. We mostly all lived within a half-hour of each other in California, so we'd get together once a week, often in the house of a classmate. Now that I live part-time in New Jersey, we organize meetings around the times when I'm on the West Coast."

Sage Advice
"Make Wharton a priority," advises Bob. "You have to make it your first commitment. Sometimes it means pulling back from activities when I know I have to do stuff for school - like giving up my golf club membership. I have to be selective - for instance, I can't always attend church functions. But everyone else adjusts to it, and the semesters go by really fast. Everyone knows you're doing something good for yourself and your family. Wharton has allowed both of us to fulfill a dream."