Joy Lusk

When Avery Patten needed someone experienced to do part-time bookkeeping at her floral design studio, she turned to a new locally owned business called FlexWorks.

Within a matter of minutes, the Chattanooga business, run by Joy Lusk and Kathleen Hunt, had found someone that Ms. Patten feels confident will work well with her venture.

That is exactly why the owners of FlexWorks launched their business — to connect people like Ms. Patten with experienced professionals who want flexible work hours.

Both Ms. Lusk and Dr. Hunt, a part-time pediatrician at T.C. Thompson Children’s Hospital, sympathize with professionals looking for flexible work. At one time, both women have had demanding careers and young children under the age of 9.

“We noticed that a lot of our friends with children that age have had careers, taken some time off and are ready to do something again professionally, and they don’t really know where to start,” Ms. Lusk said.

Through FlexWorks, people with a good bit of work experience — usually 10 years or more — can be placed in flexible working situations including event planning, administration and engineering.

Before starting the business, Ms. Lusk had helped Ms. Patten find someone to work as an assistant. That situation worked out so well, she said she didn’t hesitant calling Ms. Lusk again.

“The reason I turned to her in this case, because I knew one, both she and Kathleen are extremely well educated and extremely intelligent,” Ms. Patten said. “I trusted them to find someone who could pick things up quickly and who was very intelligent.”

Once the business partners began looking at the market, they found it was not just moms looking to return to work part time, but also retired people and even dads with skills and experience who stay at home.

Currently, FlexWorks working with about 60 people seeking jobs and some 12 local companies looking for employees. Ms. Lusk and Dr. Hunt recently launched the company’s Web site, www.FlexWorks.com, where individuals interested in finding flexible work can submit an application.

Ms. Lusk, a Chattanooga native and graduate from GPS, has undergraduate and graduate degrees in business from Vanderbilt University.

She worked for a large consultancy in Washington, D.C., and then New York City where the majority of her clients were financial services firms.

Dr. Hunt graduated from Harvard University and attended Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. She worked for several years in pediatric emergency medicine, which allowed flexible hours. Dr. Hunt also earned an MBA from Harvard and has worked with a venture capital fund.