It was a career move few ambitious women dare.

Studies have found that women are eight times more likely than men to be out of the labor force for four years or more, and the glass ceiling is often blamed on such lifestyle choices.

Fiorina, for one, has no biological children, but has two grown stepdaughters by way of husband Frank Fiorina.

"Brenda has a nice, wonderful balance," said Ron Sargent, CEO of Staples, where Barnes is a board member.

Staples is a huge customer of HP's inkjet printers, but Sargent says he never got to know Fiorina, 50, well enough to compare leadership styles. However, it's a mistake to think Barnes, 51, is soft because of her decision to put family ahead of career, Sargent says.

"I look at her as tough when she needs to be ... a pleasure to be around when she's not talking business," Sargent says.

Barnes' resignation struck a chord eight years ago, and she appeared on all three morning network programs. Still, it surprised no one that Barnes didn't become a traditional stay-at-home mom.

Barely two years had passed before she resurfaced as interim chief operating officer of Starwood Hotels & Resorts. She was recruited as a director to Staples, Sears, The New York Times Co. and Avon Products.

Barnes joined Sara Lee as chief operating officer six months ago.

Barnes grew up in Chicago, one of seven children. A 1975 business and economics graduate of Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill., she started out making $10,000 a year with Wilson Sporting Goods. PepsiCo later divested Wilson, but Barnes remained with Pepsi for 22 years.

There were whispers that she was in the race to be Pepsi's CEO when she tired of the 70-hour weeks and 3:30 a.m. alarms so she could work at home before getting her children up at 7.

Most everyone at Pepsi tried to persuade her to stay, including husband Randy Barnes, who was a company senior vice president and treasurer.