As president and managing director of the multimillion-dollar Lyon & Associates Creative Services, Susan Lyon has a little secret. Call her voice mail Monday through Thursday after 3 p.m. and her message says she’s in meetings the rest of the day.

“Actually, I am in a meeting — but it’s with my kids,” she says with a chuckle. “I leave at 3 p.m. on those days to pick them up at school.”

Lyon, who started Lyon & Associates with her husband, Mark, in 1991, balances a demanding career with a busy family. Her resume reads like an encyclopedia of success, and she puts her two elementary school-age boys first.

“I’m constantly asking myself, ‘what’s important?’” says Lyon, 37. “But I’m the first to admit that balancing career and family is a hard thing.”

Lyon makes it look easy. As CFO of Lyon & Associates, she built the creative design firm from $15,000 in sales to just under $4 million in 2000. According to Dun & Bradstreet, her firm’s profit margins are consistently double those of comparable firms.

Lyon is a member of the Young Entrepreneur Organization and a past board member as well. This year she was named the Small Business Person of the Year for the San Diego district and for the state of California.

Lyon is a strong advocate for pro bono work. Her firm has donated its design services to nonprofit groups like the San Diego Museum of Art, Partnerships With Industry, the San Diego County Department of Animal Control and the Family Literacy Foundation.

“I think it’s important for us to be involved with the community,” she says. “I think we receive more rewards than the people we help because we get a chance to get involved and get that sense of belonging to the community.”

— Patricia Morris Buckley