In this Intelligence Report: Who is Sharon Bialek? The Chicago-area woman has an extensive corporate and personal history in the area going back to the early 1990s.
It was her hope for a new job that Bialek says brought her to Herman Cain that day in 1997. Bialek's resume and a trail of public records indicates that changing jobs has been a regular occurrence for the Chicagoan. She has worked for at least nine different employers over the past 17 years and appears to have struggled financially.
The public record on Bialek begins in 1991 when she filed personal bankruptcy for the first time while living in Des Plaines.
Between 1993 and 1996 Bialek worked for four different companies in promotion and marketing positions.
In 1996, and part of 1997, Bialek was at the National Restaurant Association. After being let go from that job in mid-1997, she says that she went to Washington, D.C., to meet with Cain, president of the association, because she needed a job.
In 1999, Bialek's son Nicholas was born and a paternity lawsuit was filed by the father, a media executive.
In 2001 came Bialek's second personal bankruptcy, filed after sizable legal bills. That year she was hired by WGN radio where she worked until 2004 when she took a marketing job and then a job at WCKG radio.
Along the way, according to her attorney, Bialek also held positions with Revlon and Easter Seals.
Bialek currently lives in Glenview with fiance Mark Harwood.
"She's of the same political persuasion as Herman Cain," Harwood said. "There was no money on the table to go and have an interview. This is truly about an American girl who's got a big heart and wants to do the right thing."
