Name: Jamie Harris
Location: Cherry Hills Village, CO
Professional Industry: Residential Real Estate
Company:Kentwood City Properties
Job Title: Real Estate Broker
WIXII-ISM™ FROM JAMIE:
“You really can be successful at whatever you decide you want to do, even if it does not follow your original plan. Life has a way of working out. Everything happens in due time. For me, my real estate business was really booming and I needed to hire an assistant to serve the needs of my clients. I suggested my husband join me but I never thought he would say yes. About a year later, we began working together. At the same time, our attempt to start a family was put on hold while we dealt with some infertility issues. We were finally blessed with a baby boy about four years later. Because Brian and I are a team, both in work and life, I have been able to raise my children while still having meaningful work.”
PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL INFORMATION:
Meet our featured Wixii™, Jamie Harris. She is in her early 40s and mother to Hudson, 7, and Chase, 2. She and her husband, Brian, were married for four years before they welcomed their first child into the world. She received a marketing degree from the Business School at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She and her husband act as team of real estate brokers for Kentwood City Properties, and their job responsibilities include assisting buyers and sellers in the sale and purchase of residential real estate.
As primary caregiver and participating breadwinner, she devotes about 20 to 25 hours per week to her career and would rate both her job satisfaction level and work-life satisfaction as 9s on a scale of 1-10 (10 being highest). She describes the policies of her workplace as family friendly in that they allow her to assist her husband in their real estate business, while also raising two busy boys. Currently, her job involves a lot of time spent behind a computer managing the team’s marketing efforts. When working with buyers, she spends time educating clients on neighborhoods, values and investment goals. In a typical week, she spends between 20-40 hours on laundry and cooking, and less than 10 hours on cleaning, shopping, children’s schoolwork and extracurricular, respectively.
To maintain her own well-being, on a daily basis, Jamie exercises, eats well, connects with loved ones and spends time on prayer/meditation. Weekly, Jamie spends time with friends and catches up on sleep. Monthly, she indulges in pampering and on an annual basis finds time for travel. Jamie volunteers at her children’s schools as much as she can find the time.
WORK-LIFE MIX:
Describe any choices you have made in arriving at your current work-life mix. In what ways did your work-life mix change after having children?
After college, I didn’t see myself finding a career that I enjoyed. I couldn’t wait to find a husband and be a mom! I had no idea that I could be successful and have both. So after about four years working in the advertising industry (and still not finding the right husband!), my father, a commercial real estate broker, suggested that I give residential real estate a try. It was a difficult transition in the beginning, but much to my surprise, I was really good at it and successful fairly quickly.
A short time later, I met a wonderful man and we got married. My real estate business continued to grow, while my husband worked for a successful computer animation company. We were working opposite hours and not seeing much of each other. My business was really booming and I needed to hire an assistant to serve the needs of my clients. I suggested my husband join me but I never thought he would say yes. About a year later, we began working together. At the same time, our attempt to start a family was put on hold while we dealt with some infertility issues. We were finally blessed with a baby boy about four years later. Because it was a such a struggle for us to become parents, once we did, I felt strongly to be the one to raise them. Accordingly, for our family, day care or a full time sitter was not an option. I feel so blessed that my husband was able to grab the reins with our real estate business, while I focused on having and raising the babies. We are fortunate that the Kentwood Company is so accommodating with this type of arrangement. Now that our kids are a bit older, I am still trying to figure out how to balance both career and family – some days it works, others it doesn’t!
In what ways did your work-life mix change after having children?
Oh my – before children it was much easier. We worked hard and played hard – went to nice dinners and enjoyed time together on great vacations. Now I feel like we work really hard, but don’t get much time to travel or do adult things as much as we’d like. Our time is most often spent either working or with kids.
Describe your career path to this point and any envisioned future changes.
Joining forces with my husband in 2002 allowed us to raise our family while still succeeding in the real estate industry. Currently my husband is most often the “face” of our team, and I do most of the behind the scenes work, allowing us both to spend time with our kids. I believe that as my kids get older, I will be able to spend more time in front of clients and less behind my computer.
My current work-life mix is possible (manageable) because of…
The flexibility of our employer, the Kentwood Company, and the partnership between my husband and me for our shared residential real estate brokerage.
Describe a current “day in your life” from waketime to bedtime:
6:30am: Wake with my 2 year old. Make breakfasts, lunches
8:30am: Take older son to school
9:00am-1:00pm Monday & Wednesday: Do activities like gymnastics or swimming with my 2 year old; Tuesday: sitter comes from 9 to 3 and I work away from home; Thursday & Friday: my 2 year old goes to school until 1:00pm while I work and try to fit a work out in
1:30pm-5:00pm all days: 2 year old naps, sometimes workout for an hour in that window and work more until older son comes home from school. Homework and play time until 5.
5:00-8:00pm: Prepare dinner, eat, play, bath
8:30pm: Kids to bed, finish up on email and house chores
10:00pm: To bed for me
On a daily basis…:
- I am energized by exercising (barre workout) and I love watching my kids learn new things and explore.
- I am frustrated by being pulled in too many directions.
- I get a sense of accomplishment by being able to help my husband and contribute to our overall financial picture as well watching my kids interact and learn.
- I am drained by trying to work while the 2 year old is awake – impossible!
WIXII™ WISDOM:
Share your key(s) to maintaining order (“managing it all”) and any tools you highly recommend:
I’m pretty “Type A” so I try to pick up things as I go – toys etc. I try to pay bills when I get them and keep up with our business accounting. When I go to make the kids lunch on the weekends, I make an extra sandwich or two to be packed in their lunches for the week. I unload the dishwasher and do laundry when they are home and ask them to help so that I can reserve the time when they are away for the computer. I delete unimportant email the minute that I receive it so that my inbox doesn’t fill up.
Any List is great for grocery lists, birthday gifts etc. It can be shared with others and you can cross items off when you buy them. Quicken is great for our business accounting.
I plan meals before I go shopping and make a list of what I need at the store. When I make a batch of cookies or muffins I bag them separately so I can pop into lunches or grab as snacks on the go.
What advice would you give an earlier version of yourself?
You really can be successful at whatever you decide you want to do. It all has a way of working out. Worrying is pointless. Everything happens in due time. Believing in God or a higher power helps you to get through loss and disappointment. Never say anything that you can’t take back. Don’t hold a grudge or judge anyone even if they are different.
Is there anything else you would like to share regarding your work-life mix?
To me, balance is so hard to achieve and at times I feel like it is too much to even try! We try to laugh a lot and find humor in just about everything. I try not to take anything too seriously and really be in the present moment. Having gratitude for my health, my life, my husband and kids can get me through just about anything.
