Name: Kristi Orr
Location: Colorado
Company: Sweetlife Adventures
Professional Industry: Recreation
Job Title: Founder & Adventure Host
WIXII-ISM™ FROM KRISTI ORR:
“My current mindset comes from Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and something he calls the Stockdale Paradox. Named after admiral Jim Stockdale, who was a United States military officer held captive for eight years during the Vietnam War, the Stockdale Paradox says you must retain faith you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, and at the same time must face the most brutal facts of your reality, whatever they may be. I combine this with a quote by Mary Anne Radmacher that my aunt sent me while I was living in West Africa that says, ‘It is not the easy or convenient life for which I search, but life lived to the edge of all that I may be.’ The two pretty much sum it up for me.”
KRISTI’S STORY:
Meet our featured Wixii™, Kristi Orr. She is 41 and mother to two daughters ages 10 and 5 and one son age 8. She received her bachelor’s degree in Business Management. She currently is the founder and adventure host of Sweetlife Adventures in the recreation industry. An interesting fact about Kristi: “I’m sort of a good juggler; figuratively and literally.”
KRISTI’S CAREER PATH:
I am very thankful for the colorful career path that has led me to where I am now. After college, I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal West Africa, working with small businesses such as carpenters and artisans. It was life changing in all the good ways – personal growth, travel, learning new languages, incredible friends, world perspective…
When I returned to the US 2.5 years later, I did a 180 and went to work for Accenture (Andersen Consulting at the time) as a Change Management consultant, mostly providing Y2K consulting to media companies. I added some very valuable tools to my professional tool belt during those years.
My next step took me back to the Peace Corps (except this time I got paid) as the Public Affairs Specialist for the Denver Regional Office. It was pure joy – sharing the stories of the incredible men & women doing work around the world. Unfortunately, Peace Corps is the only federal agency with a “five year employment rule” so I had to leave after five awesome years.
Luckily, a very interesting opportunity had just been presented to me to help launch a national university fundraiser called CollegeKitchen. I was part of a great team that developed the concept and implemented it in many of the top universities in the nation, from USC to the University of North Carolina.
When our third baby was 18 months old, it was time to take a break from full-time work. Juggling three toddlers and travel had many perks but it suddenly felt like the right time to be home. It was during this time that I parlayed a little group I had organized for women to get together for various outings (snowshoeing, rock climbing, etc) into my current company, Sweetlife Adventures. Sweetlife Adventures empowers women through unique experiences that nurture mind & body in safe, social and supportive settings. Adventures range from doing standup paddle at sunset to learning the Michael Jackson Thriller dance. As women, taking care of ourselves is so important so that we can be our best for our family, our friends, our community, and the world. The Sweetlife mission is to make a positive impact on the world, one empowered woman at a time.
KRISTI’S MINDSET AND WORK-LIFE MIX:
Ha – my initial response to this is “all of the above”! (e.g., optimist, pessimist, idealist, realist, pragmatist, opportunist, perfectionist, good enough, can do, paralysis, risk-taking, risk-adverse, planner, spontaneous, etc…). My current mindset comes from Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and something he calls the Stockdale Paradox. Named after admiral Jim Stockdale, who was a United States military officer held captive for eight years during the Vietnam War, the Stockdale Paradox says you must retain faith you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, and at the same time must face the most brutal facts of your reality, whatever they may be. I combine this with a quote by Mary Anne Radmacher that my aunt sent me while I was living in West Africa that says, “It is not the easy or convenient life for which I search, but life lived to the edge of all that I may be.” The two pretty much sum it up for me.
CURRENT WORK-LIFE MIX
Like so many of us, my work-life mix is a smorgasbord of family, business, friends, me-time, fitness, fun, & chaos. I love win/wins so I am always looking for ways to accomplish multiple things at once. For example – running next to my daughter while she bikes to school or bringing the kids along to meet with the Sweetlife horseback riding partner so they can run around the ranch and feed the horses while I meet with the owner to plan our summer calendar. I’m not sure if it is the most efficient or effective way to live, but it is what works for our family right now.
What specific actions, choices, steps and/or decisions have you made (or would you like to make) to better manage your work-life mix?
I am a huge Danielle LaPorte fan and she emphasizes the importance of identifying how you want to FEEL in life. Through her teachings, I am learning the value of unsubscribing to things that don’t make me feel how I want to feel. This includes everything from an email list I never get a chance to read to relationships that drain me. Sometimes these are tough decisions, but ultimately I know it is much easier to manage my work-life mix when the majority of the commitments I make leave me feeling how I want to feel. It makes a full schedule feel empowering.
Please share specific tips for effectively managing your time and schedule.
For so long, I looked at our chaotic life and thought “oh things will calm down after the holidays” or “after spring sports end our schedule opens up” but the reality is there’s always another something waiting. Once I accepted that this is our life, right now in all its craziness, I’ve been better equipped to implement tools and systems that help me manage it all. Or at least try to. My husband and I keep everything on our phones’ shared calendars. We use the invite feature to schedule events – everything from kids’ sports to date nights. Dinner Friday night – Accept or Decline? Romantic, no. Effective, yes. I use the same calendar to plan each day, pretty much hour by hour. I prioritize what absolutely must get done, assign it the estimated amount of time, and schedule it, even workouts, grocery shopping, etc. I’m learning to be realistic with my time and to commit to keeping appointments with myself in the same way I do with others. The only drawback – a lost phone means I literally don’t know what to do with myself.
