Name: Hermy Balcomb
Location: Colorado
Company: Credere and Share
Professional Industry: Teacher/Storyteller
Job Title: Author, Professor, Blogger
WIXII-ISM™ FROM HERMY BALCOMB:
“What I’ve learned from the experience is that by keeping a foot in the career door, it has inspired my mothering heart to appreciate the best of both worlds; the merger has resulted in a healthier sense of self and the unlocking of possibilities within.”
HERMY’S STORY:
Meet our featured Wixii™, Hermy Balcomb. She is in her late 30s, and she is the mother of three daughters: Annalien, 5, Katherine, 4, and Johanna, 2. She holds two master’s degrees. The first one is in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix and the second one is in Strategic Communication Leadership from Seton Hall University. She is the author of CREDERE, a fictional story that examines the possibilities of the afterlife from a non-religious perspective along with those ‘what-if’ questions that we ponder from time-to-time, but quickly drop because it makes us feel uncomfortable, and the founder of Credere and Share, a social awareness program that celebrates the light of our individuality through daily postings on Facebook and Twitter. Additionally, she’s the author of the blog Crazy Sexy Motherhood, a site that shares weekly fictional stories about the good, the bad, and downright funny moments of raising three small children while holding, trying, onto one’s last thread of sanity.
Hermy’s youngest daughter was born at home through an unplanned home birth with just her husband by her side. The whole experience lasted less than seven minutes and resulted in the arrival of a healthy, feisty little girl. She summarizes that moment as being one of the best, unplanned for, moments of her life.
HERMY’S CAREER PATH:
For the last decade, Hermy’s been an instructor at two community colleges teaching an assortment of classes from Communication to Business Management to English Composition. In 2008, she received the Teacher of the Year Award at Lehigh Valley College, Pennsylvania, and she is a member of Phi Theta Kappa, supporting academic achievements for two-year colleges. Since 2009, she has been an adjunct instructor at Front Range Community College at their main, Westminster, campus, teaching Public Speaking and Interpersonal Communication.
HERMY’S MINDSET AND WORK-LIFE MIX:
My current mindset is a based upon one principle I learned from writing my novel. I believe life should be measured in the moments we’re fully engaged to now. That forms my self-actualized goal for the day; a more immediate goal, in this moment, is to maintain my sanity. Below are my approaches to navigating these two extremes through my daily mix.
My first professional job, after graduating from college, was working at the global headquarters of Merck & Co., Inc. Pharmaceuticals in New Jersey. Although my four years in the position taught me firsthand life skills that I still use in public relations today, I strongly disliked being locked into a 9-to-5 work schedule; stuck behind a desk in a cubical farm with no windows. From that experience, I learned that I thrive within a less time-structured style of productivity. As an adjunct instructor, author, and mom, I juggle my productivity around my day’s appointments, children’s naptimes, and times of the day I function the best. I try to use my pockets of time, mostly an hour here-and-there, to its fullest potential. My best work is completed first-thing in the morning or after 9 p.m. when the house is really quiet. The interim of my day is used to think about the logistics of my writing projects. President Lincoln’s inspires my heart daily: “Give me six hours to chop a tree down and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
Family: how do you build meaningful relationships with the people who matter most in your life?
I’m a huge believer in old-fashioned meals around the dining room table. I think it helps to build a sense of family identity while nurturing our hearts as well as our bodies. Additionally, I think it helps to teach my children that healthy food can be tasty, exciting, and gratifying to make. As my children are aging, they are helping me with more chores around the kitchen. I see this time as ‘our time’ where we’re are learning, interacting, and creating memories together, the whole family, at least once every day of the week around one structured activity.
House: how do you maintain order/status quo and/or how do you “manage it all” just a bit better?
My house would be described as a cozy, family space of interaction. I don’t mind that my formal sitting room, currently, is being taken over by Barbie dolls and her friends. However, I try to keep our space clean and tidy by doing little chores every day – for example, one day I’ll vacuum the top-half of the house and the next day the bottom-half. Additionally, the children help with daily clean-ups. To put it simply: my house isn’t spotless, but it’s clean, and it’s a livable space made up of little bodies in constant motion, children’s toys scattered in an organized groupings, and endless hours of creative play throughout the rooms of our home. A space of happy chaos!
Self: how do you strengthen your own identity and not lose yourself in the mix?
I have to credit my husband, Traves, for really encouraging me to consciously take time to nourish my soul, indirectly myself. He has always worked my teaching schedule into his work schedule because he emphatically believes that teaching brings me joy. What I’ve learned from the experience is that by keeping a foot in the career door, it has inspired my mothering heart to appreciate the best of both worlds; the merger has resulted in a healthier sense of self and the unlocking of possibilities within.
Community: how do you contribute and add value to the larger world around you?
A sense of community within my life is reached through my teaching. I believe that love equals our time. I teach because I wish to invest in the unearthing of human potential. Indirectly, I leave most semesters feeling like I’m the one who has learned the most. My students became my teachers, or as Henry Adams once shared: “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” It’s that interplay of roles that reaffirms in my heart that our collective potential can reach so much more collective good in this world when we learn from and alongside each other. It only requires an open mind and a receptive heart that’s slower to judge and quicker to understand with soulful intent.
Please share your favorite efficiencies and timesavers.
One rule that I try to live by is to cook in bulk, so that I can enjoy two meals from one meal preparation. Additionally, I like to rotate my meals; the previous dinner becomes a future lunch. This way, I always have my fridge stocked up with a couple of meal varieties that are ready to go, especially when my children are super hungry, and I’m limited on time. This single piece of advice has been the greatest contributor to my sanity’s preservation.
What advice would you give an earlier version of yourself?
Albert Einstein said, “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” Living life in high definition requires courage – the courage to dare to dream in bold colors of passion with limitless streaks of authentic spender that only YOU can create! It only requires from you to never stop being curious! Curiosity is the doorway to unlocking personal possibilities, seeded deep within.
