Name: Maria Johnson
Location: Colorado
Company: Arapahoe Family Dentistry
Professional Industry: Dentristy
Job Title: Dentist, Practice Co-Owner
WIXII-ISM™ FROM MARIA SONG JOHNSON:
“My husband and I have the same goals and work together very well to have a fulfilling work and home life.”
MARIA’S STORY:
Meet our featured Wixii™, Maria Johnson. She is in her early 30s and mother to a 2 year-old daughter and soon to be newborn son. She has her B.S. in Zoology and D.M.D. from the University of Florida. She and her husband co-own a dentistry practice and are avid golfers.
MARIA’S CAREER PATH:
I volunteered at a VA hospital dental clinic when I was in middle school and wanted to go into the dental field as a career. I received scholarship through the US Navy and served in the US Navy Dental Corp after graduating Dental School. I met my husband in the Navy and now we practice together in a dental practice that we own. We share our responsibility at work as well as at home with our 2 year-old toddler.
MARIA’S MINDSET AND WORK-LIFE MIX:
I am an optimist and always strive for happiness in life. My husband and I have the same goals and work together very well to have a fulfilling work and home life.
I am lucky to be able to manage my own work schedule. I currently work 3 and 1/2 days per week and I am working to increase that to 4 days per week by 2014. I am able to focus on my job when I am at work, and I am able to spend quality time with my family when I am at home. My daughter attends pre-school full time and she thrives at the school she is at. She loves her teacher and her friends. I used to feel guilty dropping her off at her school, but I now realize how much she is growing and learning at her school. My husband and I love to play golf together, and we take our daughter with us when we go out to golf course on the weekends. I sometimes wish there was two more hours in the day, but we try to utilize our time wisely as possible.
Describe a “day in your life” from waketime to bedtime:
I wake up anywhere between 5:30 to 6am. I quickly get in a morning workout. My daughter wakes up around 6:30-7am, and I get her ready for school. We all eat breakfast together, and we are out the door to go to work and school at 7:30am. We pick up our daughter at 5:30-6pm and we head home for dinner, which I usually prepare (unless we eat out). Dinner and family time until bedtime at 8:30pm. We both get our daughter ready for bed and our routine includes bath and reading books. My husband reads one book and I read one book. Once our daughter is asleep (one of us stays with her until she is asleep), my husband and I try to get some time together until our bedtime around 10:30pm.
How does your current mindset/attitude empower and/or frustrate your ability to thrive in your work-life mix? How has your mindset/attitude toward life changed over time?
We are expecting our 2nd baby this fall, and I am fearful of all the new changes that are going to come.
What specific actions, choices, steps and/or decisions have you made (or would you like to make) to better manage your work-life mix?
We decided to purchase and own our own dental practice so that we can be in charge of our work schedule. This has made a big difference in our work-life mix.
Please share specific tips for effectively managing your time and schedule.
Be flexible! We can’t all do everything and be good at everything. I think it is important to choose what’s most important and focus on that. We do have house cleaners who come to clean our house once a month so that we can spend more time with each other.
What do you currently find most challenging/concerning about your work-life mix? What areas do you most needs support?
Childcare, Childcare, Childcare!!! We do not have any family who can help out when the unexpected inevitably happens. Sometimes, our daughter will be sick and cannot attend her school. Those are the most stressful times because we have to rearrange our work schedule.
What advice would you give an earlier version of yourself?
Everything about me now is the result of all the mistakes I’ve made in the past. If I could go back in time and be able to give myself an advice, I would tell myself not to be afraid to make mistakes. We all learn from our own mistakes!!
