We all know them — women who make life look effortless. They appear to have it all together, flawlessly juggling their various roles at home, work and in the community, while the rest of us wonder: “What’s her secret?!”
Here, five busy, successful women share how they navigate through a typical day and what it takes to achieve a healthy balance.
TRESSE SUMRALL
Tresse is co-owner of White Pillars Restaurant and Lounge with her husband, Austin. They have a 6-year-old son, Ollie, and a 9-month-old-pup, Griffin.
Our routine is ever-changing, depending on the day. Large events, and the restaurant business in general, involve a lot of early mornings and late nights. Along with running the business and managing roughly 30 employees, I specifically handle office duties and coordinate events for White Pillars.
I have to give a lot of credit to both of our mothers, Cindy Necaise and Dawn Sumrall; we simply couldn’t do this without them! They offer a plethora of advice and tons of support, keeping our son with our crazy schedules while both working full time themselves. They are a shining example of what it takes to be hardworking and supportive mothers that I strive to emulate every day. It is important for me as a busy mom to try to have fun and enjoy our family time every chance we get, even if we have to do it at the restaurant so we can all be together.
TESSY LAMBERT
Tessy is chief marketing officer with Lodging and Leisure Investments, as well as wife to husband Jed and mom to daughter Laykin.
Every day for me is completely different. I typically begin my days with a 4 a.m. cup of coffee, and a 5 a.m. barre class before heading off to my office at Margaritaville. That is where I juggle marketing our four main family-owned businesses here on the Coast: Margaritaville Resort Biloxi, White House Hotel, Hotel Legends and Centennial Plaza.
Professionally, I am our company’s CMO, responsible for future planning and curating our advertising and marketing messages to the world, but I consider my most important role to be the wife of my high school sweetheart and mother to our 13-year-old daughter. We all know that juggling roles is hard, and doing so within a family business brings its own unique set of challenges.
To be a good juggler, it’s all in the throw — multitasking, making quick decisions and being consistent. No one person can do all it takes to keep our businesses running, so having a dependable team that can handle anything I throw their way and run with it is how we keep it all together.
IRENE MAGEE
Irene is executive pastor with Empowerment Ministries Christian Center and CEO of Magee Financial Tax Services. She is also a wife, mother of five, pastor’s wife and entrepreneur. As an early retired star math teacher, she has sought to help tutor children and adults.
Looking from the outside in, it may appear that I always manage everything well, but this is very far from the truth. In fact, there are many times that I feel like I am drowning trying to balance all that I do daily.
Just like a washing machine knocks when it is overloaded or off balance, so do we. If we are feeling anxious or overwhelmed, we begin to knock and show signs such as anger, moodiness and depression, and we find ourselves cranky and unpleasant to be around. When I find this happening to me, I remind myself that this is not how God intended for me to live. Since I am created in His image, then I realize that because He does all things well, then so can I.
If I had to sum it up, I would say living a balanced life isn’t giving everything the same amount of time. It’s prioritizing things daily, making sure that you set aside time for yourself, and learning to say “no” when it’s necessary, sharing or delegating responsibility, organizing your time with a written plan for all your responsibilities and asking God what you are supposed to be doing so that you can do everything he wants you to do well.
PAIGE ROBERTS
Paige is president and CEO at Jackson County Chamber of Commerce and a mom to three sons.
It’s 8 p.m. on a Thursday evening, and I just returned home from a barre class — only the second one I’ve ever taken. It is humbling. I’m the oldest student by 15 years, with the widest hips and the creakiest knees, but I’m present and participating, sweating as an oldie rather than to the oldies. Ha! I’ll turn 52 in a few days, and I am determined to maintain a healthy body, mind and spirit.
Health is key to life balance. Physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing determines the tilt of our scale. Without exercise, counseling and faith, my job would devour me, and my children would disown me.
Take today, when I coordinated a program for local high school students to better prepare them for job interviews, researched a revenue generator for one of our communities, assisted one of our mayors with a public relations effort and hosted a ribbon-cutting for a new business.
I’m also, and always, a mom to three sons in college, high school and middle school, respectively. The two at home play five sports between them. Sometimes, I use a spreadsheet to track all their practices and games. I don’t get to see every game, but there is always someone who loves them in the stands or on the sidelines.
I practice yoga, workout at a gym and run. I check in regularly with a psychiatrist, attend church, and memorize scripture. Some days, despite my best efforts, it all goes wrong — but I’ll try again tomorrow.
MORGAN BOGOLIN
Morgan is director of resource development and marketing for Boys & Girls Clubs of the Gulf Coast, as well as mother to 5-year-old Amira, graduate student at the University of Southern Mississippi, board member for Coast Young Professionals, River Oaks Elementary PTA president and consultant with Legacy Business League.
A typical day in my life consists of getting my determined, outspoken and witty 5-year-old off to school before heading to my day job of helping to secure funding and sharing the impact of Boys & Girls Clubs with the community. Depending on the day, afternoons are filled with PTA calls, Girl Scout Troop meetings, church, CYP events, working with Legacy Business League, and/ or completing assignments for my classes at USM. And of course, the laundry and dishes don’t take care of themselves, but the robot vacuum is a big help.
(My advice is) be passionate about everything you do. Of course, organization, to-do lists, calendars and reminders are a big help, but the fire that keeps me going is the passion I have for everything I do. From watching my daughter get a new patch on her Girl Scouts tunic to helping bring new opportunities to children of Boys & Girls Clubs to being a part of helping minority business owners’ visions come to fruition to walking across the stage to receive my master’s degree, I love being a part of everything God has placed in my path. Prioritizing is always a must, but, as my boss tells us, sometimes it is “both/and,” not “either/or.”