PPB November 2018

| NOVEMBER 2018 | 87 CONNECT with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. How are you fitting college courses in with work and being a wife andmother? What’s your secret to time management? There really is no secret; it’s all about having a plan and sticking to it. I look at what has to be done for the week, schedule it out and ask for help when I need it. For example, over the summer I took two courses at once which was an enormous time commitment. I asked everyone I knew for help. Part of the plan involved taking a leave of absence from the gym. I asked my kids what they could do, and they decided to load and unload the dishwasher every day for me. My husband did all the cooking June through August which allowed me the time I needed to get everything done the best I could. Why it is important to earn your degree at this point in life? What has kept you motivated to finish? The idea of going back to school was something I struggled with for years. I’m getting a degree just because I want to—I want to take any “ifs” out of the equation and that concept was hard to embrace. Motivation lies mainly within showing my kids I can do it, and knowing I’ve done everything I can to be the best version of myself. Healthandfitness arepriorities for you. What is your typical nutritionandexercise routineandhowdoyou maintainconsistency— especiallywhile traveling? Let me first start by saying when it comes to nutrition and exercise, I am all kinds of crazy and I’mOK with that. Food outweighs exercise in my equation. I vary in the ways that I eat—mostly Paleo and sometimes Keto. What’s important is being in tune with my body and knowing that I’m fueling it to the best of my ability. No matter what though, my meals always include plenty of vegetables and protein. I always travel with food: Nick’s Sticks, Epic Bars, RX Bars or plain almond butter packs. I try to incorporate fun and active play in my daily life. I seize opportunities to jump on the trampoline with my kiddos, kayak and hike—the normal boundaries of a gym just aren’t appealing to me. I’d much rather skip, jump, cartwheel and dance to my own beat. You travel with a list of priorities. What are they and how do you use them? Family and time with my family are always at the top of my list and this is my guiding compass. Sometimes that means when I’m traveling my free time is spent hunkered down in my hotel room plowing through as much homework as I can so that when my plane lands the next day, I can give my focus to the people I love. Another priority is to be present in the moment. It’s a waste of energy and resources if I attend a customer event and I don’t show up to everything I was invited to. I fully commit and look forward to every conversation and experience, and if I am going to be away frommy family—I better make it count. So, if it’s an early morning hike with a client, I’m there. An evening welcome reception, I’m there. Nine hours on a trade show floor wearing a superhero costume, I’m there. My career and keeping presence with customers is definitely important to me. Youarealsoafirm believer inself- improvement.What are youworkingonnow? So many things! I’m always working on some daily habit adjustments as well as some big- picture items. Currently on the list is tracking my water intake, eating more berries and greens, and weekly meal planning. At work my focus is on growing my business by 20 percent, staying out of email outside of scheduled times and having 20 in-person meetings before the end of the year. Personally, I’m working on limiting my social media time, establishing a gym routine and making time every week for personal connections with friends. Tina Berres Filipski is editor of PPB. Kelli Denes with her team at supplier Raining Rose, Inc. in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.