My favorite moment of this year’s Pepper Festival at Briar Chapel was when Abundance executive director, Tami Schwerin, was invited to get her face painted by a young volunteer.
Author: Dana Phelps
Winning the Cool Mom Race
Laura Carey is a financial services officer with the State Employees’ Credit Union and a busy mom who enjoys cooking and running. Earlier this year, she took on a new hobby: BMX. Since she’s the first woman I’ve known to do this, I was intrigued to learn more about how she got into this sport and what it is really all about.
How/why did you get into BMX biking and how long did it take before you felt like you knew what you were doing?
My son, James, started BMX last fall. He quickly got very involved to the point that we were traveling to Raleigh, Burlington and Clemmons most weekends for his races. This spring, my husband and I decided that we would like to start racing as well because we were bored sitting on the sidelines. There are a lot of adults racing, and it looked like a lot of fun and a great form of exercise.
How do people typically respond when they learn that you are a strong competitor in an extreme sport?
I keep one of my trophies in my office. As clients see it and comment, they are generally shocked that the trophy belongs to me and that I actually race. At work, I am typically wearing a dress and three inch heels. It opens the dialogue for me to tell them about the sport and how easy it is for someone with no experience whatsoever to quickly get involved. Most people initially think that BMX is motocross where riders ride motorcycles. The other misconception is that I am doing tricks and jumps on ramps at a park much like a skateboarder would. We ride bicycles on a mostly dirt track and race against other riders over obstacles and turns to a finish line.
How has taking on this sport helped you in other areas of life?
It has given me confidence that I can try things that I might consider out of reach. Although I would not say that I have come close to mastering this sport, I have definitely progressed a bit from the first time I stood at the top of the starting hill terrified. It has reminded me that hard work can pay off.
It has definitely given me perspective in relation to my son. It was easy to try to coach him and tell him to just pedal harder and try harder when he was racing. Once I gave it a try, I saw that it wasn’t as easy as it looked, and I completely changed how I talked with him about riding. At one of the first practices, another adult rider told me that it would help me to understand what my child is going through, and it really has. This made me think of other facets of my life where I could apply the cliché “walk a mile in their shoes” whether it’s at work or at home or in line at the coffee shop. Until you have actually seen life from someone’s perspective, you do not have a place to criticize.
Are there many women in BMX?
No. In the state of North Carolina, there are around 50 female riders registered as compared to 250 males. They range in age from 4 to 60. Of those riders, approximately 12 are above the age of 20. At this time, there are a growing number of girls who are riding. The women are a pretty tight knit group that are constantly encouraging and supporting each other.
What would you tell women who might want to give it a try but are apprehensive about it?
I would encourage them to come out to a practice to give it a try. I was nervous about making a fool of myself, but most of the riders are extremely friendly and willing to help you with pointers and advice.
Is there anything else you would like to share about this sport and your love for it?
This is the first sport that our family can participate in together as peers. We are all competing on race day in our own events and sometimes against each other. The BMX culture we have encountered has been very welcoming and accepting of new riders.
You’ve got to love a women who is bored sitting on the sidelines and who stares down that starting hill and goes for it! That’s exactly why we asked Laura to allow us to feature her in an Oh Momma Monday post. She suggests this new rider guide for anyone interested in learning more about BMX.
What’s next for Laura? This weekend she’ll be competing in The Tar Heel National in Raleigh, her largest race yet. Like many of the adult riders, she says her goals for this and every race are as follows: 1) make it to work on Monday (meaning, do not get hurt) 2) qualify for the main event and 3) have fun. Please join the Clairemont team in wishing her the best of luck!
I love My Smartphone But…
When I was a teenager, I had a rainbow phone in my room. It had a cord that could wrap around the globe at least a couple of times so that I could walk anywhere in the house while I talked with my best friend, Jill. She lived just a few blocks away. I’m not sure why we never tried it, but since her phone cord was as equally as long as mine, we probably could have started walking to meet in the middle while still on our phones.
It was a happy day when we got a cordless phone in our house. And in relatively short order, cordless phones gave way to mobile phones. These days, I love my smartphone. As a master of multitasking, it feels like I am on it — either talking, texting or using an app — all the time. However, there is one place I draw the line: the grocery store checkout line. I feel so rude talking on the phone and not interacting with the cashier.
In our always-on society, I got to wondering about other people’s phone boundaries. I asked the Clairemont team to fill in the blank in this statement. I love my smartphone, but I refuse to ________________. Here are some of the answers.
- …bring it to the dinner table. Well, at least for the first 10 minutes!
- …use it for online shopping.
- …give up on or always substitute it for face-to-face verbal communication and interactions.
- …let it control me!
- …keep it on during naps. My sleep. Mine.
The last response added, “I’m not above, however, keeping it in my bra should the need arise.” Oh yes, the need for more pockets in women’s clothing. Perhaps that’s a post for another time.
Copy Cat: Vet Clinic — Funny or Too Far?
We like catchy copy. In our Copy Cat blog series, we’ve written about good copy, bad copy, attention-getting copy, heartwarming copy and typos in copy.
As we write our own copy and copy for clients, we sometimes ask, “What is too far?” Some brands have a sense of humor. Sometimes there’s a desire to say something shocking or push the envelope to be memorable or simply get people talking.
These photos from a vet clinic made the rounds on Facebook. What do you think? Funny? Or offensive?
Friday Five: Must-Have Apps, Supplies
In honor of our fifth anniversary, we are doing lots of lists of fives. Since I’ve been traveling lately, my list today consists of things that are essential to being productive and keeping sane while on the road.
- RunKeeper was the first smart phone app I ever download it. It helped me train for a marathon in 2009 and a half marathon earlier this year. I love it at home, and it is especially useful on the road when I need to keep training but don’t have the ability to map out running routes in advance.
- Got to have my tunes. While Pandora is great for background music, iTunes is still my go-to for when I am wanting to get focused on my workout, plug in the headphones and decompress on a flight or for when I want to get my dance on at the end of a long day. Perhaps I’m a tad particular about my tunes. I want them to sound good even when I am away from home. The Bose Soundlink speaker provides excellent sound, is compact enough to add to my carry-on bag and is just cute as a button.
photo from bose.com - Skype on my phone. Yes, I can video conference back to the office. More importantly, I can see my boy’s sweet face when I’m having a travel-induced bout of missing him dearly. Also, since he still doesn’t have his own phone, Skype allows us to text when he might already be on a video call with his buddies.
- Notes on my iPhone is a particularly handy tool for things like having Siri type this blog post as I’m driving, providing a mobile to-do list and allowing me to capture funny quotes as I hear them. Notes can be shared via text and email, so longer content converts easily when needed.
- However, there is still nothing like a real notebook. I love paper. I love cute notebooks. I love a lot of products from Carolina Pad, and I along with the other members of the Clairemont team are particularly obsessed with this particular notebook. I love it in Clairemont pink, and we also have it in blue and green. Every time I’m in Walgreens I stock up on these knowing that they are a Clairemont favorite. It fits perfectly in my bag with my MacBook and never runs out of battery power.
Can I get a high-five for staying productive while on the go? What are your favorite productivity tools, apps and products that get you through your day?
