Sharing a little bit of my story to give you an understanding of this Human.

Greetings! My name is Yamiek, a recovering workaholic that is on a journey to live intentionally in my purpose. I was born and raised in beautiful Jamaica and have been growing up in the United States for almost 20 years.

OUR STORY
First came college then came love…

I met my husband in college when a friend asked me to assist her with helping a new graduate student from Jamaica to purchase furniture.

I remember her saying, “I have a guy for one of you girls” when she called. I was the least bit interested.
I was so happy to be in college and Gator Nation – Yes, Go Gators!
I was focused on getting good grades and working to help pay for college.

However, as Erin Loechner said in her book, Chasing Slow, “sometimes when we’re not looking for what we want, we find what we need.” As I write this post my heart swells up when I think of my husband.

We have been married for almost 14 years and have been together for 16 years.
We are blessed to have found each other.
He makes me calm and took me out of the black space I would find myself at times.
We have two beautiful princesses (6 ½ and 3 ½ years) and two boys; our fur sons (11+ and 10 years).

We are both originally from Jamaica and have lived in Florida, Northern Virginia/D.C. area and recently relocated to Chicagoland.

CHASING THE AMERICAN DREAM
Continuing our Education and Climbing the Corporate Ladder…

We spent our first years together doing exactly what we were told to do by our parents and society, “go to school and work hard to get a good career”.

THE FIRST ROCKSTAR CAREER MOM I KNEW
I am from a family of lifelong educators. I have seen how education changed the trajectory of my family when My Grandmother decided that she wanted more for herself and her six children.

She DARED to go to college after being married and having six children at a time in rural Jamaica “the country” when women dreamed to attend high school.

I have recently started to question this path or process – we go to college, some of us must take student loans, and then work 60 – 80 hours a week to climb the corporate ladder.

MY CAREER 

I am fortunate to have worked in a career that I love – where I have been able to positively impact individuals lives by assisting them with finding their purpose.
I worked in higher education where I wore several hats in Career Coaching.

I know how my “two cents” can affect not only my students or clients lives but also their families.

TAUGHT TO WORK HARD – TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY
It was also ingrained in me from my high school motto, “Whatever You Do, Do it to The Best of Your Abilities”
Age Quod Agis! Proud Wolmer’s Girls School alumnus here!

WAS I A WORK-A-HOLIC?

Before we had our girls, I worked six or seven days a week.
My husband was in law school and I had taken on a role to start the Career Services department for two college campuses right after completing my master’s degree.

We would go to the library on the weekends together. While he studied I worked.
Don’t worry, we did have a life outside of work and school.

FAITH
The one constant and something that we both share is our faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
We went to church, however never got to really be a part of our church community as we wanted.

MOVING UP THE LADDER – Chasing the American Dream
Florida to Washington, DC Metro…

The next few years flew by so fast. We relocated to D.C. from Florida with an 11-month-old.
My husband started a new career and job and I transferred into a new role.

TRAILS OF CITY LIFE
I remember my first dentist appointment in D.C. My dentist told me that the longer his patients lived in the City {D.C.} the more they grinned their teeth and clenched their jaws.

It is the Capital of the United States and the location of the White House and Supreme Court. Hence, an intense place.
It was truly magical to have lived in Washington, D.C. There is intangible magic in that City.

After having our second daughter we had to navigate two drop-offs and two pickups. My husband took the train to work and I refused. My justification – I needed to have control of getting to my babies.

TRYING TO HAVE A CAREER AND BE A GREAT MOM

I remember the mornings of getting the girls ready for school and daycare and then fighting D.C. traffic to get to work.
I would leave early to beat the traffic, sometimes it was still dark when I dropped them off and dark when I picked them up.

I worked about a block from the back gate of the White House in my prior position.  I drove by the Pentagon and over the Arlington Memorial Bridge crossing the Potomac River where the sun would hit the water as I approached Lincoln Memorial and I would give God glory and thanks. It is a beautiful city with the most beautiful Spring (Cherry Blossom) and Fall colors.

We had the opportunity to visit the White House during President Obama’s first term in December 2012. It was a Christmas Wonderland. We soaked up D.C. as much as we could. We lived about 10-15 minutes from the City with “weekend” traffic.

We were content, and grateful to live driving distance from family.

THE DAGGER IN MY HEART
Mommy, can you pick me up in the daylight, please?…

I picked up my oldest early one Friday from school and she asked me if I could pick her up all the time in the daylight. I was stunned and I asked her what she meant.
She said I always picked her up at night.
I was already struggling with trying to have balance and just felt terrible.

My husband started working from home two days of the week. He handled drop off and pick up those days. I was often one of the first persons in the office when my husband took care of drop off.

THE STRUGGLE OF A WORKING MOM

I was trying to make up for leaving early for two days of the week.
I am not sure If I had put this pressure on myself.

I had colleagues make sly comments about “needing to get a child so they could leave early as well”.
I was always invited to happy hour after work, however, declined.

We have always had dinner together as a family unless one of us were out of town or had an occasional late event or meeting.

I honestly just wanted to get home to my family.

I saw my girls for about an hour and a half in the mornings and two and a half hours at night during the week.

I felt like I was on a constant roller coaster or marathon.
I was always running…. running to get the girls to school; running to get to work; running around at work.
The run that gave me the most anxiety was running to beat D.C. traffic to pick up the girls before 6:00 pm!

I just read this and felt my heart beat increase from the memory! Seriously!

LIVE MORE INTENTIONALLY
ANSWERS PROVIDED – that we never thought to ask for
Opportunity to Focus on us with Midwest Living

We never thought about moving to the Midwest. We are from the Caribbean, and Northern Florida was cold for us. However, this move was just what we needed.

I am still adjusting to driving 25 miles per hour.

It’s almost one year since we relocated to the Midwest and we are the happiest we have been.
We slowed our rolls and have been working on living intentionally with purpose.

LIVING MORE with LESS 
I will share more about this last year and some of the steps we took [are taking] to live More with Less.

I am excited about this opportunity and journey. To live Intentionally with Purpose!

Please come along with me and let’s Share, Support and Empower each other to RISE!

Much love, respect, and appreciation!

Yamiek, aka, Tallawah Human