How does one find balance when they're trying to "do it all"--wife, mom, career woman (a totally dated phrase, I'm aware!), weekend warrior, weeknight chef, friend, mentor, creative pursuer, home remodeler? Mind you, this is just an abbreviated list of things wonder women such as Christie Bienemann attempt to achieve in their crazy, beautiful lives.
The answer is...they don't. As this Bay Area native will tell you, life is about seasons and phases, being able to push pause on something and revisit it later, and oh yes, be real with the fact that no one can do it all, all the time.
Christie's career path is impressive. Her creativity and entrepreneurial pursuits are motivating. And most importantly, her journey to motherhood is inspiring and candid. From the outside, it's easy to say she's got it down, but she's humble and a wide open book on these matters. She's so passionate about keeping things real for other women, she started a blog, Christie Noelle, to share all of these aspects and more.
Business-minded and incredibly ambitious, Christie took many courses in college to pursue business and marketing. She signed up for more internships (four!) than most people have jobs in their careers, just to ensure she land in an area that truly interested her after graduation. Her first job out of school ended in a layoff, which led her to a small start-up you may have heard of called Facebook where she worked alongside just 400 others at the time. She spent six years there in may roles, traveling internationally, and kicking professional booty along the way, until she felt a bit stagnant in her role.
At the same time, she self-planned her wedding and felt really fulfilled creatively. After she said "I do," she met a friend-of-a-friend with a design background, and the two of them founded Going Lovely, an event design company. The self-proclaimed "planner" hoped to turn this side hustle into a full-time job eventually, but she didn't predict the struggles she'd encounter when trying to get pregnant. She knew it wasn't the right time to leave a steady job, but she felt called to make a change.
Without hesitation of leaving the comfort of Facebook, she made a leap and started working at Pinterest, a place where she could combine her career interests and personal creative passions. Plus, she didn't have to travel, and she could focus on her top ambition of growing her family. At Pinterest, she started managing people, too, something she found greatly rewarding. Eventually, she stepped away from Going Lovely because she knew it just wasn't the right time, especially with the fertility battle she was only just beginning.
"If I wanted to take it to the next level, I'd be giving up all of my weekends [as many of the events were weddings], and I just had too much going on," she said. "I knew I needed to put this on pause right now."
It'd be unfair to cut to the chase and shout from the rooftops that Christie became a twin mom without pausing for a minute and explaining how she went through years of infertility, a miscarriage, and the eventual journey of in vitro fertilization. Christie chronicled her life during this time on social media, mostly because she wanted to build community among countless other women she knew shared the same disappointment and heartache. She's now a strong advocate for infertility and is working to become an official mentor to other women experiencing the same thing.
Another topic Christie was and is vocal about is the teeter-totter of emotions that surrounded continuing to pursue her career after her twins were born. When Christie was around 10 years old, she witnessed her own mother go through somewhat of an extreme identity crisis, which impacted Christie throughout her life. She felt like her mom poured her entire being into raising her and her brother and she felt her mom truly didn't know who she was without that role. From such a young age, Christie knew she wanted to keep working when she became a mom.
"Probably because of the experience I had with my mom, I know being a part of a [work] team feeds me in a way, and I'm just careful in what I've seen that I don't get lost and have my own identity so I don't end up in a similar position."
"Probably because of the experience I had with my mom, I know being a part of a [work] team feeds me in a way, and I'm just careful in what I've seen that I don't get lost and have my own identity so I don't end up in a similar position."
Now, her babies are almost two-year-old toddlers, and she's still trying to figure out the right cadence for her life as a lady of many hats. She made a change about a year after they were born and left Pinterest, joining another start-up company in a different industry."Having worked with dozens of talented colleagues and managers, I took the opportunity to re-join former colleagues who inspire me every day. I guess I've learned it's less about the high-profile company but more about the people--teammates, managers, leaders."
She's happy having the opportunity to manage others and working with standup people.
"I think balancing a career and children has forced me to think more about priorities. Work-life balance, something that wasn't even on my radar earlier in my career, is a new focal point."
So is she still feeding her creative soul, making time for her family, and oh yes, getting dinner on the table? Inquiring minds would like to know just how this seemingly super hero manages these things and more.
Well, she and her equally impressive husband, Troy, are undergoing a complete remodel of their home, and Christie is in charge of the design decisions (check out her blog for all the details!); she does not budge on making sure she spends the mornings with her kids and gets home in order to have dinner and play a bit before bedtime; and she is brutally honest and won't lie about the simplicity of her dinner menus. She also wants to toss in how she's definitely not going to be posting about her outfits or any sort of fashion advice. She knows there's really no such thing as "doing it all" or "having it all," and she hopes sharing her stories will motivate and inspire other women to play to their strengths and be true to who they are.
"I think I'm a very positive person but also very real, and I like to keep it real and share those stories with people to help find the joy and reflect."
Here's to finding your inner Christie and sharing your stories with others, whether that be to a broad audience through an outlet like a blog or just being honest with your mom friends and neighbors about your struggles and triumphs. It take a village to do much more in life than just raise a child, and we're all in this together.
Well, she and her equally impressive husband, Troy, are undergoing a complete remodel of their home, and Christie is in charge of the design decisions (check out her blog for all the details!); she does not budge on making sure she spends the mornings with her kids and gets home in order to have dinner and play a bit before bedtime; and she is brutally honest and won't lie about the simplicity of her dinner menus. She also wants to toss in how she's definitely not going to be posting about her outfits or any sort of fashion advice. She knows there's really no such thing as "doing it all" or "having it all," and she hopes sharing her stories will motivate and inspire other women to play to their strengths and be true to who they are.
"I think I'm a very positive person but also very real, and I like to keep it real and share those stories with people to help find the joy and reflect."
Here's to finding your inner Christie and sharing your stories with others, whether that be to a broad audience through an outlet like a blog or just being honest with your mom friends and neighbors about your struggles and triumphs. It take a village to do much more in life than just raise a child, and we're all in this together.
