WHO SHE IS: Miriam Mark, Director, Community Development-West, Farmigo.com
SUCCESS STORY: Finding Farmigo has been an incredible success for me. I am very passionate about what we do and really feel like I am a part of something amazing. It is my first work-from-home position and it has been a great way for me to manage my life and my career.
WORK SCHEDULE: Full Time, work from home
KIDS: boy (8), boy (6), girl (3)
SANITY VICE: Daily Cappuccino Blast from Baskin Robbins (I am addicted to all its unhealthy glory) and I try to swim 30 minutes every day (I am not always successful at that)
How She Got Here…
Growing up I actually always wanted to be a doctor. As I got older, I decided that I wanted to choose having a family and being a mom over medicine. I tried something entrepreneurial when I was about 18 years old, and after that was hooked on business. That business didn’t take off but it is why I decided to major in marketing in college.
During school, I interned at a start up called Shopping.com (then known as DealTime) and then worked there for a year and a half after college as a sales associate. At that point I was already married and my husband had a career opportunity in Los Angeles, so we moved out here.
I wasn’t sure how long we would stay in Los Angeles, so decided to take some time to give back by teaching. Some time turned into six years! Eventually, I realized my passion was no longer in teaching and went back to sales. I sold for a legal services company for two years before joining Farmigo.
Being a mom has always been my number one focus and goal. It has always been what drives me in every way. While I have always worked full time, I have always looked for opportunities that would allow me to do both. I feel very blessed to have a great job at an amazing company that is really creating change. I have wonderful kids who understand that mommy has to work, and an extremely supportive husband who pinch hits all the time. I think that is what really makes it possible. When I didn’t enjoy what I was doing it was much harder to justify leaving my kids all day with a babysitter. It is much easier to do it when you truly love what you do and feel great about it.
5 Questions for Miriam
1. Tell us about Farmigo.
Farmigo is a B-Corp working to disrupt the food chain. We are creating People Powered Farmers Markets that allow local consumers to buy food directly from local producers. We are providing people with better, healthier food options, and creating better food choices daily. We are also empowering real people to make real change in their community. Our Food Communities are a way for people to access locally grown farm fresh produce and have it delivered to a convenient location in their neighborhood. You are able to choose what you would like to receive each week from our online menu. If you want to be part of a grassroots effort to make a real difference and change the way you and your community eat by having fresh and local produce and more delivered weekly join us! (Bay Area and NY area residents)
2. You told me you don’t make macaroni and cheese out of the box anymore. As a busy working mom, how do you manage this and what do you cook?!
I have always loved to cook and create in the kitchen. Before working at Farmigo and really understanding the importance of making better food choices, I often served frozen french fries, hot dogs and macaroni and cheese from a box to my kids because these were things that my babysitter could make if I didn’t make it home in time. The crazy part about it is that I would make a healthy, well rounded, home-made meal for myself and my husband! Being at Farmigo has opened my eyes to the importance of feeding my kids better food. Working from home allows me to pop in to the kitchen to throw things together. My babysitter does a lot of the prepping and chopping but I do the cooking. We are a good team! We still eat macaroni and cheese, but now it is home made.
3. Have you learned any tricks that will help the rest of us get our kids to eat veggies?
When I was growing up, my mom always put a platter of cut up veggies with two kinds of dip on the dinner table. I think that if the kids see them day in and day out, they will eventually try them. Yummy creamy dips don’t hurt also : ). Don’t be afraid to try new ones. You never know which ones will take. Join a Food Community or a CSA and get new and interesting veggies that they have never tried before. It opens up a fun conversation.
4. What’s your biggest challenge as a working mom and what do you do to address it?
My oldest child has special needs. In many ways he is a full-time job as well, and so sometimes it is a struggle to work full time, be a mom, and be a mom of a child with special needs. I try to do it all but sometimes I recognize that I can’t on a given day and so I choose what is more important that day. As a result, I am often very tired and so I have a general policy to get into bed right after my kids do. I can work from bed, I can watch TV or read a book or just go to sleep. As long as I am horizontal at that point in the day, I can face the next one. I also love to bake and head to the kitchen whenever I feel overloaded and make some obscenely fattening cookies!
5. What’s your best working mom time management tip?
Get as much done before 8 am as possible! I sometimes do two carpools and go to three markets before sitting down at my desk at 8:15 am.
5+ : ). What advice do you live by as a working mom?
I think recognizing that you can’t always be everywhere and deciding that is OK is the best advice I can give. You don’t have to beat yourself up every time you miss something at your kids school or when you don’t finish that last thing at work before your kids come home. You will get it done. Letting go of the guilt is a huge deal and is also life changing.
