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- 🌟 Thriving as a Remote Working Parent 🏡
🌟 Thriving as a Remote Working Parent 🏡
Mastering remote work with family means catching life’s moments and meeting deadlines—without choosing between them
Ric Pratte, Shellie Sullivan, Kate Callaghan, Maria Scarzella Thorpe & Sarah Jean Smith
April 10, 2025
Caught between spreadsheets and spelling bees? You're not alone.
Remote work isn't just a career choice—it's a family revolution. No more missing first steps while stuck in traffic. No more choosing between that presentation and the school play.
But let's be real: it's not all pajama bliss. This week, we're diving into the beautiful chaos of parenting while working remotely—and how to actually make it work.
— Ric, Shellie, Kate, Sarah Jean & Maria
THRIVING TRIBE CHRONICLES
Finding Balance: Remote Work and Motherhood
Sarah Jean Smith has worked in education for 22 years, educating students in South America, New Orleans, and Asheville. She served as a school principal for five years, and currently works with The New Teacher Center, a national non-profit that centers students through adaptive consulting, leadership coaching, and data analysis. She lives in Asheville with her husband, two children, and two doofy dogs. |  |
Science says multitasking is a myth. Try telling that to this remote-working mom of two.
When I left my high school principal position in 2022 (with a one-year-old daughter and three-year-old son), the pandemic had made those long, emotionally draining hours unsustainable. Entering the remote world as a Senior Program Consultant for the New Teacher Center opened surprising doors.
Now I coach principals, mentors, teachers, and district leaders nationwide. The perks? I witness education across America, absorb best practices from diverse contexts, earn big-city money in small-town Asheville, and still make school drop-offs. When meetings slow down, I can even sneak in a midday hike.
But remote work has its shadows. Many days, my only "coworkers" are my kids, their nanny, and my husband (who also works from home). Domestic interruptions constantly fracture my focus. And I deeply miss the community I built as a school leader.
Some might call it toxic to view work relationships as family, but the teacher community I led became exactly that. It created a cohesive world beyond my neighborhood and domestic demands – an invaluable benefit impossible to quantify.
Remote work gives me career flexibility with family presence, but sometimes I find myself craving the connections that once filled my professional life. Perhaps the perfect balance remains elusive, but I'm learning to appreciate both worlds rather than constantly shifting between them.
QUICK TAKES
Making the Dream Work
✅ Creating a Work-Friendly Home for Parents Who Work Remotely
✅ How Working Mothers Can Thrive in a Remote Work Environment
✅ 6 Ways to Succeed as a Remote Work Parent
THRIVE STORE
Rock Your Remote Life
Show the world how you work on your terms! Our exclusive merch celebrates both your remote lifestyle and local community pride.
LIFESTYLE
Remote Work's Family Dividend
As an agile project manager for the last 15 years, Kate Callaghan has learned to roll with the punches and provide as much structure as possible as to also allow for creativity and idea generation. She works part time with Hatch Foundation as well as teaching yoga and fitness at the YMCA of WNC. Though Kate grew up in Boston, she has called Asheville home since 2008. |  |
Two words: Google Calendar. This is how I maintain boundaries and expectations for work and for home life.
Between my son’s baseball and soccer practice, picking them up from the bus and preschool, and spending time chilling in the backyard with them on a gorgeous day, I try to block everything off so I can be present with them and not be trying to work in between.
Of course, it's not always perfect and things come up, but I find if I can schedule work and I can schedule time with family there are no frustrations between the two (and it is visible to my husband, though hubby actually looking at the calendar is a work in progress). Life is much easier with both kids in full time school, but work is also flexible with me when kids are sick or they have days off from school.
If I am up front about what is going on, work is always receptive and respectful about rescheduling or dealing with me during meetings with my daughter sitting on my lap.
I am grateful for the opportunity to work remotely and be able to watch my kids play in the backyard, too. It is amazing to have flexibility to get my work done, but to be able to do this on my own time and for it to be flexible enough when things come up!
LAST WEEK’S POLL RESULTS
What's your biggest win as a remote-working parent?
THE CULTURE SHIFT
Designing Remote Life
Your new weekly column exploring how we can build a remote life that works for us, through habits, rituals, and intentional design. Each week, you’ll get a prompt to notice, experiment, and shape the remote life that works for you.
This Week’s Prompt
The hardest moment is the switch between work and family: that blurry space between your last meeting and the moment you rejoin home life.
This week, protect that in-between. Create a simple, end-of-day closure ritual to help reset: shut your laptop with intention, journal one line, or choose a word that captures your day.
Closing the work loop creates space to be fully present in what comes next.
Brought to you by Maria Scarzella Thorpe, Workplace Culture Strategist & Founder of Nomad Pass — Designing Retreats and Culture Experiences for Remote and Hybrid Teams. |  |
POLL – NEXT WEEKS TOPIC
Next week's issue: Build your remote excellence through intentional practices.
What's your biggest challenge in making remote work truly work for you? |
🗓️ COMMUNITY CALENDAR
Events You'll Love
Tired of the same home office view? From Asheville's coworking havens to Chattanooga's free-drink adventures, April's bursting with IRL connection opportunities. Craving human interaction? Hit Washington's happy hours or hunt treasures with digital nomads.
Whether you're teaching design or talking leadership-as-dating, your out-of-office message is begging to be used. Your houseplants won't mind the alone time.
Check out the Community Calendar 🗓️ for the details!
RESOURCES
Partners in the right places
Practical support that's actually useful for solopreneurs and freelancers. Direct access to legal consultations, networking opportunities, and discounts on business essentials you actually need. |
From June 7-13th, we'll sail through the most beautiful places in France, Italy, Malta, and Greece. Each day brings a new opportunity to grow, with daily talks, workshops, masterminds, unconference sessions, and networking events. |
Extraordinary 2-4 week trips for remote workers, building a community of like-minded professionals and traveling across the globe. Whether you work fully remotely or your job allows you to take time away from the office, embrace the world with Noma, and redefine your work-life balance. |
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Until next Thursday! 🌺 🌻 🌸
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