Panelist Preview with Lori Mihalich-Levin
Updated: Apr 29, 2019
I found Lori through my incessant research on resources for parents. Her blog and e-course drew me in, but Lori's make-it-happen attitude (and shared love of Grey's Anatomy) had me sold. Although this mamma has a lot on her plate, she's never too busy to offer strategies for working parents which is why I'm so happy to have her participate The Maternity Planner event, Climbing the Corporate Ladder Baby Step by Step, on January 9th where she'll be sharing her tips, tricks, and strategies for a Mindful Return.
Read more from Lori
Who’s Lori? How would you describe yourself and what you do professionally?
I wear 3 main hats in life (though I suspect, like all working moms, I wear a few thousand!).
(1) I’m a lawyer and a Partner on a 60% reduced hours schedule in the health care practice of the world’s largest law firm;
(2) I’m the founder of Mindful Return, a program that helps new parents return to work after parental leave in a calm and empowered way; and
(3) at home, I’m mama to two red-headed boys (ages 7 ½ and 5 ½), and wife to a wonderful red-headed husband.
What’s your working mom hack?
Ninja-level planning. In our house, we refer to our advance planning system as the “Saturday Basket” and the Saturday meeting. The one tool that has kept me the most sane in working parenthood has been the consolidation of chaos, so I only have to deal with it once a week. When stuff comes in the door that we have to address (permission slips, forms, bills, etc.), it all goes into a basket on top of our microwave. Then, every Saturday night, my husband and I have a hot date on the couch to attack the basket. We also go through an agenda, which involves figuring out which of the two of us is on point on any given day of the coming week, if the unexpected were to strike (child illness, snow day, etc.).
Being big believers in planning and being intentional, my husband and I also carve out semi-annual planning and retreat days, too! It’s like the Saturday Basket on steroids.
What do you do (guilt-free) for yourself? Each day, each week, each month?
About 2 years ago, I was having intense hip-pain. I went to an orthopedist, thinking I had somehow injured it. Instead, the orthopedist chalked it up to “middle age” (his words, not mine!), and wrote me a prescription for “yoga + Aleve.” From that day on, I’ve done yoga every morning at home for 10 minutes, while listening to some calming music on Insight Timer. The hip pain is gone, and I’ve been able to drop the Aleve.
I’ve also added to my morning routine about 5 minutes of meditation and 5 minutes of writing in The 5-Minute Journal, a fabulous tool for practicing gratitude and self-confidence. This all happens before breakfast, and it leads me to be much more centered in my own energy for the day.
I also have two friend groups I get together with on a monthly basis. One is a book club that’s been together for about 13 years, and another is a group of amazing Jewish mamas.
One quote to perfectly describes your motherhood experience
What are you into these days?
I’m almost always in the middle of about 7 different books. Right now, I’m reading Siblings Without Rivalry, because my boys are in a stage of frequently wanting to kill one another. For my business, I’m reading The Right Brain Business Plan and Ignite Your Sales Power!: Mindfulness Skills for Sales Professionals. And because I’m really loving the 5Rhythms movement meditation practice, I’m reading its founder Gabrielle Roth’s book, Sweat Your Prayers: Movement as Spiritual Practice. I also just started Forget Having It All: How America Messed Up Motherhood - and How to Fix It.
I’ve also really taken to podcasts over the past year, and listening is now how I spend my metro commute to and from work each day. Current favorites include Best of Both Worlds, with Laura Vanderkam and Sarah Hart Unger, Advice to My Younger Me, with Sara Holtz, and Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations podcast. I’m also a big fan of Dr. Steve Silvestro’s Child Repair Guide podcast. Check out my conversation with him on his podcast here: Successfully Returning to Work After a Baby.
Getting in touch
Stay up to date with Lori :
On her blog at Mindful Return
At Twitter @mindfulreturn
On Facebook