Ep. 42: A Mother's Day Conversation

[00:00:00] Mall of America, for more than 30 years it has been a retail leader in an international destination and it remains the largest mall in the US. Not to mention it welcomes millions of guests from around the world. It's huge, but it's also so much more. In this podcast

[00:00:16] you're going to hear the real stories of how it started and why it continues to thrive. You'll hear about challenges we faced along the way and what you can learn from them. We will feature guests and experts from all walks of life and business and along

[00:00:29] the way you'll laugh, learn and maybe even change the way you look at things. So if you're a fan of the mall, a brand new visitor, an entrepreneur or a dreamer, prepare to dive deep into so much more.

[00:00:41] This podcast is presented by the Bloomington Convention and Visitors Bureau. Hi everybody and welcome to So Much More. I am your host Jill Renzlo and we have a really special episode today. A lot of times we talk to business leaders, our retailers, our

[00:00:53] entertainers. Well, today I'm bringing you moms. I am so thrilled to be able to invite my friends and colleagues here at Mall of America to talk about Mother's Day. And so with us today we have

[00:01:05] Laura Utec who's our director of communications. We have Natasha Betz who's our attractions manager and Carrie Wright who is our VP of human resources. So welcome ladies. Thank you. Thanks. Good to be here. This is going to be fun. We get to talk about what we do

[00:01:20] and why we do it. So let's kick this off, Laura. How do you get us started? Talk a little bit about your role at Mall of America and what you do every day. Yeah. So I oversee public relations and

[00:01:31] social media here at Mall of America. So we are involved in a little bit of everything, promoting all of the fantastic things that we do here and I have a wonderful team. So very grateful to

[00:01:40] have them and we just have fun every single day, you know, and everything that we do and sharing the great news coming out of the mall. Great. Thank you, Laura. Natasha, how about you? Yeah. I've been with Mall of America for 20 years now

[00:01:51] and I work in specialty attractions as a manager overseeing a lot of our ancillary attractions as well as helping out in Nickelodeon Universe. Great. You get the fun stuff. Fun stuff. And Carrie. Yes. I'm Carrie and I lead the HR team here at the mall

[00:02:08] and that encompasses everything from total rewards to payroll to recruitment, all things team member, well-being and their experience while they are at work here. So the one thing that we all have in common is that we are working moms and that's not

[00:02:27] always easy. And so let's talk a little bit about how we balance the world of being a working mom. It's a big decision that parents have when they decide to start a family as, you know,

[00:02:40] are you going to stay home? Do you have the financial wherewithal to do that? Or do you want to continue to work? And I think a lot of it is about just the fulfillment of the human interaction, exercising our skills and being able to just bring ourselves,

[00:02:54] bring our best selves to the table, whether it's at work or at home. So Natasha, get us started a little bit in this conversation about how you do it all. How are you a mom and also working professional?

[00:03:05] Yeah. I think for me, it's really just come down to like routine at home as well as the flexibility at work. I'm very fortunate at Mall of America knowing that family is valued

[00:03:19] and knowing that I can take time away from my family without having the guilt and knowing that I still have responsibilities to take care of while working and just kind of figuring that balance out and knowing, prioritizing and knowing when I can do what. Sometimes it's 11 o'clock at

[00:03:35] night after the kids are sleeping. Sometimes it's five in the morning before they get up. But just fitting it all in so that I can prioritize my family as much as possible because they're why I do what I do and they're super important. Absolutely. Carrie, how about you?

[00:03:49] Yeah. I had to learn to give myself some grace. You know, it was hard and I would love to say I haven't figured out but I don't still. I think it's important that besides giving yourself grace that you find the balance of

[00:04:06] what works for you and your family and being able to shut down work when you need to, when you're home with them and finding out that you need to surround yourself with a community of support because I think that helps in knowing that you can't do it all.

[00:04:24] So I've learned that I'm going to be perfectly imperfect. You talk about community and I think we create that community here where we have fellow moms that we can talk about our, our wins and our losses and our struggles and our challenges but also

[00:04:39] our wins. We love to hear those fun stories when we come in on a Monday and share what we've done over the weekends because most of the time the kids are involved and we love hearing those stories. So Laura, how about you?

[00:04:48] I think, you know, giving ourselves grace just like you said, I think that's really important and I think the time that you do have really being present, you know, when you walk in the door

[00:04:56] and you get home leaving everything else behind and being present, being there for your child, children and giving them that attention and love that they deserve. You know, we have dinner at the table every single night together and then we have bath time and we play those

[00:05:10] weekends. We cherish that time really being present, being there together as a family and then just joining the time. And you have a little one still at home. A lot of energy. A lot of energy, two and a half year old boy. So as you guys are aware,

[00:05:26] a little ball of energy, we're going through that temper tantrum phase as we all know so well, so dealing with that but he's just the sweetest little guy too, those snuggles and you can get the snuggles, you just embrace them. Love hearing your stories every week. It's

[00:05:39] so much fun to relive that because I'm now out of that phase. I have young adults in my household, well one almost out of my household. So a graduating senior, so an 18 year old daughter

[00:05:50] and a 19, almost 20 year old son. So we're in a very different phase. Nearing that empty nester phase, which is a little nerve wracking at the same time but exciting to just kind

[00:06:01] of see what that phase looks like for all of us in our family. How have you managed it, Jill? I mean, you've had to deal with that being an executive. I mean, that's a lot

[00:06:09] to handle on your side too. It is a lot and you guys have used a lot of those key words that I look at, having grace, making sure there's priorities and balance but I think it depends on

[00:06:20] the season. It depends on the priorities in life. Sometimes work has opportunities and my family understands that and I have to shift focus in the workspace but then there's other times where

[00:06:31] I will never miss anything with my family whether it's one of my kids sports or an event, whatever that might be or aging parents that need us. It's a variety of different things

[00:06:42] that are needed in our lives and family always is a priority and I appreciate you saying that, Natasha, that our culture has been able to establish that and that comes from our ownership

[00:06:54] and that family is the priority. So it's just balancing each season in life and throughout the years but always making sure families are priority. I always love hearing you say that too.

[00:07:04] I'm not going to miss this game. I'm not going to miss and really I think that shows all of us too that we need to make our family priority as well. It makes us who we are here. We're more than

[00:07:17] just MOA, we're more than just a mom and we're more a family member, we're caregivers and we lead teams so it's important that everyone understands that what's important to us and

[00:07:32] we do a good job of that. Absolutely and some of our team members don't have families but we need to show that whatever that is in life, that's a personal need that those need to take priorities

[00:07:42] because those are sometimes moments in time that you can't get back whereas work will always be there tomorrow. Your inbox will continue to fill up and those calls can always get returned so

[00:07:52] I love that. Tasha tell us about your family dynamics. Yeah so I you guys had mentioned having kids in different stages. I feel like I'm covering all of that right now. I've

[00:08:03] been 18 year old in college, 17 year old in high school, 4 year old and a 1 year old and just the different needs for all of them. It's pretty chaotic but it's hard to like turn on the college

[00:08:20] mom hat and then also like pick up your toys but it's you know it's fun every day is different similar to working. Every day is different you always find something new and exciting and

[00:08:32] they're always doing something to keep me on my toes and honestly put a smile on my face and keep me laughing so it's exciting. My 4 year old is very excited about mommy's work, she doesn't know the

[00:08:43] name all of America it's always mommy's work so I want to go to mommy's work can we go tomorrow can we go another day and so that type of energy from her really keeps me going too and

[00:08:54] helps me realize how special this place is in everyone else's eyes as well of like if we're not here every single day you know people that aren't here every single day it just

[00:09:05] it's a special place and it's something that a lot of kids really you know are super excited about families, adults too so that kind of keeps me going too. That's great I don't know how you do it.

[00:09:18] Having little ones and adults those are different phases to balance and Carrie how about you? Yes so I have a my oh I have two sons the oldest is 26 and the youngest is 20

[00:09:31] and they have flown the nest though do they really ever fly the nest because I feel like I'm still coming back. Yeah I'm pretty mom I'm pretty hard and I know they're going to be listening

[00:09:41] so that goes out to you Seth and Jack and so you know I've gone through the gamut and I think that I appreciate you know when I would say employers started to really look at what flexibility meant

[00:09:58] to employees and you know because when I first started having a family there wasn't that luxury or that ability to be able to perhaps work remotely or be able to take additional time off

[00:10:13] the time was the time and so you made those moments count and then you know I was a road warrior for a long time so I was always traveling and you know there was a lot of windshield time

[00:10:25] I think having the kids and thinking am I doing the right thing right when you kind of travel and then you're like no I'm going to show them that you really can do it all with the right

[00:10:35] mindset so now we're in the empty nester phase it's super fun I've learned all my negotiation skills from my 20 year old so yeah who needs training when you have children so but it's good I

[00:10:51] love being able to be in the news the new phase because you get to be a friend and you go from picking up your toys to you know I don't know what do you think about that decision and

[00:11:03] trying to let them self discover so I've definitely noticed the conversation how it's changed as they've gotten older and we're getting smarter as they get older I'm serious we're a little more clever I think

[00:11:18] what what is the empty nester what does that even feel like when they when the youngest one left like what was that feeling probably hard at first listening very closely I'm so

[00:11:28] you know I think as a as families we teach our children to go and fly and then you're like no no no don't fly come back and then so when they leave it was hard yeah I can still feel the moment like I still

[00:11:49] feel it in my bones because you're like it's your heart walking around on legs yeah right and you don't see them every day which is hard and they're out adulting which is also hard

[00:12:05] but then you know so it's then you get into a new rhythm that makes sense like a new rhythm of you look across the table and you're like okay now what what are we gonna do oh we don't have to

[00:12:18] fix dinner for everybody yeah all right like oh okay or oh we don't have to go to traveling basketball so it's different I'm gonna be calling you often how are you feeling about no I'm excited I mean

[00:12:31] when you get a chance to see your kids follow their dreams and it's not us as parents filling their schedules with things we want them to try but now they've selected where they want to go

[00:12:44] it's super rewarding and so I think that I'm excited but it's a little anxious too not knowing what it's gonna be like it's been interesting having our son at college because we've been just

[00:12:56] like smothering our daughter with so much time so I think you know it's finding it's finding just the new path it's gonna be great and just excited to see them fly come back once in a while

[00:13:07] but I just hope my little guy doesn't move too far it's like don't move too much you got plenty of years I got plenty of time but even just the thought of the moves like super far away

[00:13:16] minor in Texas I know years are far good well we work at a very unique venue where a lot of people come and celebrate a lot of family time together all of us have had those opportunities to create

[00:13:28] our traditions or our fun moments with our families I would love to share a little bit of those moments because Mother's Day is right around the corner it is a great holiday to spend that

[00:13:37] special time with your loved ones but sometimes moms like to have their time away as well so we have opportunities for that but would love to hear some of your favorite stories fun memories

[00:13:49] or traditions that you have with your families here and it doesn't have to be on Mother's Day it could be a different time of year but who'd like to go first I took my little guy in particular

[00:13:59] here at Mall America to see life and we had the best time and I would love to come back on Mother's Day too because he just loved it for me it's more about the experiences than

[00:14:12] about gifts like I'm not a big gift person so that's what I think is so great about the mall is having all those different opportunities for experiences and it was so fun watching him walking

[00:14:23] through sea life and you know the touch and feel experiences and then the big clown fish tank he loves finding Nemo so going in there and looking around and seeing all the Nemo's and Doris

[00:14:36] is just so fun so to me it's those experiences then we went on a couple rides at Nickelodeon and the bubble guppies ride we learned that it's not for big people I'm almost 5'10 my husband is 6'4

[00:14:50] and we were seeing families of four get on this ride but we can get on it it's no big deal this'll this will be fine and that was the we were the the most squished people it was pretty tight

[00:15:00] conditions but for me Mother's Day is all about the experiences and being together as a family and creating those memories and having those special times and I think the mall is such a

[00:15:09] great place for that as well that is about you yeah we tend to spend birthdays here so it's always a dinner and some experience somewhere for all the kids birthdays they've always just historically chosen to come here and we've just kind of pick a different restaurant

[00:15:26] each time one specific memory not related to birthdays or Mother's Day but my son has special needs and his classroom was out here for a field trip and my crazy chaotic mother's mind

[00:15:40] forgot that they were even going to be here and I'm walking on my break and I'm like oh look at that kid he's got the same wheelchair as my son I was like wait a second that's him like I ran into them

[00:15:50] just happened to run into them at the time that they were here in the space that they were and so it was really fun to see him spend some time with him while he was here on his field

[00:15:57] trip um but just those those types of moments where I'm like I get to mix both you know mom and and work so that was super fun we do have a pretty fun place to work yes the kids think were pretty cool

[00:16:08] even as they get older I know I feel like it kind of comes full circle yeah it's fun when they're young and then they kind of go through the phases but Carrie how about you any fun

[00:16:17] memories or traditions yes you know we enjoy um the holidays in our family and so my my boys and us loved skate the star and so um they got me on skates so that was you do things for your

[00:16:34] children right but it was fun because um you know they're they got to skate we got to hang out and then we love the mall and so we shop and we eat and so you know we get to as they got older we

[00:16:50] go to the comedy shows now um you know they ride rides still I think once a kid at heart always a kid at heart and so uh their favorites the log shoot and it's because baby jack the 20 year old yes I

[00:17:02] call him baby jack he loves to get wet so anywho that's a story I love it like the strategy is to put him in the right spot so he's the one that gets wet and you don't correct that's

[00:17:13] fantastic there's this there's been so many fun memories for our family over the years I mean literally my kids have grown up here um because I had both of them while I was working here and so

[00:17:24] it's been fun to just see the different things that they've enjoyed but we traditionally so many fun things are on the holidays I love to come with my daughter we have our shopping trips and

[00:17:34] we can literally spend six hours out here and enjoy lunch and just shop and have fun um but I would say some of the most memorable are community activations because we always encourage

[00:17:44] our team members to bring their families to volunteer to give back to the community and so it's been very fun to bring my kids along for that experience because we do so many things here

[00:17:54] to give back and so it's fun to to have them enjoy that as well so yeah I think it's super fun so you talked a little bit about I think it was Natasha or Kerry about um you know showing

[00:18:05] your kids a good example or being the best that you can be and I think that's a lot of the the momentum and kind of the inspiration that we have to continue to do what we love and to be able

[00:18:18] to expose our kids to that because I think that's a good role model as a mom um if we choose to continue to work and so what would you guys say with regards to that that notion of being a good

[00:18:31] role model and making sure you have that sense of empowerment and doing good and working hard and showing showing up for yourself um where where does that play in your motherhood and

[00:18:42] your examples as you set for your kids Kerry want to continue on that I uh you know I I think back and and as you reflect on the things you did well and things maybe would have done differently

[00:18:56] but I think that the one thing um that if the kids were here today they would say that you know I always took the path uh less traveled let's just say it's always a complicated path

[00:19:11] and no matter the cards and how they were stacked up against you you know I taught them to persevere you know to be able to if you want to accomplish something go do it and that it takes you know

[00:19:25] some skills in order to achieve what you want but you can do that and and be happy as cliche as that sounds but happiness matters being kind and compassionate humans matter and I think them

[00:19:41] being able to see the things that we do as moms and all the multitasking that goes into our roles not only at home but also in the community that we're um living in and that we're actively

[00:19:56] participating in to our work life they see the whole gamut and they were just talking about that the other day so it's good to hear like that like that it's important for them to know

[00:20:07] that everybody has to chip in to make things move forward you know it's mom's busy and she doesn't sit around waiting for things to do for you to bring her tasks and projects it's like

[00:20:18] be able to everybody to chip in to make the family work and I think that's important yeah Natasha how about you yeah I think um I would say yeah my 18 year old she's really kind of starting to see

[00:20:30] um what it's like to be an adult so to speak and I think um she's looked back and shown a lot of appreciation within the last few months of just like how do you do it all mom

[00:20:41] and what do you know so I think just leading by example and just helping her remember that family is always going to be here for you and you know you may fall you may make the wrong turn you might

[00:20:52] make a bad decision but we're always going to be here for you and just helping her know that that support is there and um I want her to follow her own path some other way which you

[00:21:01] said you know it's like you don't have to do what I do you don't have to do all of the things that society says you need to do um follow your own path and we'll be here to support you and

[00:21:10] push you along the way so I think it's just really helping her become her self and being able to find who she is and wanting to do what she wants to do but knowing that we're here to help and support as

[00:21:20] needed um because I think that will empower her to just feel like okay at least I know I have my family but I can try these different things so yeah just looking forward to seeing what else she

[00:21:30] does absolutely and Laura you still have a little one but I think he's got a two and a half year old but you know we are working on manners so that is please and thank yous and um you know

[00:21:42] things like not spitting or hitting you know just kind of those basic things so um but really just focused on trying to be a positive role model showing him the way showing and I always I

[00:21:53] always try to say very especially when he's going to bed at night saying you know you can do anything you try hard to do I believe in you I'm proud of you like just that constant

[00:22:02] positive messaging and positive reinforcement so that's just ingrained in his head so he does always feel like his mom is proud of him and believes in him no matter what he does and

[00:22:12] so just knowing that they have that support we're working on chores as well he fills the dog chart on the chart chart so we're cancel those fun things yeah exactly and even with my parents

[00:22:22] they were the same exact way for me I started my career working in news very competitive challenging career and they even though they knew I'd have to move away and how challenging it was

[00:22:35] and stressful and working holidays and nights and weekends and all of that they still pushed me to to pursue my dreams and goals and you know I want to do that for my son too and just

[00:22:46] know that I believe in him so the newest member of this crew that's become a mom any advice Laura that you have for new moms or as they're thinking about that journey of whether

[00:22:57] to continue to work or not any advice that you have being patient with yourself you know you guys said giving yourself grace I think that's so important you know and not I think we all at

[00:23:09] some point have felt that mom guilt you know and you feel it when you see your kid crying and you're going to work and it's just like it can be gut-wrenching sometimes but just

[00:23:18] knowing that it's okay and it's okay to take care of yourself and you're also being a role model for your child too and you're still taking care of your child with what you're doing and coming

[00:23:28] here to work so you know both my parents worked my mom was home with me growing up but you know watching my dad he had a very you know he worked a lot of hours but I never felt like

[00:23:41] he wasn't there you know I still I never think back and say oh well he didn't he wasn't there at this or that you know I still always felt like he was always there never missed

[00:23:49] anything so and I think that's going to be the same way with my son so as long as we're present and cherish that time that we have I think that's important that's great Natasha do you

[00:23:58] have a favorite tradition on Mother's Day that you look forward to or is there an annual gift or experience that you guys not so much gift well gift not store bought I always love the

[00:24:11] Mother's Day the handmade stuff so whether it's a school thing or a card handmade card or anything like that I love that stuff and I I hang on to it as long as I can and put it in frames or whatever

[00:24:23] but yeah that stuff always just melts my heart I love it carry any traditions that you're looking forward to for Mother's Day you know or giving your family hints right this is thing on

[00:24:36] you know really for me I agree with you I was never a big gift person for Mother's Day I wanted the experience with my children and as I've gotten older I'm the same way so a text or a phone call

[00:24:48] but I do remember one time my most favorite gift was from my oldest and he took 100 cut out hearts of all different colors and wrote I love you and the reasons he loved me and put him in the

[00:25:01] I know I have all the school work you know when my son gets older what I want is handmade coupon books where it's like you know free free chores you know that's what I want

[00:25:20] I want the coupon the handmade coupon book I can pretty much guarantee it's coming as long as you know you can redeem that exactly then how about you I would have to say I just I love that day

[00:25:32] just to spend with family we have the tradition of first and foremost spending time with my mom and we usually do brunch or something with her earlier in the day and then I'm still there with

[00:25:43] my family and I have four sisters so we're all moms and so we celebrate together and we always make the guys and the kids take care of us and either grow out usually we don't go out to

[00:25:54] dinner we usually grill out or do something at home once in a while go to brunch and things but it's just spending that day it's not about the gifts although my family has a tradition of giving me

[00:26:04] a spa gift card do I so I do appreciate that because then I get a chance to spend the day with my family but then I also get a day or a few hours to myself to just relax and be pampered so

[00:26:14] I do like that tradition I do like that yes yes southern jack take note I love it well believe it or not that is our time it goes so fast as we're talking about this but what's great about

[00:26:25] Mother's Day is everybody finds different ways to celebrate but the Mall of America has amazing opportunities whether you're looking to shop dine play um Crayola is offering free admission for moms on the 13th and 14th as long as they purchase a kid's ticket so that's really fun for

[00:26:43] for moms to enjoy but we also have a special Mother's Day sweepstakes this year so moms and families can go on our website and register for the sweepstakes and you get a hundred dollar loft gift card a hundred dollar cantina laredo one of my favorite restaurants

[00:26:56] mine to 500 at um goryana as you can register to win um all the way up through Mother's Day weekend so lots of fun things so many special experiences at Mall of America to enjoy um

[00:27:09] and actually I have to correct those dates um for Crayola it was May 11th and 12th I was a little ahead of myself so um it's always that mid-May timeframe but um that's going to do it for

[00:27:19] today's episode of So Much More so happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there enjoy and kids and dads and other family members spoil your moms they deserve it so with that it's going to do it for

[00:27:30] today's episode thank you for tuning in to today's episode of So Much More if you want to hear more be sure to subscribe to our podcast wherever you find your favorites including

[00:27:40] Spotify, Apple or Google podcast and you can also watch a video cast on YouTube go to podcast.malvamerica.com to leave a review ask a question or give us an idea for the show until next time thanks for listening

[00:27:55] So Much More is presented by the Bloomington Convention and Visitors Bureau the official destination marketing organization for the city of Bloomington Minnesota before your next trip to Mall of America visit Bloomingtonmn.org for answers to all your travel questions deals

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