Playground Chatter with Debra Marmion, CarpeDM Career Coaching

Welcome to Playground Chatter! Our blog series, where we get to profile and chat with some of the best executives in town! Sure, we could ask about all their fancy business stuff but since we are fun monsters, we want to know how they spend their spare time on the playground of life!

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Your Name: Debra Marmion

Your nickname? DebDog, Debbles and Turtle (don’t ask)

What is your grown up job? I own a recruiting and career coaching agency, CarpeDM Career Consulting, INC.

How can we find you? You can find me on Linked I(www.linkedin.com/pub/debra-marmion/5/248/b7) and I have a blog (mycarpedm.wordpress.com). I make business pretty simple. My kids keep pushing me!  Actually I do have Pinterest and Houzz. Addicted!

Facebook: One last thing for me to manage

Twitter: I am getting close but for business purposes.

Instagram: No way

Pinterest: Yes

 

Deb Marmion

 

Tell us where you spent your childhood years. Is there one year you remember most? I was a military Brat. I moved 11 different times in my first 15 years of life even overseas! Dad retired in Tucson, AZ and that is where I call “home”. When we lived in Tucson, we moved 5 times. Why??? We got bored!

Favorite part of the playground to hang out in? The swings..I am queen of “underdogs”.

Lunch pail, brown bag or did you buy lunch? Had a purple tin Donny Osmond lunch box.

What would be your ideal recess today? A great hike with family or friends and a nice cold beer afterwards. Spa will work too! But I like to get outdoors more…

Does your company encourage recess for their employees? Absolutely. CarpeDM has an incredible “flex” schedule. Lol! We are a small team that is made up of a team who are at the point in our lives where we thrive on work/life balance. It is great!

If I deemed you Playground Monitor for the next 15 minutes, how would you rally your employees? What activity would everyone participate in? I would rally them by doing that JibJab video of my team to get their attention that it is time for Recess. I love the game “two truths and a lie”…Every time I play that game, I always learn something new about a person. Duck, Duck Goose would be another favorite.

What rules did you learn on the playground that you still utilize today? Always share. 🙂

When does time disappear for you? Talk about your hobbies. A cup of Joe or glass of wine with my circle of trust…you know who you are. Time literally slips away even our phones. We are just present and talking about everything and nothing. Believe it or not, when I have everyone home for dinner. It is precious time for me. They are gathered around the kitchen bar as I cook and no one is on any deadline. The next one would be a great book. I read about three per month and at night when everyone is asleep…so nice.

What is one area of your life where you need more recess? Indulgence….I am learning to treat myself more but that has always been a hard one for me. The other day my daughter asked me, “Mom, it’s Saturday! What are you doing today?”. I said I had to do the laundry, clean the house, run some errands, and that was it (I was actually looking forward to it) Then she said, “what are you going to do for you?” Wow, brilliant…left me speechless. I am pretty practical, even when it comes down to my clothes. My 14 year is a fashionista and has been since she was in the womb. She is always dressing me. She says I am too matchy matchy. I him and haw too much when it comes to treating myself to something. Right now, I have been staring at this purse for three weeks and haven’t made a move yet. Again, do you have that Therapist handy? J

What is your authentic intention (that thing that you really, really want to do or accomplish?) What are you doing to get there? My mental intention – Mindfulness. I have been working really hard on this and it really lets the “what if’s” become more and more insignificant. It allows to capture moments and really experience them. My other intention, I will hike Mr. Whitney and then move on to Machu Picchu. With my husband and two kids.

What can you do to design your life to better incorporate more recess? (Pinky Swear). I am a creature of habit so the first thing I visualize is me scheduling Recess in my Daytimer (oops…just dated myself) but my deep “Inner Deb” says to just be spontaneous and do it. I have already adjusted somewhat this year and the recess I have allowed myself has been fun, creative and spontaneous…not routine!

 

If you have a CEO / entrepreneur / or all around cool kid we should profile, let us know at hello@thehenleycompany.com