Annie Tomlin
I’m a writer and editor who covers wellness, beauty, and sustainability. My work with Frenshe involves reporting, interviewing experts, and finding the stories our audience wants—or needs—to know about.
[06:00am] Waking up, I…
am being crushed by my 5-year-old son, whose latest thing is waking up and speed-walking from his bed to smother me with love. It’s a phase, so I’m trying to focus on the sweetness of it rather than my occasional frustration over being squished. His little brother is 2 years old, and he wakes up anywhere between 5:30 and 6:30 with a bossy “MAMA! DADDY! GET ME OUT OF THE CRIIIIIIBBBBBBB!” So, you know, it’s a calm and languid start to the day over here. Really peaceful. Someday, I hope to sleep in until 7.
[08:30am] To nourish myself, I…
Eat a protein-packed breakfast. I never skip breakfast, ever. Eggs and beans with Sqirl‘s lacto-fermented hot sauce is my favorite quick/tasty/easy way to do it. After my husband and I race to drop our boys off at their respective schools, we stop by a coffee shop for my almond milk latte before going home at 9 to work. I’ve developed a not-entirely-healthy reliance on caffeine to get my brain going, but it really does help me shift from parenting mode to working mode.
[10:00am] My favorite part of the job is when I…
Meet with our team to brainstorm. Ashley’s vision for Frenshe and Being Frenshe has always been clear, which means we’re all well-aligned on our mission. Our team conversations are more “What’s the best way for us to accomplish our goal?” instead of “Uh, what is our goal again?” Lately we’ve been talking about our 2023 plans, and it’s nice to get momentum going on that front. We’re planning some things that I think most people wouldn’t expect, which is fun. I also never, ever tire of interviewing interesting people to understand their ideas about mental health and well-being. One of my favorite interviews this year was with the very smart and utterly charming Gloria Joy Sherrod, who shared strategies for coping with overwhelm.
[1:00pm] To focus, I…
…don’t? Not very well, at least. I often have a hard time staying on task, but I didn’t have this problem years ago. I’m not sure whether it’s the young-children factor, the internet, pandemic brain fatigue or what, but it frustrates me when squirrel brain takes over. I recently started tracking my time with Clockify, so I can monitor exactly how I’m spending each minute. Seeing how long I can stay glued to an individual task is pretty motivating, and it prevents me from randomly wasting time online. I work steadily each day until 2:50, when I pick up the little guy from preschool, drop him off at home with our sitter, head to my older son’s school to pick him up by 3:20, all before driving to another town for his standing 4:00 appointment, during which I work at a coffee shop for a few hours before taking him home and doing the dinner/bath/bedtime thing. (Now do you see why I’ve succumbed to caffeine?)
[7:00pm] I feel most fulfilled when I…
Work-wise, I feel great when we hear from someone who felt better or learned something new because of a Frenshe article. It’s impossible to not sound corny here, but there’s so much stigma around discussing mental health, and it’s meaningful when we help people understand that it’s not just okay to have those conversations—it’s good and necessary to have them.
Personally, I feel fulfilled when my boys go to sleep feeling safe and cherished. I always ask our older son to tell me three good things about his day; I tell him that he made my day great just by being himself. My hope is that he’ll fall asleep with positive thoughts in his brain. Our toddler is newly afraid of monsters, so we have created a literal song and dance routine involving the Being Frenshe Hair, Body, & Linen Mist in Cashmere Vanilla. My husband or I will sing a song about how the “magic spray” makes monsters stay away, and it’s punctuated by a single spritz in the air before lights out.
[9:00pm] To recharge for the next day…
Tech-wise, I try to turn off by 8:30 or 9 if possible. When it’s time for bed, I charge my phone outside of my bedroom so I’m not tempted to hop on Instagram or dink around on Wikipedia. I like to shower before bed to symbolically wash the day away, and I use the Lavender Cloud body wash because it puts me in a calmer headspace. From there, I slip into bed and read for at least half an hour. I look forward to my book time all day long; I can’t imagine going to sleep any other way.