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Extreme Professionals
Two Intowners channel their work downtime into athletics
By Grace Huseth
A Fortune magazine article cited a recent survey that said the average U.S. white-
collar worker sends 19 emails and reads 29 work emails during the weekend, and
79 percent admit to checking work email on vacation. More disappointing, these
check-ins often result in a “humblebrag,” when overworking is glamourized to show a
character trait of a hard worker. The reality is that workaholic tendencies will result in
burnout if there is no outlet for disconnecting.
When two Intown business professionals decided to step away from their desks for
some downtime, they took it to the extreme. Literally.
Old Fourth Ward resident Sean Bennett is an endurance athlete who balances
extreme training with his career as an accounting manager with UFFY Advisors. As
a manager he manages multiple projects at once and travels 75 percent of the time,
yet still manages to compete in triathlons. This summer, he recently climbed Mt.
Kilimanjaro.
“I’m very good at shutting work out during my training sessions,” Bennett said.
“That is my release and escape. All technology goes to the wayside and I focused just
on being in the moment.”
Last October, Bennett was presented with the idea to tackle Mt. Kilimanjaro
through urgings of his friends at Team In Training, an endurance sports training
program that is also fundraises for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Fie and his
triathlete father decided to take on a challenge that would get them off the concrete
and into the mountains.
Despite his
travels, Bennett
trained 14 hours
a week, with all
day hikes on
Saturdays in the
North Georgia
Mountains
and closer-to-
town hikes at
Sweetwater
Creek State Park.
The big climb up
Mt. Kilimanjaro
was a six-day
ascent and two
day descent,
averaging 44
miles round trip,
and 11 days away
from the office.
Thankfully,
getting back to
work was easier
than he thought.
“I picked
right back up
because UFFY is
team oriented
and I made sure
to transition
things to team
members during
the build up to
my hike,” he
said. “I was able to step away and be out of pocket for two weeks and then slide right
back into the role I left.”
Bennett advises open communication with management, not only with career goals
but also with personal goals. “You may not know you have flexibility because you
may not have asked for it. A lot of people are afraid to ask, but in today’s world you
shouldn’t be afraid to express what is important to you.”
Atlanta endurance athlete Danielle Grabol also communicates her sports goals
with her company. Career-wise she’s known as VP of Operations at Personal Care
in Decatur, but in the triathlon world she is known as an inspiration. Last summer,
Grabol became the first woman to compete and complete the ultimate Ironman event,
Epic 5, which consists of five iron-distance triathlons (140.6 miles each), on five
islands of Hawaii, in just five days.
Grabol helps provide home care services to senior adults with Personal Care. She
manages employees, operational work and works in client relations. And after a
long day at the office, she’ll jump on her bike for hours. Even though it’s difficult for
Grabol to anticipate her work schedule, that doesn’t stop her training program.
“Because my work is so emotionally draining, I turn to my physical endeavors,”
Grabol said. “Compared to the stuff I have to go through at work every day, the bike
ride is a treat. It grounds me, the training gets rid of a lot of my energy and it’s a huge
outlet for me emotionally because the work I do is about end of life issues. When you
are dealing with people who are sick, it makes you value and appreciate your own
health that much more.”
Grabol says she tries to model behavior she wants her employees to have, but that
does not include working around the clock. Because her training is so time intensive,
she’ll admit to responding to emails while sitting on her stationary bike, however she
won’t press send until work hours.
“Training teaches you discipline. If you are goal oriented and disciplined enough
to follow though and make that goal a reality, you are given a new level of confidence,”
Grabol said. “I feel more confident in the work that I do when I go out and do these
crazy races. If I was that determined to make this happen, the challenges in my work
life seem next to nothing.” DU
AO
Vi
MORNINGSIDE
Casual Elegance
Afresh, modern interior in this newly
built English Tudor appeals to our
urban Lifestyle. Live well in the open
floor plan flooded with natural light.
Features include a fireside screened
porch for entertaining and a finished
terrace Level for play. Only steps to
Piedmont Park and the Beltline,
a stroLL to concerts at the Atlanta
Botanical Garden or grab a beer at
the nearby brewery. This is intown
Living at its best!
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atlanta | cityside
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INSIST ON THE EXCEPTIONAL
18 August 2017 | HU
AtlantalNtownPaper.com