In so many careers, being a working mom, even as an entrepreneur, typically requires the standard 9-5 grind in some fashion. This is especially true in the medical industry. Jillian Trulson, a Gilbert-based physicians assistant, co-founded her own pain management clinic to build a better day for her family.
With two young kids at home and a husband who works from home fulltime, it was challenging to be gone from the family five days a week when she worked for other clinics.
Read on to learn how Jillian has prioritized a midday break to give her three hours at home with her kids in the middle of her patient appointments.
- Name: Jillian Trulson
- Age: 30
- Location: Gilbert
- Children: Vivian (3), Everett (1)
Can you walk us through your typical workday?
I get to work around 7am for a morning meeting and go into seeing patients around 8am. I treat people for all different kinds of pain from sports injuries, arthritis and acute injuries from 8am until around 11am, when I’m able to go home to spend time with my kids and eat lunch with them. This is my favorite time of the day. I have to leave them again around 2pm to go back to the clinic and I see patients until around 6pm.
After getting home I cook dinner for the family and start the bedtime routine. I always make sure to spend some time in the evening just the husband and I, so we can break down our days and connect without the kiddos.
Tell us a little bit about your family!
I married my high school sweetheart, Josh, 5 years ago. We have two very energetic children that keep both of us on our toes! We have a husky named Bucky and two cats named Bella and Boo.
How do you balance working full-time and being a mother?
The greatest challenge is being away from my children during the day and missing those first milestone moments. The mom guilt is real. Time management is another great major challenge. I never feel like there is a enough time in the day to accomplish everything and I always feel like I’m being pulled in eight different directions.
That’s why I’ve pursued having my own practice—it’s given me more flexibility to be with them than I ever could have in a larger practice. Being with them from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily is huge.
Can you share a few mom hacks you rely on to make things work in your day-to-day life?
My best mom hack was buying a GIANT inflatable for our front living room for the kids to bounce in. It is a huge bounce house complete with a slide! With being in quarantine and it being so hot outside, I had to find something to keep my kids from bouncing off the walls or should I say, I found them something to literally bounce off the walls! It works!
Tell us about transitioning to being a working mom. What surprised you? How do you make it work?
I was in PA school when I had my first daughter, so I didn’t have any time to relax and figure it out; I just had to take it day by day and hope I survived… and graduated. I knew I had to do what it took to pass and be the mom my daughter needed at the same time, so I powered through it no matter how hard. I was surprised at how little sleep I got! Even when she started sleeping through the night, I still got no sleep! I made it work by staying focused on the goal. Knowing that it’s all temporary helps to get through the hard times.
Were you able to take maternity leave?
No, I was in PA school so unfortunately, I was only able to take 6 weeks off. It was very difficult for me to balance the intensity of school and clinicals while having such a young baby at home.
I remember always having to find a place to pump in various hospitals and clinicals when I was on my clinical rotations, which was not ideal to say the least.
As a working mom, how did you decide what childcare situation was best for you and your family?
We were so lucky in that our families help out a lot with our kids. My mom watches the kids four days a week and my husband’s family watches them every Thursday. We do put them in daycare a couple days a week for the social aspect. Having a mix has been helpful in that we have a lot of flexibility.
When COVID struck, we took our kids out of their daycare and now they are just watched by our family.
For some fun chit-chat, now!
- Coffee order? Iced mocha latte
- Favorite restaurant in the East Valley? Joes Farm Grill
- Greatest challenge in your career thus far? Leaving a solid paycheck to bet on myself in my own practice.
- Most embarrassing mom moment? When my daughter had a full on blow out at Portillos and I had it all over me!
- Last Netflix show you binged? Selling Sunset
- Favorite family tradition? We make sure that we take at least one family vacation a year and one for just my husband and me. That has helped to keep us sane and allow us the time to connect.
For more information about Jillian’s practice, you can find her practice here.
