Tuesday, September 02, 2014
Touring Life and Motherhood or How You Can’t Have it All
SoundGirls: After the birth of my daughters, I took some time off and did not work at all. As reality sunk in, I came to realize that touring was going to be difficult if not impossible. I thought about going back to school and getting a teaching degree – still one of the professions that allows for a schedule to be with your kids. I eventually returned to Los Angeles and took on a general manager role at Rat Sound – which really was doing a bit of everything, similar to what I did before but kept me off the road.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I read this article a while back, and while I'm not an audio engineer, a lot of what Kerrie Keyes writes about hits home. I would like to have a family one day, not anytime soon of course, but later, and I don’t like the idea of having to end my career for my kids. While this dilemma is one that most parents (and let’s face it, mostly women) struggle with, I definitely think that the stupid hours and crazy schedules of theater make it an important issue for all practitioners in our industry. What do you do during 10 out of 12 tech days, during performances, tours? I suppose this is where teaching comes in, but what if you don’t want to become a teacher? I think that the balance and rules that Keyes and her husband established are a great solution to the problem, but I can definitely see how hard it must be at times to maintain that, to feel fulfilled at work and present at home.
I agree with Camille on this one. I, too, would like to have children one day, and I, too, am concerned with how this will be possible with my chosen career path. I think touring in particular is very tricky when someone has a family. Logistically, of course, it is difficult to plan who will take care of the kids. However, I also can imagine it is emotionally difficult for parents to go on tour and not see their kids for extended periods of time. Of course, these are the sacrifices that people have to make. With all of that said, I really admire Kerrie Keyes for working hard to have a family and keep her career path on track. It seems as if Kerrie had to take off from her aspirations in audio while her children were young. However, it is admirable that she was able to make the decision to go back on tour, even with her family at home.
Like Camille and Jess, I too would like to have children all day. When I realized what field I wanted to get into I also realized the consequences and issues that might come in regards to family and home life. Will I be able to marry someone who isn't in the same field as me? Will I be able to be there to help raise my children or will my husband end up doing most of the raising? Will it be possible for me to work at home comfortably? In starting school here most of my nerves about this have been eased. Some of my professors here are married, raise kids, and work and this article has allowed me to pin point the pattern that makes it all happen: collaboration and compromise. Even though collaboration and compromise are things that are stressed in our classes I didn't realize that it even transfers over to our family lives.
This was a very interesting to me for a couple of reasons. First, the thought of working in the theatre while trying to have a family is one of my greater fears about embarking on this career path, so it is really cool to me to hear from someone who was able to make it work without giving up her passion. Very lucky that her children should be cool with the nanny and aunt. Very lucky, too, that they should have such a good father. I have been in a similar position with my family, where my parents are divorced (dad is totally out of the picture) and my mom works seven days per week as a realtor. When we were younger, it was more difficult, but as we grew up, it became more of a source of independence as Karrie’s children say. I also admire her for having the strength to turn down job offers, as well as the trust to follow the career choices she feels she can manage. That is a very impressive kind of balance for anyone, but especially for a mother. Overall, I really appreciate the story and the author for telling the hard truth (that this is a crazy world to work in!) as well as giving me a little bit of hope that my family life won’t be in shambles if I decide at 32 that I really don’t want to give up my work.
Though I am not a "SoundGirl" I feel like this article is good for anyone who wants to have a life touring and have a family. Ever since I went to my first concert in 7th grade I knew that I wanted to go on tour. As my life progressed I realized that being a Sound Engineer for a touring band was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life and it still is. As a person who eventually wants to have a family I have recently been thinking that this is not something that will be easy if I'm constantly away from home. It wouldn't be fair to my future wife and kids to have me away for long periods at a time. Though its not something that I need to think about right now, it is always something that is on the back of my mind every now and then.
Post a Comment