It can be hard finding work/life balance when working in facilities. This can be especially hard for working parents like Tia Freiburger. After having her daughter, now aged seven, she knew that she wanted to be a present figure in her life and not always have to be on call to fix a building issue. She partially credits the switch from education facilities to the corporate world for helping her find an achievable work/life balance.
“Even though I have a lot of things that are still in operation and there are a lot of demands with the building’s still running, I make a point to go home,” Freiburger says. “I do not do work-related things, so I can be an actively engaged mom. When I pick up my daughter and until she goes to bed, I am a mom. I make it a point to not check emails or take emails. In those hours I am just her mom. When she goes back to bed is when I go back into work mode, and I will check to see if there’s anything that I missed or that needs my attention.”
Freiburger has also found some balance by doing “No Tech Tuesdays” with her daughter each week. Every Tuesday, the pair will not use technology and rather engage in activities like arts and crafts, walking or swimming during the summer. When first implementing the tradition, she set a boundary with work and let her colleagues no that during that time she will be unreachable.
“She had just started school, and when she came home I started doing work and she walked up to me and was like ‘can you please close your computer? I’d like to hang out with you,’” Freiburger says. “And my heart just dropped. I closed my computer right away and then we had a great night. When she was going to bed that night I asked her if she wanted to try and do this weekly, and she said she’d love to do it. And I said, you know what, we’re going to call it no tech Tuesday.”
Freiburger admits that achieving a work/life balance takes a lot of prioritization. When taking on the role of director, she learned what needed to be taken care of that day and what could be pushed off. However, the biggest achievement for her was recognizing that she is still just one person and that there is still always tomorrow.
“I need to give myself some grace to recognize that I’m doing the best I can and that it will still be there tomorrow,” Freiburger says. “So, if I’m replying back to someone at 9:00 at night, that’s still a win. I had to recognize that I can’t do everything immediately and that some things take a lot of work. I have high expectations of myself and go into over drive, but that isn’t sustainable.”
To help prioritize her tasks, Freiburger makes lists. From there, she is able to delegate tasks to certain people. Not only does this take some of the workload off of her, but it helps other people gain that experience and confidence.
“Tia is a wealth of knowledge and her experience in the facilities and operations realm has greatly impacted me and our team of building engineers,” says Megan Vaughn, senior manager of facilities and corporate real estate for Under Armour. “She is positive and gives us the confidence needed to work in a fast past environment. Tia has redefined what leadership looks like in the world of facilities management. She does not just operate a building — she has built a team. A team that feels trusted, equipped, and empowered to take ownership of their work. That’s the legacy she leaves: a building that runs well, and a team that runs even better.”
Mackenna Moralez is the associate editor and the host of the Facilities in Focus podcast.
Tia Freiburger on Leadership, Teamwork, and the Art of Facility Management
What Work/Life Balance Looks Like for a Working Facility Manager
