10-24-2021 Women to Watch - Flipbook - Page 42
School nurse Dina Brookmyer,
a Pikesville mom to three kids
under 10, said the increase in
leisure time, especially in the
evenings, motivated her to
enroll in online classes related
to her photography hobby.
PHOTO BY LLOYD FOX
Women in service or health care jobs also had greater
exposure to the virus, she pointed out.
Even women who are able to work remotely, if
they have kids, face the daunting task of looking after
children while remaining focused on work.
“You remember Virginia Woolf talked about, in
order for a woman to write, she has to have a room of
her own,” Newson-Horst said. “Well in order to work,
you need some solitude.”
Often, people running out of options will turn to
informal support networks like those forged on social
media Newson-Horst said.
“People are solving this for themselves, they’re
relying on their support group, be that the church,
their women friends, what have you,” Newson-Horst
said.
Pathfinder
Some women have taken the respite from daily
routines and social pressures to pursue their passions.
School nurse Dina Brookmyer, a Pikesville mom
to three kids under 10, said the increase in leisure
time, especially in the evenings, motivated her to
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2021
enroll in online classes related to her photography
hobby. It gave her inspiration and joy when much of
the world seemed cold and dark, she said.
“I thought, for all the work and effort, I might
as well do something with it,” said Brookmyer, who
launched Brookmyer Photography officially in 2020
as a business. “At first, it was a hobby, but out of respect for myself and for photography, I took it more
seriously.”
Jasmine Norton, owner of The Urban Oyster, said
the past year and a half has been a “roller coaster.”
From closing her Locust Point restaurant in July
2020, to opening the Urban Burger Bar in Whitehall
Market, she’s become adept at adapting.
“The amount of love and support that surrounded
us was unparalleled,” Norton said. “It speaks volumes
to having a strong network and sense of community.”
She adopted five-day work weeks during the pandemic, compared to her usual seven-day operation.
That’s something she wants to keep, normalizing a
healthy work-life balance.
Jasmine Ashley, 27, always dreamed of starting
her own business and loves all things “beauty and
glam.” In May 2020, the Baltimore County resident
launched “PRE$$ed*ish,” her own line of custom
press-on nails. She said being stuck at home encouraged her to take a “leap of faith.”
“The extra income is great, but it’s moreso just me
having fun with it,” said Ashley, a human resources
professional. “It’s my way of decompressing.”
Ashley promotes her products on social media
platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, where she’s
gained almost 39,000 followers.
As for Daley, the former Shock Trauma administrator, time away from work meant she and her husband dipped into savings and retirement funds and
used food stamps to get by. The time at home was
isolating, but it gave her more time to focus on her
kids, especially as they adjusted to remote learning.
Daley started a new job as a donor services coordinator in March, which she says is rewarding and
much more manageable. And she’s found that both
loved ones and people at large better understand the
challenges women have to juggle.
“My husband’s definitely more like, ‘Wow, you
had a million things on your plate,’ ” Daley said. “It
opened eyes, but I still don’t think it’s talked about
enough.”