Balancing Family and Career Goals: How does Modern Mom LaShinda Demus do it?

As mom's we all share a struggle of balance. How much time can we give our children, husband, career and personal passions.  Just thinking of all those tasks, might remind us that we also need to do the laundry, and shop for dinner tomorrow.  Yet, today's focus goes to Modern Mom and Olympian LaShinda Demus for that exact reason.  She has found a way to incorporate family into her work and balance each item all the way to being a world champion. 

For track and field hurdler LaShinda Demus running track is certainly a family affair. Her mother Yolanda Demus was an NCAA champion at Cal State in the 400m hurdle and now stands besides her each step of the way as her coach since 2009. She also has her husband Jamel Mayrant as her agent, but her two biggest fans are her twin sons, born in 2007. There is footage from NBC of the two boys cheering loudly for their mother during one of her races. 

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All of this family support has certainly gone a long way for this accomplished athlete! She still holds the national record for the 300 hurdles and is known as the only girl to ever break the 40 second barrier. Her accomplishments didn't end there. Her record of 400m hurdles in 52.47 seconds in Daegu, South Korea in 2011 is the third fastest of any woman in the world. 

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Perhaps one of Demus' best qualities, besides her impressive ability to balance her career with motherhood, is her ability to bounce back from failure. Instead of falling apart after not making the cuts for the 2008 Summer Olympics, she came back better than ever to win the 2009 U.S. Championships and taking home a silver medal at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. 

Her winning streak continued through the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in South Korea where she won gold and made history with her 52.47 second 400m hurdle. She completely erased the memory of not qualifying for the 2008 Summer Olympics by not only making it to the 2012 Summer Olympics, but taking home a silver medal. 

It is her true spirit and drive to succeed despite setbacks that makes her one of our favorite Modern Olympic Moms!