Morgan Odum, 30

When Morgan Odum was faced with a decision about what to do with her career earlier this year, she didn’t have far to look for an example.

Odum was working in the public affairs department at The Mosaic Co. at the time.

Photo by Mark Wemple

But as a mother of a 6-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter it was getting difficult to balance the job and life. Her territory included covering Polk, Hardy and moving into Highlands counties, meaning she spent a lot of time on the road to and from her Lakeland home.

It “was becoming a little bit of a struggle when you’re trying to meet the business priorities you are responsible for but then have to race back and be the team mom at a T-Ball game.”

That’s when a job came open at Tampa Electric Co.

As of about two months ago, Odum has been the regional affairs manager for TECO. Her territory is Polk, which has been home her entire life and which she knows well.

She’s still learning the job — and the new industry — but says there are a lot of similarities.

“I feel like I can be a professional and also be a mama, which is very important to me,” she says of the new position. “So, my biggest advice is, you cannot get this time back so prioritize that when you're making decisions, and find a company that understands how important it is to get the work done here but also how important it is the work you're doing at home.”

Odum's juggling act stems from her mentor who is her grandfather, Charles Carlton, a local attorney who died last year.

Carlton had a law practice in town with Odum's grandmother. But when Odum, the oldest of five granddaughters, got to kindergarten Carlton began leaving work every day at 2:30 p.m. to pick her up from school so they could spend time together. (He did that for all five of his granddaughters.)

Grandfather and granddaughter chatted on those drives and, even though it took her years to truly appreciate it, he would share his wisdom, And he proved you can be successful while also making the “time that's so precious for your family.”

As she was making the decision about what to do with her career, her one wish, she says, was that, “Papa was here so I could talk this through with him.”

“It would have been a pretty short conversation, to be completely honest,” Odum says. “I think he would have said, ‘Let's talk about the pros and cons, but I think we both know what you have to do.’”

It turns out, she did.