5 Minutes with a Mom: Sarah Gillmer -

Name:

Sarah Gillmer

Kids’ names and ages:

Rachel, 4

Luke 1 ½

What brought you to NWA?

I was 10 years old when we moved to Northwest Arkansas. I was born in Mountain Home, Arkansas, but my family moved around a lot with Walmart. My dad was a Walmart Store Manager in Harrisburg, Illinois and got a job at the WMT Home Office in 1992.

Tell us about your job at 8th & Walton:

8th & Walton is an education and training company whose mission is to help suppliers be better partners with Walmart, Sam’s Club, and other retailers. 8th & Walton media provides television, digital and podcast platforms to further this education and training in the retail industry. I manage our media platforms, bringing together strategic partners to provide solutions to the retail community.

And we have to hear about lash boost!

I am also an Independent Consultant for Rodan + Fields. If you haven’t tried our Lash Boost serum—you need to! I was very skeptical about this product, but my lands—IT WORKS!

I had thin, blond, barely-there lashes, and I have thrown away my eyelash curler. It looks like I have extensions! One swipe over the top lash line each night for 8 weeks…voila! There are a lot of my fellow consultants out there—find one, ASAP, and get your order in today!

What are your family’s favorite things to do together in NWA?

Right now, my kids love to be outside. Their greatest joys are picking up (and sometimes eating) sticks, rocks, leaves, and caterpillars, throwing balls, pretending to be a princess or playing school—all outside. We are big city park people—anywhere with a slide gets the gold seal of approval. We’ve proudly set the bar low, so whenever we venture out to the Amazeum—it truly knocks their socks off!

Which 3 things do you have on you at all times?

My phone, Carmex, and a backpack with diapers, wipes and sunscreen.

What’s something funny your kids did recently to make you LOL?

My three-year-old believes if you are the oldest, then you are the “biggest,” i.e. tallest. I was walking into her preschool and we noticed her classmate, his older brother, and mother walking in. She confidently noted that her friend was the littlest, his brother was medium-sized, and his mother was the “biggest.” Then she stated that her friend’s father was even bigger than his mother and his grandfather was the really biggest.

I looked at her and said, “you know sometimes when you get older you start shrinking; getting smaller.” She gave me the most puzzling look—like I had just blown her mind.

When I got home from work, she asked me if I had gotten any smaller.

If you could vacation anywhere in the world this summer, where would it be?

I’m a European History buff, and have been to Europe a few times…so sans kids I’d love to travel with Jeff (my husband) to Europe and do a 2-week tour across southern France, Spain, and Italy. With kids, a gulf coast beach or a short Silver Dollar City trip (we are not quite ready for Disney yet).

What’s something your friends might not know about you?

I am a morning person. It took me until college to accept this about myself, when I realized I was the weird one always signing up for the 7:30am classes. I so want to be in the “cool night owl” group. I can’t. I wake up around 4:45am during the work week and “sleep in” on the weekends until 6am. I was always the first one to fall asleep at sleepovers as a child. I start winding down around 8pm. 10pm, I’m toast.

What’s something you’d love to learn?

Something I need to learn—how to drive a stick-shift. My husband has a manual car. I think he did it on purpose. My dad, uncle, and grandmother all gave me lessons as a teenager, but I do not drive a stick shift well.

What did you want to “be” when you grew up?

Just like Laura Ingalls Wilder. I pretended I was her. Nelly Olson had nothing on me. I proudly hitched up my red, wooden wagon, perfectly tricked out with a faded brown towel over bent dowel rods my grandfather crafted to fit. I tied my little brother to the front and giddy upped around the neighborhood like I owned the place.

What’s been the most rewarding thing about motherhood?

I have joy in my children at their ages—their innocence, unconditional love, happiness in the simple—all beautiful reminders to me of God’s grace. My children are an undeserved gift, giving me new eyes to see. It is the most important job of my life, to guide, discipline, encourage, and support them as they mature into the woman and man God has created them to be.

How do you unwind at the end of a busy day?

If I don’t fall asleep shortly after sitting on the couch, I like to watch a little TV and eat a piece of dark mint Ghirardelli chocolate.

One word to sum me up:

Driven

Our many thanks to First National Bank of NWA for sponsoring this feature, which celebrates all the unique moms here in Northwest Arkansas! CLICK HERE to visit the FNBNWA website or follow them here on Facebook. FNBNWA is a full-service bank and has multiple branches, including: