The Profession and Parenting: Strategies for Making it Work – Jeremy Marra
As an Athletic Trainer (AT), it can be a challenge to balance work and family life due to the long hours and irregular schedules. In this series, we present stories about ATs who successfully juggle their professional and personal lives, and we feature real stories from AT parents who “make it work.”
Jeremy Marra, MS, ATC, CSCS is self-employed as owner and service provider of Athletic Training Services by Jeremy Marra PLLC in Lake Placid, New York. Marra has been certified since 2006 and currently serves as an AT Director on the BOC Board of Directors.
Can you tell us a little bit about your background?
I began developing my business in 2020 and founded it in early 2021. Through my company, I provide bodywork and corrective exercise to private clients and manage various per diem contracts, caring for a wide variety of active people, including youth sports, master’s level athletes, working class individuals and international competitors.
Can you provide some details about your family life?
My partner, Julie, and I have been together for nearly 17 years and will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary this fall. I’m originally from metro-Detroit and she’s from a small community outside of Kansas City. We first met in 2008 while we were both employed at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s Lake Placid Training Center. After shuffling around a few job roles and dating long distance for a while, we finally married in Jamaica in 2014. In early 2020, we moved from Ann Arbor back to Lake Placid to support Julie’s career growth.
We have three biological children. Our two sons ages 7 and 6, and a 3-year-old daughter. Julie and I are also foster parents and have two foster youth currently in our care: an 11-year-old boy and 8-week-old girl. We also have a rescue dachshund.
Are you involved in any activities outside the home? Are your kids involved in outside activities?
We don’t stop hustling! Aside from our careers, Julie and I are active in the community. She volunteers with our elementary parent teacher organization, and I’m on our youth athletic association’s board. I’m also a hike host for “Hike It Baby,” a North American organization that brings families together though outdoor exploration.
Being in Lake Placid, our children are exposed to multiple sporting opportunities. Jace and Jaren both participate in hockey, speed-skating, soccer, cross country ski, tumbling and baseball. Joey participates in skating, dance, soccer and tumbling. Our foster youth does basketball and cross-country ski. And when we can, we squeeze in an art class, swimming or hiking.
Can you share your experience balancing between being a parent and an AT?
When I was an early professional, my identity was consumed by athletic training. As I got married and started growing my family, that identity transitioned into being a father first. I sought advice from other ATs, mostly dads, seeking the answer to this very question! Ultimately it comes down to determining the needs of your family, including your children and your partner as well as your partner’s flexibility and patience. Although travel is rare, when Julie does travel for work it can be for up to two months. We don’t have family nearby to assist with childcare, so planning is essential for balancing our careers and family life.
How do you approach daily opportunities that arise as an AT and at home? How do you make them balance?
Before children, I always said an AT’s greatest strength is our adaptability. As a parent, the same is true! I pride myself in being prepared and organized, but you can’t predict when one of your children gets sick, an appointment gets rescheduled, or practice times change. Especially parents of multiple children, we have to be able to bend and flex. Because I’m self-employed, I can schedule clients and contracts around my family. When things do arise, I have developed positive personal relationships with the people I work with to create an understanding of flexibility. Relationship building is critical, and when life is out of balance, leaning on those relationships can help get things back in sync. While children should never be excuses, they are a reality!
What is your greatest achievement as an AT?
My greatest achievements both came in 2016. Since 2008, I was the AT for Men’s Goalball, a Paralympic sport for athletes with low/no vision. I was selected as medical staff for the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, and at that tournament the men took the silver medal! My oldest son was also born that June, making me a first-time dad.
What is the best part of your day?
Although it’s like herding cats, bedtime is my favorite time of day. There are no outside distractions; just reading, rocking, songs and snuggles! It’s also the one time of day I consistently have intentional one on one time with each of my kids. No matter what the day deals, we always end with good vibes.
What advice would you give a fellow AT who might be struggling balancing their career and parenting?
I valued my experience as a D-1 AT. I was fortunate to have an incredible environment of support and flexibility for my growing family. However, the reality is that jobs in the athletic field and health care are intense and demanding. As parents in athletic training, some of our practice settings are more time consuming than others, and that may limit our ability to be as involved with our children as we want to be.
I became a solopreneur to have more control over my schedule to allow more of a commitment to parenting. Being a small business owner isn’t easier, but while developing my company it allowed me more time at home to care for my children during the pandemic and now affords me the ability to set my own schedule and expectations. However, I wouldn’t be successful now if it wasn’t for all the experience, skills and mentorship I gained prior to hanging my own shingle. If you want more time with your family, work towards a career path that best intersects with your family values. We can be parents and Athletic Trainers! It just looks different for each of us.
This article was originally published in the 2024 summer “Cert Update” newsletter.
