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Mary Gardner Interview

Occupation:
President
Coaches Certification Institute
New York, NY

Equipment:
Dell Lattiture LT laptop, Ericsson LX788 cell Phone

For personal coach Mary Gardner (www.marygardner.com), a laptop helped bring new life into the world. In Gardner's case, that's not just a metaphor; it's real life. She went into labor about six months into her pregnancy with her first son. She remained in the hospital for over three weeks. During all that time, she was isolated and in pain. To make matters worse, she also had work to do.

That's why she's grateful for her Dell Latitude LT.

"My situation was really bizarre," Gardner says, "I was in labor for three and a half weeks. We didn't know why I was in pain. I couldn't have anybody there, except for my mother and my husband and maybe one or two other people."

During her stay in the hospital, Gardner used her laptop to say in touch. She calls it the "e-mail connection." Battling isolation was the first step in running her life out of a hospital bed. "I just plugged it into the phone line at the hospital," she explains nonchalantly. The laptop helped her keep in touch with friends to "let them know on a daily basis what was going on."

Her laptop also proved to be a wonderful way to pass the time. " I prefer to spend time online as opposed to spending time on television," Gardner explains. On the Internet, she also found some unexpected solidarity. "In the hospital, you feel very isolated. It [the Internet] was such an amazing time passer." Through web sites like sidelines.org Gardner found other women in the same situation, with whom she could share her experience.

"I was able to connect with other women who were going through the same thing at the same time," she says. "I was able to research it and find I'm not alone. Other people are out there."

So was help. Stuck in her hospital bed, Gardner was able to buy furniture and other necessities online at www.urbanbaby.com and have them shipped to her house. She got work done, too, especially writing. Her compositions included columns that were published at www.cyberinvite.com, where her husband is CIO.

Both before and after giving birth, Gardner has taken advantage of mobil technology in her career as an independent coach and president of the Coaching Certification Institute. She specializes in coaching celebrities for public speaking engagements, but her work involves such diverse tasks as speech creation, image consultation, and acting as a guest host for QVC. Although, she won't be traveling far and wide in the immediate future, jobs have taken her far afield, where a laptop and cell phone are must-haves.

Now she's back home and looking ahead, and Gardner admits that her hospital experience made her an even more committed laptop devotee. "I became a lot more comfortable with it because I didn't have any other options." For the future, she has visions of bringing baby, dog, laptop, and cell phone along for work sessions in some of New York's beautiful parks. It's a work-from-anywhere dream come true.

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Contact Info:
Lifestyles Communications, Inc.
P.O. Box 1716.
Winter Park, Fl 32790-1716

Email: mary@marygardner.com
Phone: (407) 644-4046
Fax: (866) 264-6405