Meet Rhonda Baughman, EdS | Instructor & Writer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rhonda Baughman, EdS and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rhonda, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
“Work life balance” (like “networking”) have become buzzwords that we often pay lip service to but think little about. Many people, myself included at one point early in my corporate career, put one foot in front of the other, head down and with both mental and physical health suffering, allowed toxic environments and terrible leadership to control a 24/7 work ethic. That wasn’t ethics controlling me – that was fear. Simply living to work, dreaming about work, and fearing a work environment because it may one day turn on me – that’s no life at all – and eventually, the time came when I wanted MY life back AND to achieve that U had to change my way of thinking, my perspectives.

A year before the pandemic, I’d had enough of terrible leaders and terrible meetings and one moment changed it all for me. When that moment came, I’d finally had enough of not feeling fulfilled in a day job that consumed most of my time; however, I had been looking in the wrong places for that fulfillment. Money could buy the items I needed for comfort, but it could not buy back time and energy I’d wasted doing things that ultimately did not matter and nor could money return lost loved ones – and I had to admit that titles no longer excited me. So, I decided to hit my reset button – and this including doing a lot of personal work.

Returning to my hometown, older and wiser, I began a new routine: a job that paid considerably less but where I was happy and seeing friends I missed, and I also began coaching clients in the writing process. Additionally, I began caring for a parent; and I began writing again (my own Medium Chill series) using an intense writing process I loved. Finally, a pup named Pumpkin found me.

Then the pandemic hit – just a few months after I began my ideal life. All I could do was laugh – after the fear of dying in a pandemic ultimately passed, of course, but eventually even at my fear of death, I was able to laugh, too. I finally understood that it was okay to leave a life behind that no longer excited or fulfilled me, and that it was okay to want to fill my time with people, events, and routines that mattered TO ME, and me alone. I redefined what I wanted, what I needed, and what success looked like to me at the age I am now.

How do I think about this balance now? I constantly question, check in with myself, asking if the work I am doing matters to me, and if I answer yes, I continue. If I answer no, I hit that reset button again to fix the situation – fix that split, that work life balance, so it works FOR me.

So, it’s no longer about balancing a 90/10 split (90% of my time and energy to making big titles and big money for people I’d never meet, with that 10% barely left for me and life’s necessities). But it’s no longer about balancing even a 50/50 split either (half my time to firms that would eliminate my position instantly and without a second thought and that other half to me recovering from that grind and socking money away for “some other day”, but still feeling only half-alive). No, my split, or how I think about the balance now, is 20/80, 20% of my time doing work I love for firms/clients who treat me fairly and the other 80% of my time spent doing things I love with people I love, even if that time is spent alone and writing (I count myself now in the category of people I love, too.).

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The Medium Chill series, I’d like to think, harkens back to the days and decades of print DIY, street teamed short fiction and non-fiction ‘zines — prolific, reaching, yet remaining cheerily underground, bringing a slightly unhinged but nonetheless darkly creative, childlike mentality with it while still brewing with just a hint of nose-thumb toward intrusive authority.

Soon, I will post and email the ‘call for submissions’ for my Medium Chill series — for issue 9. (Issues 1-8 are available on Amazon.) I open the call for all who may be interested, and I am most proud that the Medium Chill series is still here – and improving as we continue. As a main editor for Medium Chill, I am a firm believer there is always room for improvement. Additionally, I am most proud that, when budgeting permits, I am able to pay writers selected for the issue under review It’s not always a lot, but it is what budgeting permits and still a small token of my appreciation for their creativity and insight. Some writers have merely donated any monies earned to the production of the next issue – and I am extremely proud to work with these artists, as well.

Creating the series is a labor of love, dedication, and intense focus ==- as any creative project can be. Removing outside negativity from the writing and editing processes can be a full-time (unpaid) job in and of itself, so no, the job is never easy, but it is fulfilling. I overcome any challenges along the way because I WANT to overcome them and I have learned that changing my way of thinking (essentially moving from an unconscious and fixed mindset to a more conscious, growth mindset) is the best way to do so, to overcome any challenge that arises.

I would like the world to know about Medium Chill, to know there’s something in each issue for everyone, created by someone – but like any archaeological dig or cave exploration, you may not understand nor find value in everything you come across, but that’s okay, because someone else might see what you missed. The fact is that all pieces included in each issue meant a lot to their creator, to the writer, the artist, the poet – everyone’s story matters, everyone’s work matters but sometimes those works take a while to find their readers, their appreciators, their fans and until then if inside the pages of an issue Medium Chill is the only place, those works can remain happily, warmly ensconced there.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Let’s be honest: Canton, Ohio is a strange little town aggressively dedicated to the tourism pursuit of all things football – and that’s okay. If football is your jam, Canton is your muse.: there’s additions and improvements to the Hall of Fame Village and the Pro Football Hall of Fame every day, but there’s guides far more suited to the coverage than I ever could be. BUT!

Canton does have the bonus of being located in the heart of Northeast Ohio and so we’re only a few highway minutes away from bigger, often more exciting cities like Cleveland, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – more events than even the hardiest of us could handle in a few days. AND YET!

Twice per year, in April and October we are home to the fan-oriented Strongsville, Ohio convention known as Cinema Wasteland. Highly recommended for all movie lovers and memorabilia collectors.

Recently, I created an itinerary for a dear friend visiting for work (we do love to make movies here in Northeast Ohio, too!) and our sweet spots include food, spa, nature, and shopping local businesses. I took my friend on a whirlwind ride (and yes, I do love to rent the occasional limo for these occasions), and our weekend included visits to these Canton spots (and we always start with dessert first):

For desserts: Milk & Honey, Heggy’s, Wollenberg’s, and Taggart’s

For lunch and dinners: Sukho Thai, Bombay Sitar, Frames Tavern, Sahara Grille, Asia Garden, and Clean Eatz

For spa treatments: Mystic Float

For local shopping: Quonset Hut; Comics, Cards, and Collectables; Happy Pappy’s; and Rack It Up! (a retro arcade)

For nature: Canton Garden Center (including the Garden of the Senses); Stadium Park/McKinley Monument; and a quick photo op with Willy the Whale (located on the site of the former Mother Gooseland) before heading to the hiking at the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath (aka “Canal Lands”) in Tuscarawas County beginning at the Ft. Laurens trailhead.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have a lovely and amazing group of friends both online and off who go out of their way to make sure they know I am loved, I am needed, and I am cared for – no matter what I may be doing or how I may be feeling. Among these fantastic friends are other writers, artists, and creatives, all hard-working and talented individuals who share their time and energy and insight with me. I will not name drop them here, as some of them are high-profile and they prefer their anonymity, but they know who they are. I would not be able to consider myself a success, nor even remotely loved, without this network of giving and cherished individuals.

Sometimes, I do write for and about my friends for various publications such as my own Medium Chill, but also for other publications like Girls on Film, Exploitation Nation, and Tucson Lifestyle Magazine.

Finally, my daily work-from-home routine is filled with love and laughter and a touch of madness: I am grateful for every day I still have with those in my household, as well as both parents who remind me on the daily that they are both proud and appreciative of me,

Website: https://www.clippings.me/users/rhondabaughman

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Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-rhonda-baughman-8263a745/

Twitter: @Dr_Baughman

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