Voyage Tampa June 2022

Daily Inspiration: Meet Valerie Bernhard

http://voyagetampa.com/interview/daily-inspiration-meet-valerie-bernhard/

Today we’d like to introduce you to Valerie Bernhard. 

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?

After giving birth to our baby boy, I became very sick and almost died from complications of HELLP Syndrome.
As I laid in the ICU, my husband Karl holding my hand, together made a decision to live life more presently, to do our best to slow down and live life to the fullest. We have Arthur Guy to thank for our inspiration. He came early after an emergency c-section, weighing 4 pounds and 2 ounces. He was released from the NICU fifteen minutes later with a clean bill of health. Then came the fight of our lives. My health was deteriorating and our tiny new baby would have to go home without his mom. My husband and mother stayed at my side in the ICU as I fought for my life, driven to get home to our baby boy. The thought of not being here to watch Arthur grow was unbearable.

Two weeks later, I had slowly recovered enough for my doctor to discharge me as I cried and pleaded that only my little family could heal me. And heal me they did.

We will never forget how precious life is, how amazing friends and family can be, and how important it is to live fully, to be as present as possible in each moment. Karl only left my side for the necessities. He even camped out in a dark supply room of the emergency room (thanks to a friend that was a nurse there at the time) to be able to sneak back to my bedside. I fell in love with him all over again in a beautiful way. And then again each time I think of it. We often feel that the experience, as absolutely awful as it was at the time, was a blessing. We were able to exhibit our strength as a family, we were reminded that every moment in this life is a gift and we carry that with us daily.

We moved from New Orleans to Sarasota right before Arthur turned one and we love living in this beautiful paradise together. We fish at private little beaches, we grill and swim in the back yard and we love a great camping trip. I have loved Turkish towels (because of their super absorbency of course), robes, sarongs, and ponchos for those family adventures and wanted to use my design to take them a step further with messages of mindfulness. Each piece has a gentle reminder designed to remind you to slow down and take it all in.

The (long version) mission statement for Art Guy is
MINDFULNESS, LIVING IN THE MOMENT, INTENTIONALLY FOCUSING ON YOUR PRESENT LIFE— We honor this practice not because we have mastered it but because we strive to. Art Guy designs functional, gentle reminders to live in the present.
Art Guy is created with love and helps to remind us that it is so great to be HERE.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Unfortunately not. Along the way, there were many times that I struggled to actually do my best to be mindful myself.

Since a good bit of marketing these days involves social media presence, I found it difficult because sometimes I felt as though I was living for content. It took away moments of my own to take photos and create those mindful images for my business.

So, I am in and out of that aspect of marketing. I share moments along the way of our mindful journey but take a step back when I feel as though it becomes too consuming. That can usually be a good time to focus on other avenues of getting the brand out there.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?

I am a graphic designer as well. I have a rather large clientele that includes a popular music club in New Orleans so I just recently worked on the design and promotions for their Jazz Fest series’ performers. Great music and talent to be a part of. And I do miss New Orleans, it is such an amazing place so jamming to that music while I create their artwork reminds me of that home.

I designed and sewed the Siesta and St. John ponchos from Turkish towels. I absolutely love sewing, it is relaxing to me and I get to breathe in my messages as I go.

I think that what sets me apart from others is that I have lived many professions in my lifetime. I’ve waited tables, been a massage therapist, a physical therapy technician, a hairstylist which allowed me to work with a few famous clients while in New Orleans. I became a graphic designer ten years ago (TODAY!) and have been able to be a first-grade teacher to my son the first semester of this year and a virtual kindergarten mom since I am able to work from home.

Creating things is a big part of our little family. My son has watched me and my husband work hard and I know that he has learned some things about design during this pandemic. Karl is an architect and we had a whole one-room office / virtual school day. It was insane but yet it felt like we needed that time back that I lost when I was sick. I felt like that time was so precious and it was like a life bonus. There were 20 little sweet and amazing kindergarteners in our living room every day. We are now back to in-person learning, office and me in my home office with our cat Masha, all our separate ways and we all seem to be thriving back in the real world.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?

Growing up I was such a fun-loving little ham. I remember just loving to make people laugh and I think I was a pretty good kid. Then I was just a terrible teenager. Sorry, mom. But Mom and I have become the greatest of friends and she is my hero in every aspect of life. She is a strong, beautiful, hilarious and kind.

My mom actually saved my life while I was in the ICU. I had a 17cm hematoma in my belly caused by the HELLP Syndrome and I went into hypovolemic shock. My mom, an emergency room nurse of 37 years, was in the room and assisted the nurses and doctors that brought me back to life. That was just one of my hurdles from the sickness that I had. If you want to know more of those details including life support, dialysis, abdominal surgery, gaining the strength to walk again… my birth plan was so in my rearview mirror that it felt like a completely different lifetime.

I hadn’t really grown into the person I was meant to be until I met my husband and became a mom. They are my team, my best friends, and just amazing people to experience life with. Being around them makes me feel like the absolute luckiest person on the planet. They have the biggest, kindest, funniest hearts and we have such an amazing life together. Here is so good.

Contact Info:

Valerie BernhardComment