Moms Who Rock Around Our Towns: Sleepy Hollow Manor's Naomi Vladeck

Each week, we're going to share with you a local mom who we think is awesome. We'll ask her some questions and hear about how she manages life with kids in our area. We hope you'll enjoy getting to know some of our neighbors.

Naomi Vladeck founded Naomi Vladeck College Essay Coaching in 2011. She lives in Sleepy Hollow Manor with her husband, Eric R. Putter and their children Sophie (6) and Levi (4). She write about college essay writing in a Blog for the Patch. Her website is under construction and will launch at the end of this month.

 1. How do you balance being a mom and working?

Naomi thinks of the word "surrender" when it comes to parenting. And, she says, like many moms, she practices "a lot of deep breathing." She tries to approach "motherhood as a dance" and understands that she may need to mix it up to stay in balance. 

She has a flexible work schedule that allows her to spend two full days at home with her son and enjoys when her daughter arrives home and they all can "hang out on the carpet and listen to music, dance and play."

Naomi committed to honoring two values before having her kids, "self-care and learning." She adds, "If I'm doing both of those things with some regularity, I'm doing great."

 2. We think your business is a great idea and  would love to hear more about it.

Before her daughter was born, Naomi left her position as the Director of Development and Planning at a performing arts venue in New York City. Since then, she has worked as a life-coach for artists and has "enjoyed writing workshops at our amazing Hudson Valley Writers Center, Stone Barns, and with the Wild Geese Writers in Dobbs Ferry."   

After her father passed way almost four years ago, she started to explore what she could do with her coaching and writing together. She was able to try out some of her ideas at her high school alma mater - The Rockland Country Day School -across the river in Congers.  

Naomi led a workshop for juniors in high school and then was asked to lead another worksop on college essay at the Warner Library. She also started workshops at the new W@atercooler in Tarrytown. In the spring, she'll offer workshops for juniors at the W@tercooler, Warner Library and at Irvington High School.  Her blog will resume this month with a message for high school juniors beginning their college essay process.

 3. When you find time for yourself, what do you enjoy doing locally?

Naomi likes to write or run on the Rockefeller State Park Preserve trails. She also takes a retreat yearly at the OMEGA institute in Rhinebeck "to refuel and reflect and try something" she's never done before.

Naomi knows that she  thrives when she is "connected to other women in writing workshops,  yoga class at Lotus on Main, working out at the JCC on the Hudson or at the local playgrounds sharing stories and supporting each other."

 4. What are some of your top things to do around Westchester with your family

Naomi's husband loves to cook and she enjoys being outside, so together, they spend time at Stone Barns participating in their events. In fact, her daughter "ate her first radish right out of the ground there when she was 3!" This family also are members of the Historic Hudson Valley and enjoys the activities that these locales put on for the public. 

Naomi also takes her son and to visit the Tarrytown Fire Department weekly, if not more, enjoys pizza nearby and also a stop in at "Coffee Labs at some point in the week for monkey muffins!"

 5. What is your favorite thing about living in this area?

Naomi is a self-described planner and when she was pregnant with her first child, she says she sat at her desk and put together her "vision for the next 5 years which - in addition to self-care and learning - included living in walking distance to an artsy town and a trail system.  Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown gave me all of those things, in spades!"

 Is there a question you'd want answered by our Moms featured here? Tell us!

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Submit your nomination in our comment box below or e-mail the information to elizabeth@patch.com