There aren't many CEOs that receive death threats or have had to have their email address pulled from their organization's website.
It seems our world is getting more stressful by the day but just imagine if you were in charge of a facility that served as a safe haven for domestic violence victims.
How do you help them and at the same time, keep yourself grounded? Harbor House of Central Florida is doing just that with Carol Wick at the helm.
Wick is Harbor House's CEO. It is the only shelter in Florida with both a state certified daycare and pet kennel. As the person in charge, Wick deals with life threatening situations on a daily basis. With lives on the line, why this career choice at Harbor House?
“I spent 20 years with at risk kids. I've probably spent most of my life working with traumatized adults and children. Up here at Harbor House, I just feel like it was just such a perfect fit for what I wanted to do. I was looking to make more of an impact and a CEO is able to do that,” Wick said.
Still, the job is a very emotional one and it's important to find a balance between work and a home life.
“You have to really learn to set it aside because what we do and literally on a daily basis is deal with life and death. Really stepping back and making sure that you have a home life that is completely different from work is important so I have a lot of volunteer things that I do, friends & family and I think it's really important that you keep that balance. When you're in a field like this you see all the bad things in society, when you see some of the most heinous things that most people in their daily lives don't even know exists. We deal with people who are tortured and literally burned alive,” Wick said.
Carol is also involved with pet therapy with 7-year-old Jo Jo, her dog, certified in pet therapy and they visit nursing homes. This area is where victims' dogs can be outside in safety and where victims can sit on the screened in cat patio.
“So now when I interface with survivors who have their pets here, it makes me realize that the effort, the donations, the community support, it's just so important,” Wick said. I feel very fortunate to go to work every day knowing that because of the work that I'm doing even if it's boring signing checks or reviewing contracts, that the work that we do, every one of us probably saved someone's life that day.”
It is important to note that domestic violence is a pattern of controlling behavior that may include physical, sexual, economic, cyber, emotional, and/or psychological abuse by an intimate partner or family member.
Wick answered a series of questions from News 13 about her life:
1) If you could go anywhere in the world - where would it be?
"My daughter and I both love history and ancestry. I would love for our family to go first to Germany and then to Scotland."
2) What is your favorite color?
"I love anything red but purple is a close second."
3) If you weren't doing what you are currently professionally - what would you like to do?
"I really can't imagine having a job that I could love more. I have always wanted to be a helicopter pilot though. Guess I should fly in one sometime before I make a career move."
4) If you won the lottery what would you do with the winnings?
"I would pay off my parents’ home and make sure they never wanted for anything again. They sacrificed so much for my brothers and I."
5) What is your favorite food?
"My husband is a fabulous cook and I love anything he cooks up in our kitchen."