Meet Ava Henrickson | Writer, Photographer, Artist, Legal Assistant, Mom

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ava Henrickson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ava, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
I don’t think there is such thing as a balance with the current structure of 8-5 m-f working downtown in the office like I do. You do your commute and put in your time and enjoy your four hours in the evening of non working and hopefully you have a job where you don’t have to think about work at home and you get your full lunch hour every day without interruption and your two days off are yours free of anything to do with the work. That’s about the best balance I can ask for working in the current system.

But I have all that, and also benefits, which play in to the balance, and PTO, which is part of it. The ability to guiltlessly take time off to go to the dentist is work life balance. Or to be able to take a week off for vacation and know everything was handled in your absence… That’s a piece of the work life balance, too.

Being able to take care of your mental health while not adding more trauma to it is work life balance.

I used to think it was hiking on the weekends in exchange for crying in the bathroom stalls three times a week, or working twenty hours a week with no benefits and plenty of time to hike or otherwise relax, but consequentially burning through my savings as a result. Not very balanced.

I think balancing my entire life, which includes work, not discludes work, involved acceptance, and perhaps compartmentalization of all parts of the day, and if your mental health is balanced, your life will feel balanced.

I’m not saying I am that way, ha, or that I have it all figured out, but it makes sense to me, figuring what I’ve learned in life so far.

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.
I recently started two new positions, one full-time job as a trial assistant at the Colorado Supreme Court Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel, and the other as a freelance writer for the Boulder Weekly newspaper.

The trial assistant job is absolutely amazing, and I plan to put in my remaining 17 working years and retire there. The work itself is interesting and fulfilling and it’s consumer protection, working with attorneys to prosecute other attorneys who are not worthy of working in law. I’ve worked in law for 10 years now, as either a paralegal or legal assistant, at a solo law firm, a 100-attorney law firm, a father/son law firm and for in-house counsel at a national furniture company, before landing at OARC. I feel at home here, having accepted some time ago that working in law is what I have to do as it is where the money is at.

Which brings me to my freelance job at the Boulder Weekly. My previous career before I moved to Colorado in 2015 was in journalism. I worked at the local newspaper in Rapid City, SD for 9 years, mostly editing obituaries, but also writing for the features department. I wrote for the Good Gardner series, where people would nominate a gardener they thought was really good and I would interview them in their gardens about their flowers and what kind of dirt they use, etc., with the sun shining on my face, surrounded by serenity and hydrangeas. Some of my articles were even picked up by the Associated Press and ran in other newspapers across the country.

I’ve been writing since I was a little kid; I remember I wrote a play about saying no to drugs in 6th grade that I and my classmates performed in front of the school. Writing comes naturally to me, words flow and just seem to pop in to my head, dare I say… It’s easy for me. I think it comes from always having my nose in a book from the time I learned how to read; I was escaping childhood trauma in fantastical fictional ways, learning about faraway places I knew I’d never see.

The newspaper was actually my second stint in journalism… I worked in television news at two separate stations as well. I also went to school, earning a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice in 2012.

Did I mention I was a single mom of two kids from the time I was 21 years old? I finally left a bad relationship with domestic violence when I was 5 months pregnant with my son and my daughter was 8 months old.

So I was building a career in journalism, going to school, and raising young kids by myself… I’m exhausted remembering it now!!

I learned so many lessons along the way, and as far as career goes, I learned not to sacrifice your family for the man. I’m with Gen Z and Gen Alpha .. the traditional 40 hour workweek is antiquated and has to be reevaluated… Just like working from home, which they found raised production in most industries.

Perhaps the biggest life changing thing that happened for me was acceptance. I found acceptance while working for a solo attorney for the second time… It wasn’t a permanent job situation but my boss was really complimentary and good to me and made me really believe in myself again after I had been fired, yes fired! from a previous job. I realized that accepting my job, my life, my circumstances, all would clear the way for more good things to happen in life and sure enough, that’s what happened!

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?
The Denver area is an excellent place to visit! I’d take them to my favorite food places, Uncle, Fuzzy’s, Bar Red, 303 Ramen, Rupert’s at the Edge, La Mai Thai, King of Wings, and then I’d have to take them to Meow Wolf, the Church of Cannabis, and the new light show at the church in the Highlands, then I’d show them some of my favorite places in the city including Inspiration Point Park, the Santa Fe Art District, Kirkland Museum, Lookout Mountain in Golden, and maybe tour the Coors plant while there.

I’d want to show them some of the speakeasies in town, see a show at the Oriental, put our names in for karaoke at a friendly dive bar in one of the burbs, and catch a comedy show at Comedy Works.

Finally, we’d have to head for the mountains, hit both Golden Gate Canyon State Park and Eldorado Canyon State Park, hike around then go to Idaho Springs and soak at the Indian Hot Springs.

I think that’s a good week’s worth of activities. Also, clearly money is no object on this visit. 😀

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I wouldn’t be anywhere without my kids. Everything I do is to make them proud, to protect them, or to honor them. My daughter Alissa Love is a scientist, artist and amazing human being… She’ll be making headlines in the science world and from literally out of this world, with her aspirations to be an astronaut.

My son Adam Henrickson is already on the other side; he died in 2020 of suicide while stationed in Germany with the US Army. He was an amazing photographer and mechanic and human and is now an angel in the sky… I honor his life by living mine with more grace, love, and softness… All things Adam was known for.

Also my sister, Angie Stevens, the reason I moved to Colorado. She’s always been an inspiration as an artist and a mother to my sweet nephew, Spencer. And, my sister Amy Shinabarger. She’s an amazing caretaker and was there for me when I went through treatment for breast cancer. And she had two awesome kids, my nephews Jake and Ty.

I give a shout-out to my friend and mentor Amy Norton. She’s a photographer, writer, artist, business owner and friend who always has a number of balls in the air and handles the circus with humor and grace.

Website: https://avahenrickson.com/

Instagram: https://www.threads.net/@avahenrickson

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ava-henrickson

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/16bR6eAxDv/

Other: https://avahenrickson.wordpress.com/

Image Credits
Wendy Clark, Joanna Kitto