Though she fills her days as CEO (ahem, chief everything officer) at Farmington-based Dakota County Lumber, Sunny Bowman builds in plenty of time for active hobbies and getting outside, often reminding herself that “any bit of movement is better than none at all.” In her free time, you might find her playing and coaching hockey, downhill skiing, snowshoeing, golfing, hiking, or doing yoga. “Since winter is so long in Minnesota, I just choose to embrace it rather than wait it out,” she says.
A born and raised ’Sotan, Bowman loves to be outside in winter. “Our one family vacation every year was a cold weather ski vacation to more snow in the middle of winter,” she says. She played hockey, tennis, and lacrosse in her early days, and she admits her genes may have given her a running start. Bowman’s family is full of former high-level, hyper competitive athletes, and her parents were constantly telling their children to go outside. “The annual Christmas boot hockey game was cutthroat,” she says.
Embracing the outdoors makes winters a little less dreary, Bowman says. “There is nothing like a winter walk where your eyelashes freeze, and then coming in to warm up in front of the fireplace with some candles and a fuzzy blanket.”
The Balance Beam
As a mom of two boys—ages 6 and 7—and a CEO, intentionally maintaining an active lifestyle has been an evolving process and challenge. “I find that having a lot of different hobbies keeps me excited and motivated to work out—bonus if I can get some fresh air and vitamin D while I’m at it,” Bowman says.
I (Type-A as I am) was surprised that as a busy boss woman, Bowman doesn’t follow a strict routine for her workouts. “Though I know that works well for some, I find that the rigidity triggers my perfectionism and erases the mental health benefits I get from being active because I constantly feel like I’m not doing ‘enough,’” she says.
“What I’ve found that works well for me is having a variety of great options available to me of how I could move my body throughout the day.” Her favorites include a yoga class, a snowshoeing or cross-country skiing over her lunch break, and working out in the garage gym after picking the kids up from school. She chooses one a day when she plans the week, schedules it on her calendar as a clarity break, and sticks to it. She also invites her boys into her workouts—which is why they’re in many of her photos. “Also, my car looks like a rolling sporting goods store, so that I am always ready with whatever gear I need to sneak in a workout,” she says.
Bowman taught yoga for more than decade before stepping into the family lumber businesses, and she still relies on time on her mat as respite from the demands of, well, life. “There is nothing that can get my thoughts to settle like focusing on the physical movement of my body on my mat,” she says. “I might come into class with a million things on my mind, a raging to-do list, and having been late for every single thing that day, but once I start moving my body, everything starts to quiet.” She continues, “by the end of class, I’ve settled enough to ask myself how I’m really feeling and what I need. Usually, the answer is completely different from what I thought I needed when I was white knuckling my way through the door.”
I am no longer an elite athlete—that’s OK—I am an elite mom and CEO, and I am teaching my boys to love themselves enough to move and care for themselves.Sunny Bowman, CEO, Dakota County Lumber
Self-Care Isn’t Selfish // A Sunny Disposition
“I try to remind myself that exercise is one of the ways that I access my power as a leader,” Bowman says. “So often, exercise and movement are framed as selfish or self-serving when, in reality, I make the best decisions and show up as my best self when I’ve myself the time to walk and breathe some fresh air, play hockey with my teammates, or get on my yoga mat.” When people say to have a Sunny disposition, this is what we’d like to think they mean.
So, how does she do it all? “There’s no secret to doing it all. None of us do,” Bowman says. “For a long time when my kids were in the toddler stage, I would recite the mantra I can do everything, but I can’t do everything at once.” Instead, she honors that she is human (as all moms, CEOs, and dedicated fitness enthusiasts are!). “There are seasons and rhythms to everything, and learning to honor the place that I am in my life and adjust my expectations of myself accordingly has been crucial to making it all work. I am no longer an elite athlete—that’s OK—I am an elite mom and CEO, and I am teaching my boys to love themselves enough to move and care for themselves.”
All of this, she notes, is possible because she has a supportive partner. Her husband, she says, “champions my hobbies, enjoys many of the same activities, and values modeling movement to our kids as a core tenant of who we are as a family.” Bowman’s husband is a huge support for her active lifestyle. Though they are both busy working parents, they prioritize their own health and each other’s. “We take turns making sure the other is able to take care of themselves and keep room in the budget to hire a babysitter to come hang out with our kids while we work out, as needed,” she says. “Having a supportive partner in my husband, who champions my hobbies, enjoys many of the same activities, and values modeling movement to our kids as a core tenant of who we are as a family, has been essential.”