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BISMARCK, N.D. (KXNET)— There are jobs focusing on working with a certain age group, whether it’s the elderly, the young, or in between. Grace Renner covers them all, balancing being a life enrichment and wellness director, fitness instructor, and mom.
“There’s such a gambit of different directions that I’m going in, in one day, but just showing up and doing my best is really what I strive to do,” she said. Though it’s a continual work in progress, Mandan native Grace Renner does it all with a constant smile. “I have always been contagiously happy at all times,” Renner said. She’s also been through some struggles, including having to give up an athletic career due to an accident in high school; but that didn’t stop her. “After high school, I became a personal trainer and personal fitness instructor,” Renner said.
She would go on to graduate from the University of Mary with a communications degree.
While in college, she was working at Touchmark as a CNA and also opened up and taught at Pure Barre in Bismarck. Also in college, she found out she’d be having a boy.
“It was such a remarkable journey and looking back on it now, I’m like, oh my gosh, that was so hard. Just having perspective, I look back on so many parts of my life and think: Wow! I can’t believe I made it through that,” Renner said.
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After college, Renner would become the Life Enrichment & Wellness Director at Touchmark in Bismarck — the job she holds today. She said it’s a lot of scheduling and office work, but spending time with the residents is what makes her happy.
“I do everything I can to make sure that their life is fulfilled and work really hard to incorporate things that they’re passionate about in our calendars,” Renner said.
But calendars, just like life, are temporary, as Renner knows too well.
“I love that I’m exposed to the last chapters of life here on a daily basis because it’s a very humbling experience and it keeps me grounded. It makes me really present for my children and really present for all of those around me,” Renner said.
