Nancy Hernandez

Though I’m not sure what the true definition of “the norm” looks like these days, I can say, I’ve been less than normal for most of my life. More often than not, I find myself questioning the expected, ignoring societal pressures, and doing things differently.

These different doings of mine include, but are not limited to:

• Opting to be vegan for nearly a decade (and still going strong)
• Exiting the 9 to 5 office world (more than once)
• Making an effort to travel more
• Overcoming my fear...

When I was a business manager, my boss bluntly told me one day that I took too long when interviewing some individuals — and sometimes that was a good thing. I got insights about the interviewees’ views on other topics.

He told me that, when I finished writing the story I was assigned, I should write notes about their answers to questions I asked that were not directly related to the story. Then in future stories, I might see where one of those interviewees had an unexpected yet relevant...