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This Bonus Episode is all about the importance of role models and the special bond between a mother and a daughter.

Join Regina Larko, host of #impact Podcast, when she sits down with one of her greatest role models: Her brilliant mom, Rosemarie Schenk.

Going all in for a hug. Regina and her wonderful Mom celebrating last year’s Mothers Day together in Hong Kong. 

About role models and accidental recordings

What better way to get ready for the upcoming new Season of #impact Podcast than hearing from Rosemarie who is making her impact by saving lives as an emergency doctor and anesthesiologist at a public hospital in Austria. She has been doing so for almost 30 years when she started her career as a medical doctor.

A recording that was not meant to be published

Last summer, during a visit to her hometown Vienna, Regina was just getting ready for an interview with one of her biggest professional role models, award-winning radio host Claudia Stöckl .
Regina had just put her little daughter down for a nap and took advantage of the quiet moment to test her microphone while her mom was preparing some coffee in the kitchen.

Regina started to play around with the recorder and asked her mum a few questions, simply to test audio recording levels. Before Regina and her Mom knew it, they were deep into a conversation about Rosemarie’s work with impact, Regina sharing observations and questions about what it takes to be a doctor that has such a huge responsibility in the operation theatre over the lives of other people.

The challenge to balance work and family

Growing up, Regina remembers many evenings and weekends when her mom was not around at home. Rosemarie’s busy schedule as a young doctor, recently graduated and just starting her career, forced Rosemarie to take on an incredible amount of night and weekend shifts.

A special bond: Regina and her Mum back in 1984

As hard as that was to accept for Regina as a child, that her mom was working so much, it taught Regina a lot about the sacrifices of balancing a career and a family. But it also showed her that having a hard working mom does not mean that there is less time for love and caring because they just made every minute they had together count so much more. Something that is still relevant today with Regina living in China for the past 9 years and as the time that they get to spend together in person is very limited.

The impact of being a doctor – the good and the bad moments

It was always one of Regina’s proudest moments when she could share with others when asked what her mom was doing for a living. And she still is today. Like that moment a stranger walked up to Regina’s mom to thank her for saving her brothers life. But sometimes help is coming too late.

“You have to accept that sometimes you won’t be able to help anymore and that you can not save someone’s life.”

It is something that is hard to accept, Rosemarie shares, especially when children are affected that still had their whole life ahead of them and when she sees the mourning family that comes to say their final farewell.

Rosemarie lets the next generation of your doctors, that are just starting out their career, in on valuable advice:

“Don’t do it for the money. This is the wrong motivation!”

Balancing a demanding career in medicine and family life was challenging for Rosemarie for sure, and after Regina became a mom herself in September 2015, it made her realise even more how demanding it must have been for her mom to juggle work and being a mom.

A special bond

Luckily Regina is blessed with a very loving mum as well as an uber-amazing family, who were all there to support Rosemarie when raising Regina and her brother.

3 generations. Regina with her wonderful Mom and Grandmom. This episode was recorded right where they sit in this picture.

Grandmothers took the kids to the kindergarten and helped out with cooking dinners and then there is, of course, Regina’s wonderful dad, without doubt, one of the kindest souls in the whole wide world that has taught Regina so much about modesty and being grateful for the little things in life.

Regina and her wonderful Dad. The Farewell at Vienna airport is always heartbreaking but Dad helps dry Regina’s tears at her departure after the last Christmas holiday in January 2017.

Close despite living halfway across the world

This episode is dedicated to all of the people that made Regina who she is – her wonderful family. Though they are living thousands of kilometres apart, the bond between all of them has only grown stronger, no matter if they only get to reunite in person for a few weeks each year.

Scroll all the way up and press PLAY to listen in to this intimate conversation of Regina and her mom Rosemarie (recorded in German with an Introduction in English).  

Our learnings from this episode. Have something to add? Get in touch with us here!

Some inspiration to make an #impACT

• Sit down with the people you love most and ask them about their passions, hopes and dreams.
•  Reach out to someone you look up to and let them know that the way they work or live their life inspires you.
•  Treasure every second you have with your loved ones, even if you do not always agree with each other.

If you enjoyed this episode you will also love hearing more personal stories from Regina when she shares why and how she started #impact Podcast. Listen here.