Work From Home Allows Colorado Family To Relocate To Oklahoma

Most of Bobbie Berg’s work happens in her yard, in the small town of Rose, Oklahoma.

When she is not introducing new puppies to the world, she is working with her grown German Shepherds, some of them destined to become service dogs.

As the owner of Shield Kennels, working from home is not new to Bobbie. But years ago, in Colorado, she used to commute to another job, in addition to her dog breeding work.

“Luckily, a couple of years ago I was laid off,” Bobbie said. “I was actually happy about that and was able to work from home full time."

While Bobbie is outside cleaning and caring for 15 dogs, including several family pets, her husband, Adam, is hard at work inside.

Adam has a new job in information technology that allowed the family to make the move to Oklahoma, from Colorado.

While Adam worked in the same industry there, his former company was ready to pivot back to the office after working from home for part of the pandemic.

"His work wanted him to come back and he didn't want to come back,” Bobbie said. “So he decided to start looking for a job that could keep him to stay at home."

Now, Adam is home all the time.

"Setting up that new routine really gave us all more freedom, more time to spend with the family and the business," Adam said.

"Having him home it was like it was different because you'd want to go talk to him and go, 'Hey, let's go do this!' And it's like, wait, he's working,” Bobbie said.

Around the corner in another room, Bobbie and Adam’s son, Josh, is working from home, too. He designs video games and his own schedule. Josh says it's so flexible, he doesn't even set an alarm to get up for his workday.

“Don't even have to put on a sock," Josh said.

The family says one of the main reasons for the move: they have a stronger internet connection here than they did in their old home.

"Better internet. Yeah, that's a very big, crucial reason we had to move,” Josh said.

“When we were in Colorado, we actually drove an hour and 10 minutes each way to go to work,” Bobbie said.

Whether they are inside or outside all day, the family does have plans to get away from the house and explore everything Oklahoma has to offer.

"I love trees. There are more trees than just pine trees," Bobbie laughed.

“A lot of the lakes and the Ozarks here," Adam said.

They've only been here a few months, still unpacking and adjusting, but Bobbie is confident they made the right move.

"I would never want to go back,” Bobbie said. “It's just so much fun out here, being my own boss and being with the dogs. I mean, I love being with the dogs, the dogs are my life."

Now, life looks a little different, for the family that works from home.