Baltimore's Child Baltimore's Child
Tim Shotzberger, 46, is a father of two in more ways than one. He is the father of two children, a 14-year-old son, Wade, and a 12-year-old daughter, Abby. He is also the founder and president of both Home Land Environmental and Home Land Labs.
The environmental testing services his Towson-based companies provide for homeowners and real estate professionals tie in well with his new role.
He was recently elected board president of the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors.
When he isn’t busy taking care of his family or managing his businesses, he can be found playing pickleball or connecting with friends and neighbors in Towson.
“What I love about Towson is it’s an urban place where you can still get around and know people when you go to the grocery store,” he says. “I feel like I’m in one of the centers of Baltimore. There’s a lot of fun things to do and you can get food in the middle of the night.”
Here are Shotzberger’s secrets to success in business and parenting.
What do you love most about your job?
What I like about operating a growing business is the constant decision making and adaptation. Running a business is like playing life’s board game. There are always surprises, pitfalls and good fortune. And maybe you need a little bit of luck to be the ultimate winner. I also appreciate the flexibility it’s given me over the use of my time.
What do you love most about being a parent?
I love having two people to live with and spend my time with. I’m a half-time single father, and the house can get quiet and dark when they’re not with me. I enjoy watching and experiencing them grow through each stage of their development. It’s a life experience that is so gratifying when I’m able to slow myself down to enjoy it.
How do you balance work and family life?
I mix a lot of it together. I learned to work from home as often as I could, take my phone calls while driving the car and any other workday efficiencies I could think of. I’m not sure I’ve ever been on vacation with my kids when I didn’t have to slip in some work. I’ve gotten good at knowing when I can slip away without sacrificing too much for quality time with my children. Unfortunately, sacrifices are necessary and happened too often for me when my
children were younger.
What is the biggest challenge you have faced as a parent?
Balancing my time has always been the most challenging. Now, as my children get older, the challenges are more about getting through to my children. It’s been much more difficult now that they figured out they know everything they could possibly know about life.
What do you hope your children learn from you?
I hope my children take with them a way of life. I want them to be responsible, ambitious and to be able to mix in the fun anytime [they] can. I want them to love themselves and to engage and embrace those they love. I want them to be great people with great values. Most importantly, I hope they recognize my faults and move past them as they retain all the good that I’ve been able to model for them.
