A Mother of Two Who Followed Her Passions

Meet a mother who of two, who also works two what-should-be-fulltime jobs—a ‘career’ job and a newer, dare-to-reinvent-yourself-and-do-what-you’re-passionate-about gig. Read on to find out more about how and why she does it, and surprisingly, what scares her.

SHE'S ALL THAT: Susan MacLaury.

MOVED TO MONTCLAIR: 18 years ago this month, May 1993, from NYC, Upper West Side, across from Columbia.

KIDS: A daughter who is the Associate Commissioner in the Department of Consumer Affairs in NYC, and a son who went to Nishuane, Hillside, Glenfield, Montclair High School, and is now at Stanford.

PETS: A golden retriever named Jackson and two cats.

WHY SHE’S ALL THAT: While working at a fulltime teaching job that she loves, Susan MacLaury created and launched a nonprofit production company with the mission “to end the exploitation and abuse of children by making films that raise social awareness and affect change.” While working hard at both, she still manages to be there for her neighbors, friends, and extended family whenever they need a hand, a shoulder, an ear, or a place to stay.

In her words. . . .

WORK: I have a fulltime teaching job at Kean University as an Associate Professor of Health Education. I’ve been there since 1994. Since 2005, I’ve also been the Executive Director of a small, nonprofit film production company called Shine Global (www.shineglobal.org).

MORE ABOUT SHINE: I had lunch with a friend who was the Executive Director of AMREF USA (the African Medical and Research Foundation) in January 2005. I couldn’t get the image of children she told me about out of my mind. Thousands of children called ‘night commuters’ leave their homes before sunset each night to walk miles to sleep on the sidewalks of armed towns so they don’t get kidnapped by fighters during the night. They then return to their parents and homes in the morning and go to school. I told my husband, Albie Hecht, that I felt like there must be something we could do for these children. We should have a fundraiser. Well, he’s a movie producer and was president of Nickelodeon and Spike TV, and had just left Viacom at the time, and he said, “I don’t know how to have a fundraiser, but I do know how to make films.” 

So we set up a nonprofit, and it makes all the sense in the world. Our mission is honestly pretty grandiose: “To end the exploitation and abuse of children by making films that raise social awareness and affect change.”

We’ve done two feature length documentaries. The first was War/Dance (www.wardancethemovie.com) which takes place in northern Uganda. The film was the darling of the festivals that year, and won 20 Festival Awards, two Emmys, and was nominated for an Academy award. But it was a hard sell in the theaters.

We began our second project in 2007. It’s a domestic project called The Harvest, and it follows three child migrant workers through harvest season. We learned that it’s completely legal for children to work 16-18 hours per day in agriculture from the age of 12 and older. And if they work on smaller farms, there’s not even that protection—six and seven-year-olds work in the fields too, enduring backbreaking labor, exposure to pesticides, etc. We show Victor, 16 at the time, picking tomatoes in 107 degree heat. It was so hot the camera broke. This film has just been completed and is in the festival circuit. I hope it will be at the Montclair Film Festival in 2012.

www.theharvestfilm.com has information about legislation, and about our partners—the Migrant Legal Action Project, The National Center for Farm Worker Health and Harvest of Hope.

 The market for documentaries is poor, so our films are a part of the process – we do a lot of advocacy for the children we portray. If there is a profit from a film it goes back to organizations that directly help the kids.

Upcoming projects include Inocente, about a homeless 15 year old girl who is an unbelievable artist; Budhia, a fictionalized version of a child in India who became India’s youngest marathon runner, and Dancing in Jaffa, which follows a Palestinian dance instructor who had a lifelong dream to teach dance to Arab, Christian, and Jewish children in Jaffa as an act of reconciliation through dance. 

Shine Global is very tiny, always on a shoestring, and won’t support us.  It’s frustrating. You can’t imagine how many children there are out there whose stories need to be told.

BIGGEST CHALLENGE: Time. Trying to manage really theoretically what should be two fulltime jobs. Doing it in a way that I’m not shortchanging my students while still putting in something resembling the time I need at Shine. Finding the right balance that you never feel like you have. I think every working mother in the world feels that way.

EXERCISE ROUTINE: Mostly I walk about an hour a day with my dog, and I also work out with light weights at home.

WHAT GIVES: I don’t get to read for pleasure the way I’d like. That gives.

WHAT YOU’RE READING: I just finished a book for my book club called Sunday’s Child by Tom Lewis. It’s the first of a trilogy, and is the story of a woman raised by 6 men on an island, a sea rescue team, in the 1930s.

BIGGEST HELPER: My husband, Albie Hecht. It’s a blessing to be married to your best friend. He’s just kind of everything. I feel really good about our marriage. And at Shine, it’s Alexandra, my assistant. Without her I’d be speaking in tongues.

HOW YOU GET DINNER ON THE TABLE DURING THE WEEK: Usually we cook. I often cook and my husband cleans, but not always.  He cooks too—we grill, we love pastas, salads, vegetables, too.

FAVORITE RESTAURANT: La Corinne in Watchung Plaza. It has a French name but serves Italian.

FAVORITE NIGHT OUT: It’s really to come to NYC and go to the theater or to go to a film and dinner locally with another couple. I also love to have small dinner parties with no more than six people.

FAVORITE MTC CLOTHING STORE FOR YOU: I’m the worst. I don’t like clothes shopping very much.  If you saw me this would be immediately clear. I order most of my clothes from catalogues. I’m actually intimidated by shopping clerks. They’re totally nice, too—I know it’s ridiculous but it’s my thing.

ANYTHING ELSE: I’m a licensed social worker as well as a Health Education Professor. I’ve always worked with kids in one way or another, usually young teenagers. I wrote a book in 2002, I trained teachers and ran advisory groups teaching teachers to really be able to listen to kids.  The book has, I think, the dullest title in history. I don’t even remember what it was, but I am very proud of the content!

FAVORITE MTC ACTIVITY/DESTINATION: Probably to see friends or to do a movie and dinner. I love the Wellmont.

WHAT YOU LOVE ABOUT MONTCLAIR: I love Montclair because I love the people here. They’re smart and artistic and kind of cranky.  Everybody has a point of view. And they’re interesting. They’re also very generous and supportive of the arts.

WHAT YOU WISH YOU COULD CHANGE: I get scared for our country. I feel like we’re like the Roman Empire in the 2nd 400 years.  We’re experiencing a decline. I see it in my students—they’re not as well prepared as they used to be. I really worry about it when I look at our media. I’m pretty horrified by it to be honest. What’s popular and what isn’t. Take Jersey Shore for example—it kind of horrifies me. I don’t know what it means about us that a show like that is popular. I have an inherent faith that we’re wonderful people but I do question our priorities. 

ADVICE FOR OTHER BUSY MOMS: The older I get the more interested I am in Buddhist teachings. My advice to anyone would be really just to be in the moment and be there fully. Open up, experience it, and let it go.