As a mother of three active boys, Stacey Truman can sometimes feel herself stretched thin, pulled in different directions as she tries to keep up with them.
It doesn’t get much easier when you consider her involvement in the new Pixar movie “Elio,” which placed her as the character shading and grooming lead — her first leadership role — for the past three years.
But as she performed the intense juggling act of balancing her career and motherhood, Truman, a BYU alum, found “Elio” became a story that resonated with her in both aspects.
Being a mom, she believes, set her up for this big moment in her career. Ahead of the film’s release, Truman spoke to the Deseret News about balancing motherhood and a full-time career — and how the two inform each other.
Motherhood and the workplace
At Pixar, children who are born during the production cycle of a movie get a production credit.
All three of Truman’s boys have a credit.
For Truman, it‘s a fun tribute that celebrates navigating motherhood and the workplace — though the juggling act is certainly not without its ups and downs.
“There are times when it’s really hard and it stretches you, and then there are times when things fall into place,” she said.
“Elio“ became a film of “deep connection” for Truman with its focus on family relationships and theme of connection.
As the BYU alum worked with her team to develop the different characters in the film, she found that, as a mom, she related most to Olga (Zoe Saldaña).
Olga is the aunt and guardian to the young space fanatic, Elio (Yonas Kibread), after the loss of his parents. But while she’s trying to do what’s best for her nephew, Olga also struggles to find a true connection with him.
“I have three little boys and just connecting with them is sometimes a challenge because they’re going a mile a minute,“ Truman said. ”Trying to figure out what they want to do — all of their adventures and stories and fun — sometimes I’m scrambling just to keep up, and finding those moments where we can really just be on the same page and communicate well are moments that I cherish.”
Motherhood has provided Truman with a valuable trait she believes has transferred well to her role in the studio.
“I think (motherhood has) given me more patience with everyone and myself and definitely just informed how I approach things,” she said.
“I remember being a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed intern and being so excited at DreamWorks and just going after everything, and that’s kind of how you start your career,” she continued. “And then as you go through and you get more credits … there comes a time when you get a chance to focus as well on your family and taking care of them. And so I’ve brought some of that patience that I’ve learned being with kids to myself at work.”
BYU, a launching pad to Pixar
Years before she would become acquainted with the space fanatic Elio, Truman was an animation student at Brigham Young University, where her professors emphasized the power of collaboration.
It was at BYU where she learned how to not just execute her own vision but how to “bring to life something as a group.”
“We leaned on each other,” she recalled. “We bounced ideas off of each other. We each found areas that we really wanted to focus on and did those, but brought what we could to the table.”
BYU’s animation program was a launching pad of sorts, setting her up to become involved with films like “The Good Dinosaur,” “Luca” and DreamWorks’ “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” the Deseret News previously reported.
Now, as a team lead for “Elio,” Truman continues to grow and stretch in new ways.
While Olga is someone Truman relates to as a mom, the conspiracy theorist Gunther Melmac (Brendan Hunt) is a character she believes captures how it feels to be a creator.
Melmac is a man who looks like he hasn’t slept in quite a while and yet possesses tons of energy. In the film, he is introduced as working with Olga and claims to have received a message from space that needs to be answered.
“I loved working on Melmac,” Truman said. “His energy is just so fun. There is a part of the film where he splashes himself with water to just get energized … just go, go, go.
”That sometimes feels like how we work here, just to jump on things and bring our enthusiasm and fun into it and be there to help each other as a team,” she added.
Juggling motherhood and Pixar — ‘a lot of glass balls’
Taking on a leadership position for “Elio” came with its fair share of challenges — from trying to be there for every person to finding pressure points in the project.
An analogy from one of Truman’s co-workers provided a new perspective that has helped not only with her role at Pixar but also as a mom of three.
“She told me ... it’s like there are a lot of glass balls and they’re all dropping and you have to catch them, but you’re not going to get them all,” she said. “And then you’ll find out, when they hit, which ones shatter and which ones bounce and then you just react to it.
“It’s a lot,” she continued. “It’s constant, and you just kind of have to find the flexibility in being OK that some things might land, you might not catch that thing, and it might bounce and it’s still OK. It might shatter — it’s still OK. You’re going to find the pieces and pull it back together.”
