Kristie VerMulm reports consumer news from the privacy of her own office

Kristie VerMulm has no problem running on just four to five hours of sleep, and in this business, working nights, weekends and holidays comes with the territory. But as she looked at her two children, then ages 11 and 15, she felt time slipping away.

She missed ball games and bedtime stories. The broken promises hurt the most.

The last, worst incident pulled her away from her daughter’s high school homecoming.

“Sydney’s in cheer. She’s in band. She’s in the half-time show,” VerMulm said. “All week long, I told her I will be there on Friday. I have the day off. I will be there for the game. I will be there for the half-time show.”

The big day came, and the evening news anchor for KTIV was home, proudly wearing her Black Raiders shirt. Until she turned on the five o’clock news. A two-mile wide tornado was approaching Wayne, Nebraska. Instantly, she knew she had to go to work.

She went upstairs and changed into a suit, pulled her hair out of a ponytail and put on a shade of lipstick and a smile while her daughter cried. VerMulm wasn't going to be in the stands. Tears rolled down her face, too. She consoled her daughter – it wasn’t going to be like this forever.

Within two months, she had a new title as director of communications at United Real Estate Solutions, working alongside her husband, Kevin McManamy, who is the company’s president.

Over her 21-year career in news, she could probably count on two hands how many times she had an actual dinner break where she left work. It still strikes her as odd that she can go home when the clock strikes 5. In a previous life, that was about when work began.

“I missed a ton working those nights for years,” she said.

Now, she has the time to make it to her teens’ activities, which include baseball, football, basketball, band, choir, cheerleading and track. Photos of a smiling 17-year-old Sydney and 13-year-old Sean decorate her desk in a small but beautiful office.

VerMulm smiles too.

The former KTIV news anchor still gets to use her video skills without missing out on family life.

When sellers list their home with United Real Estate Solutions, they receive a thank you email and VerMulm steps on screen to deliver the message. She has created a number of email marketing videos that get sent out to clients. For example, one features a seller’s guide to a successful open house. Another outlines the closing process.

She has also done feature segments on home-related topics like picking paint colors, planting trees, refinancing and moving.

“We’re doing consumer news. Part of helping our clients through that home-buying process or home-selling process is making sure they are as informed as they can be,” she said. “If you go to United’s Facebook page, you can see all the videos I’ve done. That’s my fun thing I get to do.”

In her office, there are little reminders of the job she can’t forget -- from the KTIV coffee mug containing an assortment of pens to the shiny, gold regional Emmy award for a “Flood Fight” evening newscast in 2011.

Hiding in one of the overhead bins, there’s a proclamation from the city that still needs a frame. Her last day on air was declared “Kristie VerMulm Day,” which was Nov. 27, 2013.

Two plaques propped up against the wall feature the last newspaper articles written about her in the Sioux City Journal and the Weekender, leading up to that day.

It’s almost eerily quiet in the absence of clacking keyboards and crackling dispatches coming across the police scanner. She’s not used to being surrounded by four walls and a door.

For years, she shared a desk and didn’t personalize it much. All she had were two picture frames.

She compared the newsroom to a petri dish.

“Every time I brought a box of Kleenex, everybody came by and not only would they take a Kleenex, which is fine, but they would blow their nose right at your desk,” she said. “They’d stay there in case they needed another one.”

After a while, she switched to toilet paper. People didn’t stop at her desk anymore.

Now, she can safely keep a box of tissues in her office but still hangs onto the comical “Purell Pal” bottle holder that dispenses hand sanitizer. There are other remnants from her longtime career in news.

Almost daily, someone will ask if she misses it.

“Yes, of course, I miss it because I loved the job and I love news. But at the same time, there are a lot of things I don’t miss – things that I couldn’t control because there are no normal hours in news,” she said. “At the end of the day, my family is more important to me. I loved the job, but I love my family more.”