Caitlin Lizik and Nick Majernik with their dog Penny at their West Mifflin home. The couple have been working from home since 2020.

Photograph by Jennifer McCalla


Nick Majernik and Caitlin Lizik were still newlyweds when they began working from their West Mifflin home in 2020 during the early days of the pandemic. 

Lizik, age 34, is an inventory analyst for a retail clothing company and Majernik, age 34, is a program manager for a healthcare company. They share their home with their rescue dog, Penny.

Although they both attended West Mifflin Area High School, they did not begin to date until their early 20s when they were reconnected by a mutual friend while hanging out at Secrets Bar & Grill in West Mifflin. 

Majernik and Lizik realized that one of their favorite benefits of working from home together was how much more time they would have together.

“Now we are saving two-and-a-half hours every day by avoiding our commutes. We get to spend time together with one another, we get to spend time with the dog, we’re going for walks. We’re really just appreciating our time with one another.” Majernik said.

The cornerstone for them to thrive during the pandemic has been, “Even though we both work from home, we still have our own dedicated space. To be able to say I need to be able to take my conference call, I need to be able to do my own work, but then still try to have lunch together.” Majernik said.

“Caitlyn and the dog will still pop in for 20 minutes to take a break.” he added.

Nick Majernik in his home office.

Photograph by Jennifer McCalla

Although they wouldn’t have been able to maintain the harmony if they were in the same room together or even the same floor. They are both on conference calls all day, so hearing each other in the background would have been very distracting.

They are expecting their first child in August, so they realized they needed to be creative to retain their workspaces. Lizik now works in the attic and Majernik works in the spare bedroom. 

Their flexible work schedule allows both of them to stay home with the baby after her maternity leave and his paternity leave are over. Another benefit of working from home is neither of them will miss any of their child’s milestones

“We created a workspace in the dining room for Caitlyn, and I took the attic. We are now making the second bedroom the nursery, so we’re trying to get that room ready.” said Majernik.

Caitlyn’s new workspace has windows and is very soothing for her because there are a lot of plants. Nick’s office is now in the newly remodeled attic with all of his necessary equipment along with lots of space for Caitlyn and Penny to visit during breaks. 

Caitlin Lizik in her home office.

Photograph by Jennifer McCalla

They both mentioned the significant cost savings of working from home. Majernik’s parking lease was $295 a month to park in the city. They saved by not eating lunch out and not buying gas. All of this has improved their quality of life.

Majernik’s biggest takeaway from his experience was, “How much I don’t like commuting!” he said with enthusiasm. By saving so much time on commuting into the city, Majernik was able to earn his bachelor’s degree online. 

“I’m doing homework from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. every day after work. I couldn’t even imagine being able to have the time and energy to be able to do some of that schoolwork in the evenings. Being able to maximize my personal life and my worklife now being able to work from home.” He said. 

“As I look forward, I think I’ll continue to work from home. I think that will change into a standard and a business norm for most companies to offer that to people.” Nick added.

Lizik said it’s important that their workspaces not be the same space where they relax. “Some people work in a bedroom and you don’t have that separation of this is where I sleep and this is where I work.” Lizik said.

“Because we’re not on top of each other, we still enjoy time together.” she added.

Both Majernik and Lizik are allowed to come into their corporate offices at anytime, but neither of them have been required to return. They will go in for a meeting if it is beneficial for their teams. Majernik’s employer has a ‘work from anywhere culture’ as long as you have a stable internet connection and you can log on to the network. Lizik mentioned that there are certain teams that are required by her employer to be in office, but her team is not. 

One of Lizik’s favorite takeaways from working from home during the pandemic was the ability to keep up with household chores and maintenance. “When we were working in the office, we had weekend chores that you have to get done or you get set back.” she said.

“If I forget to do laundry, now I can throw it in sometime during the workday and it’s not a big deal. If I forget to take meat out of the freezer, it’s ok. I can log in, then run downstairs to grab a cup of coffee.” she said.

“Managing the household together as a team.” she said is the advice she would give others who are struggling with remote work. “Lizik said, “I actually prefer to do laundry and he prefers to do the dishes, so it works out that way.” 

“You also have to like each other!” Lizik said with a laugh.

- Jennifer McCalla





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