By far the most common conversation we have with the folks we interview is about work-life balance. Starting a business or pursuing a creative career makes finding work life balance really tough because there is no clear start and end to one’s work day. We’ve shared some of our conversations on the topic below.

Stephanie Caracalas | visual artist and creative educator

Being self employed makes work/life balance look a little different to me than to most who work 9-5 corporate jobs. Working for myself has given me the freedom and flexibility with my time. Learning to balance and manage the demands of my work time vs. my personal time, lets me be more decisive to where and when I spend each of these. It may mean working evenings or weekends, but it could also mean taking a vacation whenever I want. Read more>>

Tanja Collins | Founder + CEO

Earlier in my career I wouldn’t necessarily say that I placed a high value on work life balance. I prided myself on having high ownership of my projects and thought the daily grind was the norm. As I continued to advance in my career, I realized that the work would always be there and that my physical and mental wellbeing needed to be prioritized. I had to stop treating work life balance as a nice to have and started working towards implementing solutions that supported more balance. Now that I run my own business I’m incredibly thankful that I can prioritize this balance as being an entrepreneur requires a different level of performance and engagement. Read more>>

Leslie Lutz | Writer and Editor

Balancing family life and work life is always tough. My daughter is eleven, and lately I’m extra aware that time is ticking away. That means when I have a choice–work on that deadline or bake a cake with my girl–I choose cake. I make up my editing work late at night when she’s already in bed, or work for a few hours on the weekend after I drop her off at a skate party. It’s juggling. I used to stress about juggling all those balls in the air, but hey, they’re not made of glass. Just drop a few. They’ll bounce. Read more>>

LeeAnn Barnes | Charcuterie Caterer & Charcuterie Workshop Instructor

Work life balance is something that is hard to define. What it means to me and what it means to another business owner could be totally subjective. The perfect balance between my work life and my home life includes the freedom to still attend important functions for my kids, squeeze in time for myself at the gym daily and still manage the best customer service possible for my clients. Read more>>

The Black Boy King | Hip-Hop Artist/Musician

Work life balance is extremely important. But no more important than the goal. I believe you have to have a purpose so large that you are willing to put the work in consistently to try to be the best you can be. Like, you can’t stop thinking about it until you hit the goal. And when you do, you set a new one. That’s actually what king life is all about. Holding yourself to a higher standard. I try to vacation as much as I can in different places and experience many different things and I feel it’s important to blow off steam. Read more>>