Our community is filled with hard-working, high achieving entrepreneurs and creatives and so work-life balance is a complicated, but highly relevant topic. We’ve shared some responses from the community about work life balance and how their views have evolved over time below.

Bri Pecina | Interior Designer & Decorator

I have a toddler, so a work life balance is essential to my every day. Trying to grow a business with a kid and limited childcare is hard- definitely no sugar coating it there. When I first took the leap into my work, I would be deep online with client purchases while my kiddo was glued to the movie Frozen. You got to do what you got to do! But now my household has found a balance. I have a few days out of the week to power through my in person appointments, and the rest of the week, you’ll find me in the design district with a stroller. Launching a new career can be all consuming. I try to stop and remind myself: work is not forever, but being a mother is! Read more>>

Sampson Ma | Musical Artist (southstate) & Elementary Teacher

I think for most musicians, it’s hard to find a place that balances all the time and effort you want to put into your art with your other commitments. Modern music production takes a lot of time and work to create – there are hours spent demoing and writing, hours spent tracking, hours spent mixing, and then months that are dedicated to preparing marketing and release materials. As the size of your audience grows, I think there are even greater demands put on the artists to be present and active on social media and to “contentify” everything in their lives – which makes it really hard to be present in the moment and disconnect from work. Read more>>

Kris Hundt | Creative, Instructor, Business Woman & Damn Fine Human Being

Balance is hard to calculate when you own your own business. Anytime you’re out and about you are “ON the clock,” whether you are getting paid or not, because you are your brand. So, all your actions and interactions could lead to getting or losing clients. Plus, you work when there is work and you work at getting work there isn’t. I work harder then I ever would working a corporate job, but the rewards are greater and I love what what I do so it doesn’t seem like work most of the time. Paperwork and taxes are the hardest work, but I love the freedom I have being my own boss. Read more>>

Bailey Whitlow | Brow Artist

My work life balance has changed a lot over time. Coming from working in a corporate retail setting for so long, it was hard for me to break away from the mindset that I owed all of my time to my job. Starting a business was scary, so once mine finally started to take off, it seemed like I needed to be full speed at all times in order to keep the momentum going. Once I became a mom, all of that changed. Right before having my son, I felt the stress of my work schedule set in. I realized that over working myself left me feeling uninspired and unmotivated. Read more>>

Petrena Jones-Goldsby | The REALTOR® that Works for You””

I recently relocated to the area from Houston and my work life balance has changed drastically since becoming a full time realtor. I previously worked in the multi-family industry as a leasing consultant for an apartment community with set office hours. Most apartment seekers visit the property on the weekends when they are off for the work week but this began to pose a challenge for my family dynamic. Read more>>