What’s the right balance between work and non-work time? The traditional 9-5 has slowly disappeared with the emails and zoom and texting going far beyond traditional business hours. We asked members of our community to share with us how they think about work-life balance.

Sunita S. | Founder | Creative | Writer | Mompreneur

What is work-life balance and why is it important? Is it a fallacy we should dismiss or a skill that we need to cultivate? For me work-life balance is an art of striking a fine equilibrium between your professional and personal activities, without sacrificing one at the expense of the other. Whether you are a recent graduate, working mom, a budding entrepreneur, or a seasoned CEO… work-life balance is a skill we need to develop & integrate into our lifestyle. Read more>>

Nicole Flanagin | Working Mama + Accessory Designer

Oh boy, this is one of those life goals that can sometimes feel as if it’s impossible to achieve. Here’s what I’ve learned over the years — give yourself grace. Finding that balance is different for every person. Whether you work outside the home or your full-time gig is to raise happy babies in a healthy home; you have to find what works for you at that point in your life. For me, the need to balance is always being fine-tuned. What I mean by that is that some months I do more things socially and some months I soak up the time being a homebody. Read more>>

Nicole Smith | Life Coach for Executives & Founder, Smitn

Like many people, I used to think of work and life as two separate things that sometimes overlapped. Most of the time, work and life were in competition. When I was giving to one, I often felt I was neglecting the other. When I examined my life, challenged my thinking, and thought about how I wanted to live, I discovered that this approach doesn’t work because it’s all life. Read more>>

Robyn Olschewsky | Owner of Tall Reali-tees

My work life balance has changed over the years as my priorities have changed. Before I had kids, I worked a lot! I made sure to spend time with my husband and friends, but work was a much bigger percentage of my day. As a mom of three young girls now, work life balance has shifted quite a bit. I have a higher focus on family time. Work is obviously important, but my family is even more so. Figuring out the best balance between work and life can be tricky! Having a business of my own means that there are always things that can be done. Read more>>

Peyton Pickett | Wedding and Portrait Photographer

As a photographer, I’d say about 90% of my job is done from home. Between editing, posting on social media, and drafting marketing emails and ads (just to name a few), my work life balance is really delicate and, at times, hard to keep even. Being a stay-at-home mom to a toddler also just throws an extra dash of chaos into my day, so it can really be tough to draw that boundary between work and play. With so much of my job being to scour social media for leads, Read more>>

Alexia Mentzel | Artist, Art Educator, and Mentor

My work, whether it be creating or teaching, has been my main focus for many years now. Although the journey has not always been easy, I have found much satisfaction in my work, especially during those celebration seasons when I have had the privilege of seeing the fruits of my labor finally mature and blossom after many hours, days, and nights of hard work and struggle. Even on the difficult days, my work provides me with a sense of purpose and a reason to wake up and try again until I get it right. Read more>>

Emily Gomez | Owner – Texas Dazzling Boutique

My work life balance has definitely changed since I first started. There were some nights I would stay up so late shipping orders or answering messages. I was so focused on growing my business I hardly had time for other things with my family. As time passed, I realized I needed to create some boundaries. Now I don’t ship on weekends, and I don’t answer messages or emails after 9pm. It’s been a struggle to find work/life balance and it’s something I still work on. Although my business is one of my top priorities, I also need to remember to have a life outside of that as well. Read more>>