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.

Brittany Plaven | Owner Aerial Cirque Over Denver

Prior to owning Aerial Cirque Over Denver, I worked a 9-5 desk job, with little flexibility in my schedule. One of the things I value most about owning my own business is making my own schedule and having a better work life balance. It’s not that I work less with my business, but, I’m able to chose when I work and when I need time off. For me, it’s an overall better balance and allows me time for my kiddo, a weekday ski or hike, etc. Read more>>

Jed Olson | Business Growth Consultant

Work-life Balance is a lose-lose zero sum game in my opinion… let me explain. Before I cofounded my company, I worked for a fast paced entrepreneurial company that grew 10x in revenue in just 3 years when I became their first employee. It was a very mission driven and goals oriented company and I could feel the adrenaline being a driving force behind all that growth. However, that did, at times, come at the cost of sacrificing personal time with family and friends. I missed some birthdays, there were holidays and school plays, programs, and sport events that I was out of town for. I can still hear my boys asking me time and time again “Daddy, can you stop working?” And “When will you me home?” Read more>>

Thomas McKinnon | Filmmaker/Photographer

It took me a long time to realize just how truly important a solid work/life balance truly is. It can be really easy to find yourself trapped in two differing mentalities: First, you can commit to fully to the ‘work’ aspect and find yourself constantly overworked, losing friendships and making no memories. Or secondly; you can slide too far down into the ‘life’ portion of it and get nothing done, make no professional progress and stagnate your creativity. Like I said, it took me a lot of failure to realize this, and nowadays I find myself constantly adjusting and changing my Work/Life balance to better suit my ever changing life. I think about it all the time, because I’m constantly accepting new gigs, or trying new film techniques etc. Read more>>

Molly Gallagher | Small Business Owner

My work life balance has significantly improved since deciding to open my own business. Teaching full time and being a parent to a young child was extremely difficult. I often had little to no time left for myself which is a large part of why I took the risk of opening Howard General in 2020. Being self-employed definitely has its challenges but it also has given me more flexibility, time, and energy for myself, my family and doing the things I love. I think now more than ever work life balance is important to me because I know the grind of capitalism isn’t going anywhere and I want to savor the time I have to enjoy life with my family, friends, and community. Read more>>

Kelly Gilleran | Artist

It wasn’t until the start of the pandemic that being an artist became my full-time job. I went from working full-time, to part-time over the course of about 7 years, and when covid happened, my part-time job just… stopped existing. After the initial panic, it was actually a good thing, and it helped me realize that if I was able to focus on art full-time, it could be my sole source of income. The switch definitely changed my work-life balance. When I was working a day job, art was both my passion and my hobby. There was a good 6 year period that I didn’t have much of a social life, and I was focused on creating artwork in my free-time. Since my artwork is now my job, I have this other pocket of time in my days where I’ve got time hobbies. There’s always ebbs and flows of creative bursts, and waves work, and there’s time where I’ve got not a whole lot going on. It was an adjustment to learn that I don’t always need to be productive, but I think I’ve settled into it nicely at this point. Read more>>