24 hours in a day, 168 hours in a week. Junior investment bankers regularly work 80-90 hours a week. Many other high profile professions require the same level of commitment. Often those on the outside claim that working 80-90 hours a week is bad/wrong/terrible/silly/etc but we’ve spoken with so many folks who say working that much has been the best decision of their life – it allowed them to develop a deep and strong skill set far faster than would have been possible otherwise. In other words, by working 2x the hours, they were able to generate 5x or more the rewards. And depending on where you are in your career, investing heavily in your skills and competence can pay dividends for a long time.

Breanna Diaz

Work life balance is a tough one when you are a business owner because work is your life. There are lots of ways my life has been incorporated into my work and my life is the purpose behind my work. Balance takes place with boundaries. Since my business partner is also my dad and the administrative assistant is actually my sister we have had to put boundaries in place. We also have to separate out designated family time that we do not talk about work unless an emergency. We have always valued family and that it becomes first before anything. The purpose behind my dad and myself starting the business was in order to create a legacy for our children to be able to serve the community and uphold the dying craftsmanship of plumbing. Read More>>

Kelly Stevens

I used to think of “balance” as a destination—something that I could achieve if I worked hard enough.

For example, I thought that somehow I was going to make it so that all things—life, work, health, finances, relationships, etc.—would be at a “10” and “balance” would be when I finally succeeded in all of these areas.

Today, I realize that balance is something that is integrated, not static. Read More>>

Drew Austin

When I first started my career I fell deeply into the “hustle” culture that the art world perpetuates. I remember attending openings as a young emerging artist (of which I still am, just a little older) and feeling so down on myself if I didn’t have a ‘good’ response to the age-old question: “What are you working on?” Read More>>

Kyle Bowers

Over time, my work-life balance has definitely shifted more toward work. However, while it may seem like my life leans heavily in that direction, I’d argue that I’ve never been more in balance.
My intense focus and drive taught me early on that running a business is a lot like feeding a fire—it consumes everything you put into it: time, money, and effort. I learned that lesson the hard way, witnessing firsthand how it affected my personal life. Once I saw the toll my business was taking, I decided to take control. Read More>>

Jon Evans

At the start of my career, work-life balance wasn’t even on my radar. I believed that success required long hours, so I regularly worked 16-hour days, often sleeping at the studio. Exhaustion led to mistakes—bad takes, poor decisions, and having to redo recordings because I wasn’t hearing things clearly. But it wasn’t just sleep I was sacrificing—I was neglecting my health, my family, and my friends. Read More>>

L.J. Szumylo

Jewelry making is my part-time retirement career/hobby. I fashion pieces for myself, which satisfies my own creative urges, and, on the small-scale entrepreneurial side, I generally design custom works for clients who have ordered a piece after finding me on Facebook or Instagram or who have struck up a conversation with me over a piece that I’ve worn to run errands in town and who have consequently asked me to design something for them. Read More>>

Sarah Humbargar

My view on “work life balance” has changed quite a bit in recent years. Likely the biggest driver was that nearly five years ago I had my first child. Becoming a parent forces you to reckon with your time and how you use your resources. You are faced with sometimes agonizingly slow drags on your time… like twice daily toddler tooth brushing sessions. Those are my nemesis. You are also faced with the reality that you have limited time left on this earth, and you want to make every minute count. We are all constantly mining for more time, more money, more amusement, more love. But at the end of the day, these are all ratios to one another. Less Time: More Money. More Money: More Amusement. More Time: More Love. And so on. Read More>>