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.

Maria Lopez

Finding harmony when running a business is complicated! Like anything when you first begin it takes so much more time. Time well spent learning and quite frankly putting the work in to make sure you can put food on the table. You have a lot on the line and it can get intense. As you gain experience – you realize what works for you. Read More>>

Linda Wayne

Gen Z never heard of the term “work-life balance”. At 18 I left home and made my own path, paid my way thru college and worked my butt off. Thats what we were taught growing up – grind and work hard! I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older how to lean into the “work-life balance” and give myself permission to relax and do more fun things without feeling guilty for “not working”. Read More>>

Nikkee Payne

Work-life balance is something that is very important to me. I value my time so much as well as my health. I am lucky that I can set my hours in such a way that I am able to live my life fully as well as care for my clients in the way I enjoy.
I think it is important to work hard but also have a life that brings you joy; it shows in the way you show up in work. For me, my life and work are equally important. I want to be able to go to the gym, play softball, and care for myself while also showing up fully to care for the people I get the privilege to work with. Read More>>

Ellie Castellano

This is such a good question because, as a mental health therapist, I talk with clients all the time about their work/life balance, but reflecting on my own balance, I feel like I’ve been on quite the little roller coaster so far.
I’m thinking back to college. I had always been excited for school, imagining it as the place where I could finally be surrounded by people who loved learning as much as I did. I started small with classes and a few clubs, but by my second year I was in constant “add more” mode, and that carried me well past graduation. I worked multiple jobs, volunteered, joined a research lab, wrote an honors thesis, and kept piling things on. My husband calls this my “too much gene,” because once I start with things like this, I don’t know when to stop. That energy followed me into graduate school, where I was a full-time student, working full-time, leading the counseling honor society, and taking on every role I possibly could. It feels like I’m just listing my résumé, which actually makes sense because that was my mindset for many years. I measured myself by how much I could accomplish. Even when I broke out in stress-induced shingles at 25, I felt a strange pride in it, as if it proved how hard I was working. Read More>>