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.

Gabriell Salgado | Actor & Bail Bondsman

I’m a workaholic by nature. As a first generation Cuban-American with a family who immigrated to Miami, I feel as if I’m tasked to make all of that struggle and sacrifice worth something! It’s not guilt I feel – but respect for my family and everything they did to give me the opportunity to live the life I get to live. Naturally, this has made me a very ambitious and focused person. Since I’m an artist with so much opportunity to create original work and constantly be adapting perspectives through experiences in life, I feel like I’m working even when I’m not “working”. Even on my days off sipping on a bev with my toes in the sand, I’ll find my mind wandering and think to myself “hmm that’s a great idea for a film.” I plague my mind with more tasks per day than are humanly possible to achieve in a week or a month – it’s just how I operate. If I’m not rehearsing or performing a play, I’m writing one, or shooting a short film, or investing time into my company, etc. Down-time feels like a disservice to all the goals I’ve set out to accomplish. Over time, however, I’ve discovered that we have a spiritual and personal responsibility to keep our minds healthy and rested. Easier said than done but my journey to developing a true work life “balance” is one I’m still navigating and I don’t see it coming to an end anytime soon. It may be a flaw but it also may just be an insatiable desire to create. Still figuring it out for myself. But for now, here I am answering these questions while I should be sleeping… Oh well. Read more>>

Dr. Jacqueline Kern | Artist & Art Educator

Work life balance did not exist for women of my generation who wanted to pursue a career of excellence and distinction and a have family too. In my generation, parents did not raise women towards a solitary goal of career success. We chose our limited careers as place holders or time keepers until we married and started our families, and then these careers become something to fall back on later in life. Once the women’s movement hit full force, we were told that we could have it all—get our educations, manage companies, pay the mortgage, provide health insurance for the family, take our children to the pediatrician, throw children’s birthday parties that were the envy of the neighborhood, maintain our figures and femininity, and keep our husbands interested all while being told to smile and be cheerful. I distinctly remember the Enjoli women’s fragrance commercial jingle: “I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, and never let you forget you’re a man.” So, with the feminist movement of my generation, women had multiple identities and roles to perform while men still had their careers as their sole focus and identity. Read more>>

Nicholle Overkamp | Speaker, best-selling author, podcaster and owner of two thriving businesses.

I truly don’t believe in balance and feel like the word itself causes too much pressure. But this concept has evolved A LOT for me over time. To me, being an entrepreneur, I’m all about channeling my energy to what is needed or felt in the moment, and that is never really balanced. I often find when I’m immersed in a project, my house an utter mess or I haven’t spent as much quality time with my husband. But it’s not forever and it is how I operate. I’m an all-in person and like to be present. Most of the time, work is a priority, while other times, I choose to prioritize my relationships, free-time, or vacation. It’s integration and harmony for me, not balance. Read more>>

Marlene Goldman | Real Estate Broker

In recent years I’ve made many changes that I wish I’d made much earlier in my life, from trying to get eight hours of sleep a night to having a specific time at night when I regularly turn off my devices. There is no trade-off between living a well-rounded life and the ability to do good work. I find my performance actually improves when I commit to not only working hard, but also unplugging, recharging, and renewing myself. Read more>>