A host of factors, developments, and dynamics have made most industries more competitive than ever.  As a result so many of us wonder whether there is still such a thing as work-life balance. We reached out to the community to hear perspectives on finding the right balance.

Denise A. Castro | Founder & Business Owner

Work life balance shifted dramatically the moment I became a Mother. My priorities shifted overnight and the merit of being a working mom took precedence over many things. I truly believe that Mothers are masters in the art of balancing it all. I am a career driven woman, always aspiring for self enrichment through education and leadership. When I started my business my balance shifted even more. You have to really invest your time and love into your projects to see them flourish and that can severely alter your personal time. Being a Mother is also a very committed role so your personal time also shifts drastically. When I founded the Virtual Mom Collective I knew that I wanted to really highlight and support the working Mom because our balance is ever evolving. VMC was Founded by two working Moms as a response to the spread of COVID-19, and the need to connect moms during these times of quarantine and social distancing. Read more>>

Carlos Andrade | Media Executive & Podcast Host

I used to be really conscious and overanalyze work/life balance…but I’ve come to realize that it’s a myth….and there is no proper work/life balance! If you’re self-aware enough to know when it’s time to take the pedal off the medal and spend more time at home, then go do that! To that same point, you need to know when to triple down on that “thing”! People just need to be more self-aware of what makes them happy, for example, I’m the happiest when I’m working 12-14hrs a day…so I’m going to keep doing that!. Read more>>

Diane Neman | Dr. Diane Neman | Holistic Nutritionist. Health & Wellness Coach. Dentist.

As a mom of 2 small kids, a marriage I prioritize, and my parents who spent half of every month living next door, Work-life balance is my most essential priority. I spent about a decade in intense academia: double majoring in college followed with dental school and residency. It was one of the most unbalanced, stressful times of my life. Dental school was all-in. We lived and breathed studying, usually falling asleep in the library and then staggering home for a shower and cat-nap before heading right back to the dental labs, libraries, and classrooms. There was always this constant threat that if we didn’t hit certain grades, or meet certain quotas of procedures performed and dollars earned with patients, that we could be kicked out. And that did actually happen to some students. In retrospect, I think that those years of constant stress and imbalance traumatized me. So after graduation, as both a newlywed and a dentist just starting out in private practice, I really needed a mental break and tried to balance my work and personal life by not taking on crazy hours. Read more>>

Carly Schroeder | Online Business Coach

This is SUCH a great question because for the longest time I didn’t even know what work/life balance was. Before becoming an entrepreneur, while working in corporate advertising, my entire life was surrounded by my job. I think most of us have been conditioned to believe that you should spend your entire life working hard so you can climb the corporate ladder and eventually have a life you love. But from witnessing many unhappy yet “successful” people who have spent their entire life dedicated to a job they don’t even enjoy, I’d say that thought process is a little outdated. After only living for the weekends and two weeks paid vacation, I started to realize that I couldn’t do that for the rest of my life. So I became an online business owner and decided that I was going to create the life I love, filled with freedom, starting now. Read more>>

Tatiana Meira | Director of Daylife and Programming at 1 Hotel South Beach

Being in the events and hospitality industry you’re always go go go. I’ve been in the industry for 15 years and have always been like the energizer bunny. Miami doesn’t have an “off season anymore so in the industry you’re always “on”. When the pandemic hit I was forced to take a pause and realized there’s a power in the pause. It made me realize that you can still be successful in your career and at the same time make a conscious effort to set boundaries and enjoy family time, personal relationships and self care. I started setting time aside for all the things I love and ensuring that there is a healthy balance between work and personal life. It’s the little changes like not checking emails when I’m not working, turning off my notifications when I’m spending time with friends and family, that make a difference. Read more>>

Diego Cappella | Creative Photographer – Artist

I come from an immigrant family so hard work was a matter of survival. But that priority didn’t allow much time for family. My parents were good examples to me, and I threw myself into work, believing that was the only path to achievement. But as I got older and eventually became a parent myself, I began to redefine what success meant to me and, more and more, that included my family relationships. Though finding a balance between work and family is sometimes challenging, it’s an essential part of what success and achievement now mean to me. Read more>>

Kriselle Hadad | Co-Founder of il Maestro Pizzaiolo

As all entrepreneurs know, the work-life balance is completely skewed when you establish a new business. It’s heavy on the work end and light on the living and it is a very complex balancing act. In the hospitality industry when you own a catering company you have to work nights and weekends so you’re basically working whenever others are seeking to have fun and blow some steam. That is why it’s so important to really be passionate with your work and fall in love with it, so that you are able to enjoy it throughly. The catering business is a very physically demanding line if work, long hours and late night events plus all the prep work and the mise en place for the food we cater is very complex. In my experience the way I think about the balance between work and life is to flow with it because it’s so hard to achieve, it will most certainly be off at times and you have to be understanding with your personal situation and be compassionate with yourself. You have to allow yourself to loose it in order to get it back sometimes and that’s just the way that works. Read more>>

Hermes Berrío | Artist

Balance…. a state of equilibrium or equipoise; mental steadiness or emotional stability. If you can achieve these you are on the right path, the only problem is that each day has its own balance, so it changes all the time. First my balance was only my work, then I had to learn to balance my work with my family. I am the father of a one and a half year old boy and I’m expecting twins. How I’m I going to balance this? I don’t know, but I believe nature is all about a perfect balance, it will balance it self I just have to let it happen. Work-life should go hand in hand, I couldn’t do what I do as an artist and as a human without my family. Read more>>

Desiree Banton MPH, MSN, RN | Registered Nurse & Educator

Work-life balance and how it has changed over time are definitely complex now with COVID. I am currently balancing two careers in nursing and education. As I look back at the last year with COVID, I understood that hospitals were understaffed and have minimal resources now more than ever, and teachers are overworked, underpaid, and often do not get much support. All those mentioned things were uncontrollable factors, but my work-life balance and being adaptable were what I could control. Over time, keeping myself balanced mainly involved traveling, spending time with family, friends, and prayer. I really do believe in the motto work hard and play it harder. I am a huge advocate for using your PTO and taking random mental health days to treat yourself, whether it could be booking that weekend plane ticket to visit a friend you have not seen in a while or taking a day off so that you can get a massage. Read more>>

Eden Myers | “Healthy Lifestyle” Coach & Yoga Instructor

My work-life balance has certainly changed over time. I previously thought as a professional I needed to work long hours to build my business. However, over time I have realized taking a different approach is more effective and much healthier. As we age, things change. I believe balance is more of a cycle. It is a never-ending exercise of staying vigilant, being self aware, and adaptable. When I identified what I wanted for myself, when I took a look at my beliefs around my work and how much I thought I should work, it helped me determine changes I needed to make to experience better balance. Checking in consistently with self and shifting and adapting ones work life to be in sync with ones personal life is an ongoing pursuit. Also, checking in with what causes stress will omit underlying sources which can limit one from enjoying time at home. Read more>>

Courtney Connell | E-RYT 500 Yoga Instructor

My first business was started when I was 19 years old. It was just after the 2008 market crash. I was in college and recognized that, since the job market was crippled, I would need to create an opportunity for myself from the ground up. I was fixated on “success” and launched myself into a 100 hour work week. I had zero work-life balance and pulled from a motivation that could be likened to a survival instinct. This lack of work life balance allowed me to grow a start up with less than ten-thousand dollars of starting capital into a company doing ten million dollars in revenue annually within a few years. I learned discipline and became familiar with the sacrifice that start-ups demand. This of course, came with a price. My personal relationships were nearly destroyed and I forgot how to have non-work-related conversations. I was twenty-two when I sold my shares in that company and still had no idea how to have a normal life. Read more>>

Veruska Chalbaud | Restaurant Owner

The growth of my business has required a constant increase in personal dedication and innovation which has required me to search for a certain sense of balance. On this quest for a balanced life, I have learned that when my work team feels a sense of belonging and happiness to be a part of this business then everything flows from the heart. The work evolves to another level of focus and strives for perfection. On the other hand, this pandemic has provided a chance for my family to be involved in the business and has involuntarily transmitted a passion in their lives for this restaurant. Through all of these factors, we have reaped what we have sown and have given life to new ideas and a fun creative environment. At last, my experience has been to walk hand in hand with these changes rather than resisting them. For me, balance is giving each and every important aspect of my life the value and dedication that it deserves. Read more>>

Rossana Rojas | Hairstylist, Rollerskater and Plant Lover

Its very important to create a balance in life, you can get a bit burned out. For your body and also mental health. This career can get stressful and overwhelming, thats why is very important to take the time for other things that you love and are good for you. Me, on my free time i love to rollerskate , beach time and do gardening it keeps me focus and happy, beside also help being a mom of a teenager. Read more>>

Janet Bayramyan | Trauma & Relationship Therapist

I don’t fully believe that balance actually exists, in terms of how we traditionally think about balance. It’s never really going to be 50/50. When I think of balance, I believe that there will always be a give and take, as well as requests for help. We will have good weeks where we balance our time and work, and our time with personal relationships, mental health, and hobbies very well. And there will also be other instances where a certain aspect of life will take precedence. For example, there may be a period where a big chunk of our time will need to be devoted to establishing our career. In another time in our lives, we may need to focus more on our mental health. in life, depending on the situation, certain areas will need to take a backseat and that is okay. It’s about acknowledging what is the priority in that moment, in that period of our lives. Read more>>