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.

Alyssa Phillips | Photographer & Nurse

As a young photographer and business owner I had all the time in the world. I could shoot whenever I wanted, edit whenever I wanted and really didn’t have to worry too much about my schedule (other than school). Fast forward 12 years and I’m a mother, wife, nurse, photographer/film maker, and trying to stay (at least a little bit) sane. Read more>>

Sean Coyle | The Barking Seal Creative Studio LLC CEO & Art Director

Serving as an Active Duty Soldier and Operating a business can take time and effort. Competing requirements and many unknowns between both. Just recently, I had to make a significant move to New Hampshire, something I was not ready to do but was prepared to do in service to my country. Although something like this may seem like a wrench in anyone’s life, especially when running a business with the help of my girlfriend, Danielle Dauberman, the military has taught me to look at this feat as a new opportunity to learn and a challenge to face. Read more>>

Roseanna Gonzalez | Director of SESI Tucson Schools and Executive Director for It’s a Beautiful Life””

There was an article that was written about me in 2016 that captioned that I operated on “One speed — Fast.” That was something that I took pride in, but throughout time that notion faded and was replaced with “peace and rest.” I found that this balance of peace and rest, allows you to have your “cup filled” to be able to give from a healthy, full “cup.” It gives you the freedom and liberty to provide the best service to others, coming from a healthy place and not a co-dependent notion of serving to fulfill a void or a self-righteous tendency. Read more>>

Christina Johnson | Interior Design Creative Director

I think work/life balance can be a hard thing to gauge when you’re young, right out of school and trying to feel your way through a new profession. I remember the early days of staying at the office for 24+ hours straight, working on a deadline, eating dinners late at the office. In my first job out of school I gave up family birthdays, weekends, evenings at home, all for the sake of figuring out my place in the industry, and honestly I felt like it was expected of me to do that. Read more>>