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.

Erica Manning | Creative Portrait Photographer and Photography Mentor

When I started out as a photographer, as many photographers do, I took on any and all opportunities that happened to come my way. I photographed just about everything, and I had no boundaries on my time or energy. Read more>>

Aniqua Montcalm | Caterer and Private Chef

My work life balance changes every single day. I am living with adult heart failure. Some days I work fine and others I have to abruptly cancel gigs due to my health issues. I was diagnosed with Atrial septal defect as a baby and at the age of 7 had major open-heart surgery. Fast forward to age 31 years old, I have been diagnosed with non-compaction cardiomyopathy. It is a rare complex congenital heart disease where majority of the heart muscle forms a sponge-like meshwork of interwoven myocardial fibers. Additionally, I have tachyarrhythmia where my heart rate gets up to over 200 bpm which can lead to sudden cardiac death and clotting of the blood in the heart. I have bouts where I suddenly pass out and have mini strokes about twice a month. Last year I had to have an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator placed and I am also on 8 different medications daily. Read more>>

Shay Richards | Photographer| Wife| Mommy

Is balance really existent? Up until about a month ago, I wasn’t balancing but stealing time from different departments of my life. I am an entrepreneur, wife, mom, human. All of these that I am needed more but I had to constantly sacrifice from somewhere to fulfill the department that needed my immediate attention. We only have 100% and my days consisted of reallocating my percentage. I can do 10% here today, 30 can go here, hmm maybe a smooth 42 can go here… Lets just say sleep was always last priority. All of this was very unhealthy but I was making it work with what I had. Thankfully we had a village to help wherever they could. Read more>>