Meet Cha’Lea Stafford | Cha’Lea Stafford | Leadership Advocate | Mother | Podcast Host

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cha’Lea Stafford and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cha’Lea, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?

It has evolved drastically depending on where I am in my season of life! This journey is a quest to find experiences, knowledge, and strategies that align with my story and values. The hardest part is blowing through so much of the smoke of what work-life balance means on a meaningful level.  

Work-life balance is personal, varies, and there is no one size fits all approach. 

I’m not a fan of the term work-life balance and believe it’s a poorly defined term that fails to represent the raw human experience and rarely if ever, leads us to this promised land of ZEN.

Instead of getting caught up in the wording, I like to explore the intention of work-life balance. 

In my experience, work-life balance doesn’t exist, at least not continuously or in the way, we may envision it. I’ve learned this the hard way fighting the Pinterest vs. reality way of integrating work and life.

After 12 years of leading in the corporate world while raising my two young sons and navigating married life- I’ve made a few wrong turns and discovered some pearls that can help you along the way.

Let’s take a big picture perspective.

The longest investment of your time is in the 47 years (18-65) that you’ll spend building your career to give roots to the life and things you value most. Understanding how to navigate this time investment is critical, messy, but worth it.

Work-life balance is part of it. 

If we break the intention down, work-life balance is an attempt to discover our peace + values along with the cost/sacrifices. When we take the time to define it personally, we gain clarity that will help us meet the shifting demands and complexities of life.

Most professionals will come to a crossroads of exploring what this means for them at some point or another. However, before you can discover what work-life balance looks like in your life, you have to consider a few questions.

How do you define work-life balance?

Let’s think of work-life balance on a spectrum and explore its intention at its worst, best, and the in-between. 

We’re never on one side of the spectrum continuously; we ebb and flow. We’ll visit all three areas over time, and it’s essential to recognize where we stand. 

In some chapters of my life, I have been on the better side of this spectrum, and others have been harder. Today I can call myself out when I’m ebbing too much on the “bad” side and attune to the flow of being on the good side.

Most days, I’m in-between.

If we think of work-life balance on a spectrum at its worst, it’s an allure of a path to fit the mold of someone else’s story, interest, and values. Eventually, it will leave you overworked, confused, and burnt out. We see others achieving surface-level success, and we begin to feel that our path should look and feel similar. We see others “succeeding,” and we assume these people are conscious, happy, and living the dream, and we strive for the same without considering our story, season of life, and values. It’s a dead end. There are many false signals of success here—promotions, kudos, and surface-level gratification. We haven’t even begun to explore the story we are creating, our values, and the strategies that give life to those values. We’re living in a mold that will one day break as we listen for the calling to explore what is authentic to us. Without integrating our values, season of life, and story – we’re back in fantasy land.

When you’re in-between the spectrum, you’re challenging the status quo of what’s important to you and how that’s going to look based on your story. You’re gaining the skills to engage your values and create the story to lead your success consciously. You’re taking action to explore and engage what you value most in life. You begin to accept that your timeline may look different than others because your path is different. You’re aligning your resources, skills, and values to gain the option to create your story authentically. 

At its best, we understand work-life balance is about intentionality, not balance. You have defined the story you’re creating in this chapter. You know how you want to experience life and engage with the challenges that come with those experiences. You can stand within conflict and fill your toolbox with strategies that will equip you to sustain your success consciously. The opportunities you take are serving your growth- while helping you experience life in the way that matters to you, not just to continue to climb the ladder. You mess up here, too, as you always will; however, you know how to repair and resolve based on constructive strategies rather than simply accommodating, avoiding, or competing with the challenge.

Where are you on the spectrum?

If approached wisely, exploring what this term means for your life can help you evolve your relationship with work, but proceed with caution as there are many mirages along the way that lead back to fantasy land.

Ah, and fantasy land is comfortable and familiar.

I’ve been here many times throughout my journey, and I’ll probably revisit it as I enter new chapters. However, I’ve gained the skills (and continue to learn skills) to call myself out on it -after a few buckets of ice cream- and jump out faster.

I began working since I was 12 years old as we navigated the adversity of breaking the cycle. For so long, I had this mission to break the financial barriers of poverty but realized I was wrong. I wasn’t trying to build generational wealth, simply out of duty. I wanted connection and began the journey of creating generational wealth + health. 

Unlearning and defining this part of work and life was difficult, but I made it my north star throughout every season of life. 

How would you define your relationship to work?

As a young mother with a baby who was the first in her family to graduate, go to college, and enter corporate America- there was no blueprint. Naturally, if we don’t define our working relationship, we will revert to what is familiar and comfortable. I worked like a horse, and I was okay with that because I knew where my story was going and what I had to do to get there to create a strong foundation.

However, as my story evolved and I entered into new chapters, those strategies began to take a toll on me, and it was time that I evolved them based on my new season of life. 

The c-suite was next for me, and I had offers that were hard to refuse, but I knew what this lifestyle demanded. I couldn’t ignore the fact that I knew there was more that I wanted to experience in my lifetime and a different kind of impact I wanted to create. I knew I had to make a pivotal choice to pursue life courageously. 

Today I’m an entrepreneur figuring out what it takes to build a business while my husband and I raise our sons mindfully. There are many challenges along the way, but I’m aware of the story I’m choosing to create and the experiences that come with it. 

Forbes 100 for 50 million dollar companies? Not for me. Perhaps Forbes of those achieving financial independence with the ability to create work that illuminates the best of humankind. 

Today I am in a season of life where I’m raising a teenage boy and a seven-year-old who need me to be present while showing them what it takes to be a securely attached, emotionally regulated, and hilariously kind and imperfect human. 

They are learning about generational wealth, health, and humankind through our experiences. 

Sometimes, I don’t have the “balance” of routine, and life is hectic and unorganized. Other days, we have more leisure time as a family. When those moments present themselves, we are invested with our presence and intentional with our time. We create rituals that keep us connected and thriving through the ebbs and flows.

The idea of work-life balance can be an illusion that can lead us to a dead-end if not in alignment with our stories and operating systems (values and strategies).

If you’re exploring work-life balance, I challenge you to explore these questions below. This level of clarity allows you to begin creating an authentic life while finding the skills, challenges, and opportunities that will serve your growth.

1. What story are you creating?
2. How will you meet those demands within your value system?
3. What are your rules of engagement with your relationship to work?
4. How will you call yourself out when you get swept away by the fantasy of work-life balance?
5. How will you know when it’s time to evolve your story and strategies?

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?

For so long, leadership has been used in the context of work, titles, and building corporate agendas. We believe professionals are missing critical strategies that can help them authentically integrate work and life. 

Flipping the Script is an innovative leadership firm on a mission to equip professionals with leadership strategies to consciously create generational wealth + health beyond the title. 

We partner with purpose-driven professionals to consciously integrate work and life using leadership strategies for sustainable success. We take professionals through an experiential journey to evolve their leadership strategy and story based on their uniques season of life. 

No sugar coating, corporate jargon, or filler motivation

We’re not here to be gurus, motivate, or convince you that our process will change your life. If we’re honest, that will drain our coffee reserves (yep, we can’t do that). 

When it comes to leadership, we’re bringing you the organic experience and providing you with the leadership strategies and tools to lead the complexities of your success throughout work and life.

Leadership is a courageous journey. With purpose-driven leaders like you, we create more engaged leaders who are changing generations, paving new paths, and breaking the boundaries to create a healthier world

Our collections of solutions include:

On-Demand & Cost-Effective Online Course 

Build and Evolve the Foundation of Your Leadership Strategy 

7 Modules -20 Videos- 1 Actionable Plan 

Experiential Creative Workshops & Keynote Speeches

Join us for a one-day action-packed leadership incubator. Spot the Strategies at Play.

Join Our Exclusive Support Community 

Exclusive access to curated content through blogs, videos, and podcasts by leading professionals to support your journey.

Say hello! chalea@goflipthescript.com

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

We would eat our way through Avalon in Alpharetta! If you haven’t been to Antico, you’re missing out on the best Italian pizza you’ve ever had. After visiting a few places to eat, there is no way I could deny a strong cup of coffee at one of my favorite coffee shops, Divine Coffee in Johns Creek. After a few days of eating and hiking with our fur babies, I would whisk them away to Chateau Elan Winery and Resort for a spa day followed by a wine tasting. You get the drift. I’m a foodie at heart who works out to eat more food! I love unwinding with drinks and close ones.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My husband, Scott. He has been at my side, navigating the rollercoaster of creating a life that we’re proud of regardless of the challenges or season of life. Thank you for being my biggest supporter and fueling us with coffee along the way! I also want to thank my little guys Cesar and Levi. They illuminate our world with love and inspire us to be more mindful every day. Love you guys!

Website: https://www.instagram.com/chaleastafford/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goflipthescript/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chaleastafford/

Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/flipping-the-script-leadership-beyond-the-title/id1479811405