We had the good fortune of connecting with Leah Walukones and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Leah, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
I am a firm believer in work life balance. As a millennial with a sizable guilt complex, I would often find myself working too hard. I would bring work home with me (whether that be literally, or mentally) and I would feel guilty if I ever took a step back, took a break, or wasn’t going at 100%.

I have slowly been able to stop these destructive and unhealthy behaviors with tools and tricks: I set calendar reminders to take breaks. I leave my laptop and work materials in my office, instead of taking them home. I turn off work notifications on my phone between 6:00 PM and 7:00 AM the next day. I set strict calendar times for myself for working on the podcast. If I ever do have to work late hours or weekends, I flex my hours the following day or week to make up for that time. And most importantly: I USE MY VACATION DAYS!

I still struggle with worrying or thinking about work when I’m home, and feeling guilty during my slower times at work, but I am definitely working on that, and having friends, family, and colleagues that support this work-life-balance, and encourages me to take time for myself and my personal life definitely helps.

What should our readers know about your business?
The Hashtag History Podcast is a woman-owned and woman-run podcast, focusing on History’s greatest stories of controversy, conspiracy, and corruption. In the three years since we started, we have increased our listenership from zero to an average audience size of over 500, have released 120+ episodes, and over 128,000 total plays.

We are a small, but mighty two-woman-show, which allows us to put our love for history and the podcast into every single episode. The biggest challenge for me personally, as the cohost and producer, is finding the time on top of my regular job and personal responsibilities to dedicate to research, recording, and editing of every episode, but we love what we do and are willing to work hard to create each episode.

My biggest lesson learned:
Don’t pressure yourself too much. The podcast is something I love to do, but I also have learned to acknowledge that it comes secondary to my career, my family, and my mental health. Our audience is amazing and understands when things aren’t perfect or when episodes aren’t released on time. They have told us time and time again that they will be there when we are ready, which has really helped me to relieve some of my own self-inflicted pressure about running it like a well-oiled machine.

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.
Not local!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My cohost Rachel Lee Perez is my hero and an actual superwoman. She deserves all the credit for where our podcast is today.

Website: hashtaghistory-pod.com

Instagram: hashtaghistory_podcast

Other: tiktok: @hashtaghistory

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.