By far the most common conversation we have with the folks we interview is about work-life balance. Starting a business or pursuing a creative career makes finding work life balance really tough because there is no clear start and end to one’s work day. We’ve shared some of our conversations on the topic below.

Jackie Poko | Story Producer, Unscripted Television

As I begin pushing closer to 40 and further from 30, a realization I’ve proclaimed is my 30s are better than my 20s. On a personal level, I now know to suppress the periodic urge to get bangs, and on a professional level, I’ve recognized one of the biggest contributors to my overall happiness: work-life balance. As a freelance producer in unscripted television, I was always hyper-focused on proving myself and moving up. So I would do whatever it took to meet a deadline, even if that meant staying in the office until after midnight and seeing the silver lining as not having to fill the parking meter when I got home because it was so late. But I also realized burn out is real and not sustainable. Read more>>

Frank Costello III | Licensed Psychotherapist

Balance is everything. Without balance, we fall over in one way or another– We’ll struggle, even suffer. It doesn’t take a career in counseling and mental health to see how imbalance affects others in their lives. Just take a look around. We all know someone who at some point in their life becomes horribly imbalanced. Maybe it’s us? Work is important. It brings us purpose, and it affords us a quality of life outside of working hours, but you still need to know when to stop, or at least take a break. Long-term problems with balancing work and life often lead to unhealthy sleep patterns, a compromised immune system, erosion of important social relationship— just an overall neglect of our healthiest self. We must know when to say when. Read more>>

Hyeun Jason Lee | Experiential Designer & Concept Architect

I’ve certainly put more emphasis on “Life” since starting my own business. In a way, the distinction between work and life has blurred as work became “my” work through my business, and things become personal even when I try not to make it; there’s a bit of legacy building happening, I hope.
In other words, I’m doing the work that I like, and even get to support the family and our lives through it. There are times when work just never stops, not only physically, but also mentally. I’m constantly thinking about work and how to improve my output. Once the rhythm set in though work and life became a natural flow. I try to click my brain off from work thoughts whenever I can, but as soon as I get into work mode I’m full throttle. Read more>>

Dropout Heroes | Pop Punk Band

Dropout Heroes is a Pop Punk band based in Pasadena, California. The band originated in 2018 by lead singer and guitarist, Nathanael Sabatka. Amber Mullins joined on bass and backing vocals in 2021, Scott Horváth joined on drums in 2022 to complete the line up. Since then they have played multiple shows across LA County and in Anaheim and are currently set to release their new single “Never Ending Story” on October 27th, 2023 on all major music platforms. They will also be performing a live stream concert for free the same evening on Twitch at 9 PM Pacific Time (See below for the link). https://www.twitch.tv/dropoutheroes Read more>>

Trinh Tran | Artist

I think balance is about priority. My priority changes at different stages in life. When I am able to address what’s my focus of the day, the month, the year and the future, then it makes it easy to make a decision and thus keep the balance. Sometimes, it’s hard to maintain the balance I want, but it’s actually a good thing when it’s off. That’s when the universe is telling me that I should take a second to slow down and take a look at the picture and make adjustments. Read more>>

Carolina Brasil | Film Producer / Entrepreneur / own the company Crossing Networking

As Carolina Brasil, a resilient entrepreneur with experience in the entertainment industry, my perspective on risk-taking has evolved over time, shaped by my journey of navigating the volatile world of Hollywood and business. Here’s how I perceive and approach risk: In the initial stages of my career, my focus was primarily directed towards establishing my presence in the competitive landscape of Hollywood and building my entrepreneurial endeavors. My commitment and dedication often resulted in an imbalance, with work taking precedence over personal life. This period was marked by long hours, relentless dedication, and a single-minded pursuit of success. Read more>>

Lou Paoletti | Filmmaker | Actor | Podcast Host

I come from the business world. Putting my professional energy toward creating is fairly new to me; I only moved to Los Angeles to pursue this less than two years ago. When I worked in finance, there was no work life balance. All of my energy went toward making money and moving up and everything else was an afterthought; Work was the focus of my life. After some live events and changes, I realized I was miserable and didn’t want to live like that anymore. So I decided to chase the dream I always had. Now that I’m in the creative space, my work life balance is a top priority and I can say that I’m in a much better place mentally because of it. I don’t think people understand just how quickly and easily you can burnout with work. Read more>>