Meet Charlotte Clark | Startup Consultant & Product Manager

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

Hi Charlotte, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
When I think about the traditional work-life balance, I think I did a pretty good job of balancing my life with my full-time job for a few years. Then with the pandemic and working from home, it was hard for me to stay motivated at work, and I didn’t feel like I had a life to balance with.

Now that I have a job structure that I love and I’m working in positions that I’m passionate about, it’s been hard to maintain the work-life balance where I take nights and weekends off. Until very recently, I realized I was trying to mold my part-time job lifestyle to what I thought was the only way to create balance.

Now I create balance in life by taking time off of work when I need or want to. This means sometimes in the middle of the day, between meetings or after I complete high priority tasks, I’ll go shop for groceries, work out at the gym, take a nap or make myself dinner. If I’m inspired on the weekends or late at night, I allow myself to do some work. If I don’t have a commitment at 8 am, I let myself sleep in for another hour. And for now, that is the balance that works for me.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I work in the startup ecosystem and would call myself an avid startup supporter. I currently work in three part-time roles with different job titles and independently consult as well. I love working a variety of part-time positions. The work I perform varies across each, but the mission is the same – creating processes to help provide resources to early-stage startup founders. I think that because the missions align, whenever I learn new skills or uncover a new resource, it helps improve the work I do across the board.

Getting here was not easy. There were a few months when I wasn’t getting paid consistently and I worried that not searching and applying to full-time roles was a mistake. I had to continually remind myself that I have the skills to be successful and that if the worst came, I would be able to make a different decision. The biggest lesson was to trust in the decisions I made up to this point and continue to be open to every opportunity.

I want those who are reading this part of my story to know that by choosing to be part-time and work in multiple roles, I’m doing what I love and I see it as an incredible asset. I’m able to learn from mistakes and gain a lot from these experiences in a shorter period of time. I believe that the future of work is allowing for different employment structures to exist, so if you’re interested in trying out a different work structure, go for it!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Food is tough, it would really depend on what we’re in the mood for, but I’d rally hard for Chewology, Pho Vietnam, Blue Sushi Sake Grill, Canary KC, Torchy’s Tacos, Succotash, Game Day Chicken & Wings, and Mesob for some of the many places to go eat.

For drinks or late-night fun, I’d recommend Panthers Place, The Ship, Crossroads Hotel and Alehouse. I’d also see if Kansas City Fashion was having an event on the weekend we could crash.

For other sights, we’d go to Nelson Atkins Museum, walk around the Plaza, and find any other local spots with events or pop-up shops like at Parlor, Black Pantry KC, The Blakk Co, KC Night Market, and The Nelle. All of these places have space and allow other local businesses to sell goods with music and people.

Lastly, I’d invite my KC friends that are available to hang out with us. We always have a great time, and anywhere we go, there’s always a hilarious story to tell afterwards.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’ll give a shoutout to my friends Nicole Johnson, Nassir Criss, and my sister Kelli Clark, who all have atypical work and life commitments, but still, take the time to balance all the things and have some fun from time to time.

Website: https://www.charlotteaclark.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charlotte.a.clark

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlotte-a-clark

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/charkattack46