How to Run a Business and Have a Fabulous Life

Work-life balance is such a buzzword these days, a manufactured catchphrase for creating a life where work and home are in perfect harmony. Is this really possible? I spent a lot of time thinking about the answer to this question during the launch of my second company, The Modern Concierge. As the face of the company, which offered concierge and event planning services geared toward simplifying clients’ schedules, I became a self-imposed “expert” in how to creatively balance one’s work and life – and counseled clients and the public about how this could be achieved. Ironically, the work and the life that I was balancing – running two businesses and enjoying a resurgence of a single gal’s social life – were not what the majority of our clients were experiencing. While they were concerned with making it home in time to prepare dinner for their families, or figuring out how to get the forgotten cupcakes to the school bake sale, I was pondering the precise balance between the effects of seeing a midnight performance of an indie-rock band against my work schedule the next day, and wondering how to explain to clients that I didn’t want to “friend” them on Facebook. (more…)