Advantages of Work-Life Integration

Annnd we're back! I spent the last 30 days traveling with family and took an intentional break from writing. Here are 5 breakthrough lessons on how to blend work + life from my trip: 1. Break your work into components. Too many people worry about their work-life "balance" when they should be focused on a work-life "blend". For me, this means not trying to run away from "work" and rather focus on chunking it down into its various components so I can create flexibility in HOW I work. 80% of the work that bogs me down are the video calls: pitches, investor updates, 1:1's, sales calls, etc. Cutting those out left critical "deep work" that could be nurtured - vision exercises, product roadmapping, hiring definitions, intention setting - all while traveling and not available during "typical" hours. 2. Leverage downtime to create breakthroughs. Take a step back to take a LEAP FORWARD. As a founder, your biggest gains will come from exponential breakthroughs. Those moments are fostered when you are in the right mindset. Stepping outside leads to breaking up your pattern of thinking and allows for more creative discourse. This goes back to point #1. When you blend work and life....you take the restful and joyous moments of life to fuel the creative problem solving needed for work. A lot of my inspiration comes from listening to audiobooks while running or cycling. Right now, I'm loving Perennial Seller by Ryan Holiday. Give it a listen! 3. You have to feed your support system. As a leader/founder/CEO - you are only as good as your team. Depending on your work style, you're probably in the weeds a lot. When you step out, it gives them an opportunity to take control and implement things the way they would like to without constant over site. It pressure tests them in some ways and hopefully it excites in other ways. You also begin to see the facets of your work that you can let go and what the team really needs you for. People want to be led and taking the time to foster motivation and alignment is more important the perfecting a few pixels. 4. Slow down to speed up. Having more time away from our product, I could see that we were doing a lot. More features, more integrations, more stuff - but how much of it is actually being used by a high % of customers? It may me reconsider how we could more narrowly focus our mission on our core functionality. I asked myself - how can we do more with less? I don't want a more employees - I want a more efficient team that gets more out of what it builds. 5. Have fun. Life is short...find a way to love what you do and do what you love. I'm a big believer in sacrificing in the short-term for long-term gain, but I also have found that you can still enjoy and appreciate that "sacrifice". Training for an marathon for example means a lot of sacrifice, but I still find myself loving the process. Your work should feel like that - requires a lot of discipline, but it's something you actually enjoy. ✌️

🚀 "Work-life balance," often mentioned in startup circles, always seems disconnected from the entrepreneurial reality. Why? Launching a startup isn't a 9-to-5 endeavor—it's a passion that permeates all life aspects. It's not about balancing two worlds; it's about harmoniously merging them. 🤝 Work-life integration is understanding that professional and personal lives intertwine. It doesn't mean sacrificing everything for your business, but finding a balance amid chaos, recognizing that work and life fuel each other. This perspective is key in my entrepreneurial journey, especially in blending my cherished family—my wife and two daughters—into this ride. 👨👩👧👦 They're not just spectators, but partners in this adventure. Their laughter and love fill my workdays with joy and purpose, sharing both triumphs and setbacks. 🌻 Balance is achieved not by separating work from life, but by weaving them together, celebrating entrepreneurship's highs and lows. 💼 This integration doesn't distract; it enriches. It makes me a better leader, a more understanding partner, and reminds me that business can be personal, fulfilling, and a shared experience. Here's to pursuing dreams together. 🎉 #familyintegration #startuplife #worklifeintegration #entrepreneurshipjourney #loveandbusiness

On work-life balance (or not). Recently , I had a work meeting out of state that coincided with my Queens’ fall break. So guess what? We bundled everyone and made the trip together! Someone suggested I could’ve just said “no.” But the cost of my absence at work is not the same as someone else’s, and moms know there’s always a cost. The cost of being absent at work, the cost of sacrificing goals, and even the cost of trying to balance it all. I don’t have the answer to every situation, but for me: It’s not work-life balance; it’s work-life integration ( more of work life bundle ). I brought my kids along for this trip - As a working mom, they continue to see this in real time. Did I miss some of the fun stuff during the day? Yes [ Shoutout to my Husband for holding that down] That is my thinking process. If I have to, we all bundle together. It’s not about choosing between “this or that.” It’s about embracing this AND that: Gym and Children. Work and Children. Meetings and Children. Events and Children. Choir practice and Children. Here’s why: 📌 My children need to see that their mom is multi-faceted. I have multiple things, and that’s okay. 📌 I refuse to use or see them as the excuse. [Case-Specific] Is it easy? NO. Traveling with kids is hard, trying to focus in a meeting while the third one comes to tell you she wants her hair done can be a lot. To any parent feeling unsure of how to do XYZ with the kids? My tip: Do exactly that - Do It With them. Move from the mindset that these are two separate parts of your life - it is one. It’s all one whole bundle! PS: Is it still a LOT of work to do the above? Absolutely Yes! Everything requires work, we just get to choose which work. PPS: This is not about prioritization. Simply about making motherhood and career work. Real PPS: Kudos to Companies and organizations, who continue to support, create systems and structures for parents in the work place to make choices easily and even when it’s a hard choice, for the support to still make it work! #worklife #momintech #careermom #worklifebalance #worklifeharmony #workingmoms #momsinleaderahip #momlifeandcareer #motherhoodjourney #momsincorporate

𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗔𝗹𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 I recently sent this photo to a former colleague and was surprised by the reaction. He wrote, "What's the point of being in a place like that if you're just looking at your screen all day?" That made me mad. First, I 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 look at the screen all day I'll. Have. You. Know. But that's not the point. Here's my take: The "work-life balance" we've been sold is a myth, especially for women in leadership roles, and we might as well admit it. Stew Friedman, author of Total Leadership, offers this insight: "𝘌𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦-𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥; 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴-𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘮 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 (𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘸, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦)." I've been a student of Total Leadership since my CEO days at Leadership Austin (I owe Friedman my long-time connection to Bootstrap anti-guru Bijoy Goswami). It's a wonderful coincidence that in my new role as CEO at CUES, we partner with The Wharton School on our flagship CEO Institute program, now in its 30th year. It's also a relevant reference because as female executives, we're expected to: • Excel in our careers • Maintain vibrant personal lives • Keep a picture-perfect home • Be an excellent parent, daughter, sister, aunt, friend • Engage in our community • Stay fit (read: thin) and healthy • Commit to continuous self-improvement For me, balancing all that is a recipe for burnout and perpetual guilt. So I decided to stop balancing and start integrating. Unapologetically. Why I added Wi-Fi to my mountain getaway: • 𝗥𝗲𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀: Work vs. Life is an artificial divide. • 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: It's about feeling fulfilled across all aspects of life. • 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆: I'm AOK if my team sees me as a whole person. • 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Wi-Fi everywhere means I can be anywhere. Criticize that and you're not a working mom. • 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗹𝘆: When everything is integrated, conscious focus is required. Perfect? Far from it. There are times when lines blur more than I'd like. There are also moments when integration pays off - like wrapping up an important project surrounded by the Rocky Mountains. I'm aware that this kind of integration isn't possible for everyone. Even access to this tiny log cabin in Colorado is a gift I don't take for granted. So to my fellow executives with similar flexibility: as we grapple with modern leadership complexities, perhaps the real question is: How can we create a life that's both productive and fulfilling? Can we blend our responsibilities seamlessly, without sacrificing well-being or effectiveness? What do you think?