Work-Work Balance: Survival Tips for the Employed Entrepreneur

The phone rings. I answer, “Rosewalker Design Project,” only to realize a split-second later that I’m not at my business, I’m at my day job and it’s my boss calling...! My heart leaps into my throat, and in a moment of panic, I quickly hang up the receiver. The phone rings again. “Carolyn?” It’s my boss again, and he sounds perplexed. “That was weird, I must have dialed the wrong number - I’m in the car... Hey, can you...” I feel a wave of relief as it becomes clear I’ve gotten away with it...this time. Is this what cheating feels like?

Sometimes I think I might benefit from a 12-step program. “My name is Carolyn, I’m an entrepreneur ... and I have a day job.” The others around the circle would have similar tales of late nights and foggy days. One would be an aspiring country singer, nurturing her dream of stardom while trying to hold onto her job at Noshville. Another, a self-confessed computer programmer, would talk ashamedly of falling asleep at his day job because he’d stayed up all night writing open-source software ... We would all nod and murmur sympathetically, but at the end of the day we’d all be left with the same question: How did I get here?

Not even a generation ago, the buzz was all about “Work/Life Balance.” Women (men, too) found themselves consumed by their careers: we were all busy “climbing the corporate ladder” and “breaking through the glass ceiling.” Work was all about being visibly committed to your job and on-call 24/7. In fact, many times producing results was not as important as being seen at work at all hours of the day and night (this was before the advent of telecommuting and virtual offices). In short, things got pretty intense. We began to lose our sense of humor. Motivational speakers and self-help books started popping up, reminding us of the importance of laughter, admonishing us to live with purpose, find our passion, and slow down. Walk into any bookstore back then, and you’d find the self-help section knee-deep in readers nudging past each other and furtively thumbing through titles, searching for clues. Don’t deny it, I was there — I saw you. I read the books, I did the work, and for a brief moment in time my life was more in balance. But not for long.

Now my friends and I are galvanized by our entrepreneurial vision, and we’re following our bliss all over the place! We’ve learned how to visualize and “act as if” until we manifest what we desire. The tricky thing is, the more I manifest, the less in control I feel. One minute I’m the co-owner of Rosewalker Design Project, which I envision as Nashville’s go-to destination for antique restoration and decorative arts products. The next minute I realize five minutes late that it’s my turn to cover the front desk at work. Sometimes I feel as if I’m traveling in and out of parallel universes — as I go from being interviewed about Rosewalker for a regional lifestyles magazine to cleaning up dirty coffee cups and wiping down whiteboards ... I furtively set up business-related appointments and take my lunch hour at odd times (when I can actually take one) — again feeling as though I’m somehow being unfaithful ... but to whom?!

Yes, I’m in the throes of “Work/Work Balance,” and frankly this “work/work” thing makes the old work/life thing seem like a quaint party trick. I need my primary job for the steady paycheck and benefits it provides. But I also have a new set of business-related responsibilities: marketing plans to draft, events to coordinate, products and services to develop, not to mention the website, blogs, and budgets! On the really bad days, the only thing that keeps me going is the dream my husband and I share of seeing our mixed media creations in the hippest homes in Nashville and beyond. I imagine our studio full of restoration projects, and a team of young, eager apprentices doing the heavy lifting. Without that grand vision, none of the day-to-day craziness makes sense. However, minute-to-minute it’s easy to forget the larger purpose. In the heat of battle, I’ve found comfort in a few simple concepts:

Wherever you are, be there. When you’re at your day job, do what’s required. If I have business-related ideas during the course of my day, I jot them down quickly, then turn back to the task at hand. The last thing I need is to have to look for a new day job on top of everything else. When I’m working at the business, the same holds true. If something work-related crops up, I try to acknowledge it, handle it, and move on. Of course the edges may blur on a regular basis, but I trust in the good people around me to bring me back to the present moment.

Replenish yourself. Try to get plenty of sleep, drink a lot of water, and eat healthy foods. You know this already. Running on empty — physically, emotionally, and spiritually — is a real hazard when you’re constantly exercising different skill sets. During the day, I work for a company that moves and stores diverse goods for multiple industries all over the globe. My own business exists in a highly specialized market, and its arena of influence, at least for now, is Nashville and the surrounding area. My primary job as an executive assistant involves the support and implementation of others’ visions. My business requires that I strategize, execute, evaluate, cajole, coerce, and create. Still, at times the most strategic and productive thing I can do is sit on the back deck with a glass of wine and watch the birds.

Be flexible. Go with the flow. This is one of the hardest pieces of advice for me to follow. But when I do, the results are 10 times better than when I try to force things. More and more, if I’m awake at 3 a.m. with some great idea spinning around in my brain, I’ll get up, get it down on paper, and then go back to sleep until the alarm goes off. And if I’m really tired, even though it’s 2 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon and I tell myself I ought to be doing something useful, I listen to my body instead and have a power nap. I do my best to capture ideas when they come to me and make hay while the sun shines.

In closing, I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes, courtesy of Theodore Roosevelt: “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”

Carolyn J. Sullivan is currently balancing her roles as executive assistant at a global company with her responsibilities as co-owner of Rosewalker Design Project, a decorative arts company specializing in antique restoration and mixed media products. She likes to think her sense of humor and sanity are still at least partially intact.