In this episode, Amanda describes what it’s like to balance working as a musician with everything else in her life, especially her creative pursuits. She talks about the punishing self-discipline typical of musicians, and how she reconciles her inclination to spend her time constructively, with not being “career-oriented”.

Amanda touches on the deliberate approach that she and her husband, who one day wish to have children, have taken to set the foundations for the work-life balance they aspire to: one that is flexible and stable. And she touches on how the career choices they've taken in the early years of their marriage have been influenced by their lived examples of growing up in homes with working parents. Amanda was an absolute pleasure to interview.

Her enthusiastic and unapologetic take on including hedonism in her work:life ratio was refreshing, and I think she even went on to coin a brand new phrase live on the podcast: "life oriented" (as opposed to "career-oriented"). If you've ever heard that phrase before please do let me know - neither of us had!

I hope that as well as enjoying her music, you’ll enjoy listening to what Amanda has to say about work, life and the pursuit of balance, her overarching message being: “Not everyone can be the best of the best. Just be the best you”. https://a-fine-balance.com/2023/02/03/its-official-season-two-of-a-fine-balance-the-podcast-is-live/

Season Two of ‘A Fine Balance - The Podcast’ is launching soon. Listen here to find out what to expect and be sure to subscribe so you know when Episode One is ready to drop.

Tom McLaughlan, a retired Government Relations Advisor, who now works voluntarily for a crisis intervention charity, first featured on ‘A Fine Balance - The Blog’ in August 2021. In this episode, we discuss in more depth Tom’s work-life balance choices - both today in retirement, and looking back at when he was in the height of his career. His emotive and honest reflections leave much food for thought about the opportunities and challenges of balancing priorities during these two life stages: one’s career peak, and their career’s end - and the “life” milestones that occur in between. Tom also shares his experiences of Imposter Syndrome and burnout, and we discuss the power that leaders have to impact their staff’s work-life balance. I hope to hear from any listeners that make it to the end and want to take up the challenge that the episode closes with!

In this bonus episode, which differs to this podcast’s usual format, Annabel Jeffcoate, coach and founder of ‘Balance for Teachers’ provides her professional advice on how to improve your work-life balance in 5 steps. She also goes into detail about the strategy that she has devised using the word BALANCE as an acronym. In this episode, Annabel shares her story about losing balance early on in her career, which resulted in a severe case of burnout, explaining how she has drawn from her own experience to help others. For more info on Annabel’s strategy and coaching services, go to www.worklifebalanceforteachers.com. And to read in more detail the profiles of people mentioned in this episode, that feature on the blog ‘A Fine Balance’, go to www.a-fine-balance.com.

This is a follow-up interview with Laurie Macpherson, who first featured on ‘A Fine Balance - The Blog’ in July 2021. https://a-fine-balance.com/2021/07/04/finding-balance-on-her-own-terms-single-by-choice-childfree-by-choice-lauries-story-on-doing-what-suits-you/. Laurie is a career coach and mentor who owns her own business, The Grow Consultancy, advising people on career choices and job applications. Before becoming self-employed, Laurie worked for many years in the retail sector and also travelled all over the world working as a holiday rep and on cruises. When she featured on the blog, Laurie was keen to impress her perspective of finding balance as a single woman with no children: “I’m single by choice and childfree by choice”, she told me straight off, adding: “that doesn’t mean I want work to be my only ‘thing’”.

“It’s not just working parents that have to worry about their work-life balance“, Laurie argues, a point she not just preaches but practices too, through her self-imposed "ground rules" as well as her business practices. She advocates that “single people have a right to feel proud about prioritising their life over work”.

Contrary to previous guests on this podcast, Laurie claims that she doesn’t have a people-pleasing bone in her body and her philosophy is to “do what suits me”, backed up with the mantra “just do it”. So, if you’re sitting on the fence with a decision at the moment and need some encouragement, this podcast is one for you!

Follow-up interview with Sarah Macmull, who was first featured on ‘A Fine Balance - The. Blog’ in October 2020: https://a-fine-balance.com/2020/10/14/sarahs-story-motherhood-and-the-mental-load-marriage-self-employment-and-primary-care-giving/.

It’s rare to hear a feminist extolling the virtues of home-keeping alongside career drive. And it’s equally unusual for the story of a mother building her career around her family to be told in of itself.

Sarah’s story does both of these things, addressing the pursuit of balance for a woman whose ambitions include motherhood, home-keeping and a career.

These things all result in a heavy “mental load”, which is both burdensome and the stuff of dreams for Sarah.

In this podcast, we explore the concept of the “mental load” and working motherhood throughout the ages. We touch on some of the practical ways that Sarah keeps multiple plates of work and home life spinning and the approach that she and her husband take to ensure that within their partnership they both have what they need to feel balanced and fulfilled.

We also talk about valuing taking time to do things that bring you joy, and we pick apart the dreaded “g-word” - #guilt- that is familiar to many of the women (less so the men) I’ve interviewed for my blog.

And so much more, including a tangental discussion about arguably the most controversial mothering icon of our generation, Mummy Pig.

I hope you enjoy the episode and if you do, please rate, review or subscribe – apparently it helps let others know about it too. For updates, follow @afinebalance_blog on Facebook or Instagram, or sign up at www.a-fine-balance.com to receive alerts directly to your inbox. In the meantime, happy listening!

Blogger Michelle Green, of ‘Fifty & Fab’ notoriety, discusses my latest blog post, “‘Stay at home, Mum’: Nadine’s Story on finding balance as a stay-at-home-mum, opting out of a career path & valuing a mother’s presence”. To read more go to: https://a-fine-balance.com/2021/11/16/stay-at-home-mum-nadines-story-on-opting-out-of-a-career-path-valuing-a-mothers-presence/. Check out Michelle’s blog, ‘Fifty & Fab’, at www.fiftyandfab.co.uk.

Follow-up interview with Tahmid Chowdhury, who was first featured on the blog ‘A Fine Balance’ in October 2020: https://a-fine-balance.com/2020/10/02/work-life-balance-profile-4-tahmid-chowdhury/. Early in his career, Tahmid realised that he was on the verge of ‘burning out’ and he took some drastic measures to change his lifestyle and mindset to improve his situation. Burnout is something that has come up again and again in the interviews I conduct for my blog and is usually an indicator of a skewed balance between the various aspects of life and work at any given time. I was curious to understand Tahmid’s experience, not just what “burnout” felt like for him, but what he did to overcome it and what measures he takes now to avoid getting back to that point. I hope that listeners find his reflections and insights helpful. Tahmid is also one of the younger subjects of my blog, so we spoke at length about finding balance in the early stages of working life, including some of the challenges of working with seniors, and with colleagues who have caring responsibilities. Another focus of our discussion (though admittedly we did go off on many tangents!) was on the impact that coming from an ethnic minority background in the UK had on Tahmid's work:life balance. Underpinning our discussion was the fact that Tahmid is the first (and only) interviewee that I've featured on my blog that has refused to put a figure on his work:life ratio. I hope you enjoy the episode and if you do, please rate, review or subscribe – apparently it helps let others know about it too. For updates, follow @afinebalance_blog on Facebook or Instagram, or sign up at www.a-fine-balance.com to receive alerts directly to your inbox. In the meantime, happy listening!

Interview with Jhilmil Kishore, a full-time working architect and single mother. This interview is based on the ‘A Fine Balance’ blog post: “My Work, My Identity”. Read the blog at: https://a-fine-balance.com/2021/05/06/jhilmils-story-my-work-my-identity-on-competitiveness-co-parenting-surviving-job-loss/.

Interview with teacher and ADHD expert, Soli Lazarus, based on the ‘A Fine Balance’ blog post: “Sunny-Side Up, Please”. Read the blog at https://a-fine-balance.com/2020/12/06/solis-story-sunny-side-up-please-self-care-for-caring-professionals-finding-balance-in-mid-life-staying-positive-when-the-course-of-motherhood-doesnt-run-smooth/.