What’s the right balance between work and non-work time? The traditional 9-5 has slowly disappeared with the emails and zoom and texting going far beyond traditional business hours. We asked members of our community to share with us how they think about work-life balance.

Vince ‘Big V’ / Dave ‘DB’ Riha / Burzanko | Music Producers and Engineers

The single most important factor in being a successful audio producer/production company is to be a fan first. Technical know how and theory only reinforce the artistic vision and soul of a song. As producers we train our ear to seek out anomalies and unpleasant sounds but are they all bad? If the soul of a piece of work needs a dissonant tone, a misplaced breath, or even something out of time it should be there. There is the learned practice to drop everything on the beat, quantize, de-breath or de-ess but often when these steps are taken the end result is flat and soulless. Sure its a risk to leave imperfections in but that is where being a fan of the artist, genre, or message comes in to play, The art of leaving these artifacts comes down to knowing where leaving them makes the most impact. Read more>>

Carlos Herriott II | Filmmaker & Entrepreneur

The heartbeat of our success is a unique blend of crucial elements that resonate with the essence of who we are. Customer or Audience Focus: For us, it’s not just about business; it’s about understanding and connecting with the people we serve. We believe in putting our customers and target audiences’ needs front and center. Building genuine relationships with our audience isn’t just a strategy; it’s at the core of who we are. It’s about fostering loyalty, and it’s the bedrock of our long-term success. Innovation and Creativity: Innovation isn’t a buzzword; it’s a passion. We thrive on embracing fresh ideas and nurturing creativity that goes beyond the expected. It’s about thinking outside the box, staying ahead of industry trends, and crafting solutions that aren’t just unique but reflect the very soul of our brand. It’s our way of standing out in a sea of competition. Read more>>

Ann Torralba | Family Music Artist

The most important factor behind my success as a family music artist is that I really believe in my heart and soul that music brings joy to people. When I walk into a room with. my guitar, I see smiles and and I see happiness. I see kids and their families celebrating life by singing, dancing and more together. There’s been a lot of studies about how music releases dopamine which brings pleasure to people. Music supports positive social emotional health. There have also been studies to show that going to hear live music increases your feelings of well-being by 20 percent. Music makes people feel good. Whether kids are listening to me perform live or listening to my 7 Family Music albums, I hope that they are feeling connected, inspired, nurtured, and loved! Read more>>

Devin Dlugolinski | Fashion and Print Model – Supermodel

The most important factor behind my success is the comfort I hold in my personality and uniqueness. I define myself by who I am by living life everyday in my own vision combined with attempting to go off the course of a “normal” life and search for more fulfilling, exciting things in my journey. I believe this is the most important factor of not only my brand, but myself. living life in your own skin and finding your way without being held by any constraints is the most crucial thing you can do to achieve confidence followed by success. Read more>>

Jasmine McKinney | Founder of The Step Up Program Nonprofit Organization & Author

I believe that being consistent and focusing on the goal is what helped me throughout the years to become, what we are today. I had a vision and chose to act on it. I did the necessary research; I studied the field I wanted to be in, and I went to different companies asking questions that related to that field. Read more>>