My Business Owned Me for 6 Years. This One Entrepreneur Work-Life Balance Question Changed Everything
Entrepreneur work-life balance used to sound like something other people talked about while entrepreneurs quietly laughed and went back to work. For years, that was my life: all gas, no brakes, and no real boundary between my business and my identity.
From no vacations to a clean exit
For eight years, my husband and I owned a short-term rental management company in Louisville called Key Source Properties. We grew it to 75 properties under management, with seven full-time employees and 15 cleaners, and for the first 6 years, we did not take a single vacation.
The business was booming on paper, but in reality, it owned us. When the pandemic hit in 2020, everything paused. That forced slowdown gave me the space to step fully into real estate sales and ask hard questions about what kind of life I actually wanted to live. In 2022, we successfully exited the STR management company with a sale, and I made a promise to myself: never again would I build a business that consumed my entire life.
Leaving the grind for autonomy
After the sale, I became a partner in a local boutique real estate brokerage. I helped design and grow it, but over time, I realized the day-to-day responsibilities were limiting both my personal and business growth, pulling me back toward a life where the business dictated everything.
So I made another intentional move: I left to join eXp Realty for more independence, autonomy, and the ability to build a multi-state real estate business on my own terms. That shift was a major work-life balance decision because it gave me more control over my schedule, systems, and long-term vision.
From one business to a portfolio life
Today, instead of pouring everything into a single, all-consuming venture, I live more like a portfolio entrepreneur.
- I run my real estate business with the freedom to choose my clients, my markets, and my schedule.
- My husband operates a remodeling company, which pairs naturally with my real estate and investment projects.
- I’m a partner in several small businesses and make direct equity investments in growing companies I personally align with and believe in.
This diversified approach lets me stay ambitious without being chained to one grind-heavy operation. Between real estate, remodeling, thoughtful business partnerships, investments, and future plans, my work and my life finally feel aligned.
What the entrepreneur’s work-life balance looks like now
Here’s what balance with ambition looks like in real life for an entrepreneur:
- I choose which days I work—including weekends—and my day begins and ends when I decide, not when a schedule dictates.
- We take several vacations every year, including time at our home in North Carolina, which also operates as a short-term rental and fits seamlessly into our investment strategy.
- I can volunteer, stay involved in the community, and, for the first time in my adult life, have hobbies I actually make time for.
Ambition didn’t disappear; it just got curated. I’m flipping my first house in a rewarding partnership, with many more projects on the horizon, and I’m actively working toward my auctioneer’s license to add a new, high-leverage skill to my real estate business. I’m fully aware that I could work 24/7 and chase a near $100M path—but right now, I am consciously choosing not to live that way. For this season, I am enjoying life, loving what I’m doing, and that is enough.
The entrepreneur work-life balance question I ask before every “yes.”
All of this has led to a simple filter for every new opportunity, and it sits at the heart of an entrepreneur’s work-life balance:
Before you say yes, ask: “How will this change my life?”
For entrepreneurs, that question can be a quiet revolution. Here’s how to use it:
- Design your non‑negotiables first
Decide what your business is not allowed to take from you—sleep, health, family dinners, time with kids, creative space, or your ability to take real vacations. My promise after exiting our management company was that I would never again build something that erased those things. - Run every opportunity through an impact filter.
Before saying yes to a new flip, team, partnership, product line, or side venture, ask:- What will this cost in time, mental load, and emotional energy?
- What will it give back in money, meaning, or leverage?
- Does it move me toward or away from the life I say I want?
There are a million ways to make money; not all of them deserve a seat at your table.
- Adjust the role, not just the hours.
When I shifted from operating an intense STR management company to real estate, strategic partnerships, and investments, my role changed from constant firefighter to intentional creator and connector. Many founders regain joy not by quitting, but by changing what they personally do in the business. - Bake boundaries into the model.
Balance is not just a mindset; it has to live in the structure. That might mean set call windows, team coverage, no‑meeting blocks, or clearly defined “off” time built into the business’s operations. My business now is designed to allow vacations, community involvement, and real downtime, not just hope for them. - Monitor balance like a metric.
Once a month, ask yourself: “On a scale of 1–10, how sustainable does this feel?” If the number keeps slipping, something has to change—before burnout decides for you.
Entrepreneurial work-life balance is not about choosing a small life over a big one. It is about designing your business, your portfolio, and your opportunities so they serve the life you actually want to live. You can still grow, still take risks, still build new things—and also take vacations, volunteer, have hobbies, and actually enjoy the life you’re working so hard to create.