Founder of Fifteen Media Shares Tips for Work Life Balance
Rebekah Epstein is the founder of fifteen media, a boutique PR firm specializing in media relations. While living in NYC, she worked at national magazines: NYLON & Vogue, as well as, fashion PR firm, People’s Revolution. We connected a few years back when I was branching out with my writing and wanted to offer healthy fit tips for the working gal.
As a business owner I thought Rebekah’s blog would be the perfect home for some of my content. Having a demanding schedule and getting her clients featured in Forbes, Health, Refinery 29, Everyday Health, Men’s Health I had to ask her how she balances it all in a healthy way. Continue reading my interview with Rebekah, there are some great pointers if you are trying to figure it all out.
NMFIT: What are the 3 ways you find work and life balance? What's your biggest piece of advice?
RE: The three ways that I find work/life balance are –
Having one calendar for both my personal/professional life. I put everything in the same place, so it never feels like one is more important than the other.
Taking real vacations. This can be challenging when you own your own business. When I first started working for myself, I would never take real time off. I would go out of town, but still try to squeeze in all my work early in the morning or after everyone went to bed. Being on vacation was supposed to be a time to recharge, but I came back more tired/stressed than ever. I now try to take one big vacation a year and then single days off here & there. When I leave, I let all my clients know, so they won’t be expecting the same results as when I am working full time. I find that this time off allows me to re-charge and feel excited about my job again.
Not having my e-mail connected to my phone. This is a big one for me. Since my e-mail doesn’t come to my phone, I never feel like I am on-call 24/7. I answer my e-mails when I am at my computer. People will call me if something is an emergency.
My biggest piece of advice is: remind yourself what is most important and irreplaceable. I never want the people in life to feel like they are coming second to my work. I always remind myself that work will always be here, but you can’t replace time & memories. Work is very important to me and I enjoy what I do, but spending time with friends and family is more important.
NMFIT: How do you squeeze in healthy habits throughout the day? Ex. Green Smoothie, lunchtime mediation etc...
RE: I try my best to work out in the morning before work. Working out for me is a form of meditation. I don’t necessarily work out to try to look a certain way, but it helps me with my anxiety. When I work out, I feel like I worry less and have more focus at work. My overall day is better when I workout in the morning. Also, if working out is the first thing I do in the morning, then I have no excuses for not doing it later.
Also, since my job requires me to be on my computer almost all day, I try to get up and walk around throughout the day. Sometimes when I am on long conference calls, I walk around while I am on the phone. Before you know it you have been walking for 30+ mins!
NMFIT: How do you keep in shape? Are there any fitness favorites you would like to share?
RE: Finding workouts you like doing is really the key to staying in shape. I am always trying new things. Right now, I am going to a place where every day is a different focus ie: one day will be legs, one day will be conditioning, one day will be upper body, etc. I find that gives me a good amount of variety, so I don’t get bored. I also have a membership to Classpass, which I highly recommend. Through that I try to do a spin or yoga class once a week. In my opinion, paying a little bit more to find classes you like is well worth it!
NMFIT: What's new and exciting in the works for Fifteen Media?
RE: Lots! Over the last year, I have been trying to take the next step in my business. While it has been stressful, I am finally starting to see a lot of the things pay off! I am trying to create more resources for small business owners to learn how to get their businesses into the press. I am hoping to create a platform where business owners can download the tools and resources that they need, and learn how to be their own publicists!
Craving a smoothie? Looking for a challenging workout? Visit the NMFIT shop for the Ultimate Strong workout and smoothie book by clicking here!