There’s nothing harder than being away from the people you love, whether you’re separated by distance or the realities of a busy schedule. My parents live out of town, and my husband works late shifts in the restaurant industry. My career is important to me, so I wanted to keep growing professionally, but I didn’t want career growth to come at the expense of my most important relationships.
Tangible Words has helped me balance work and family. With a supportive team, opportunities for professional development, and a flexible work-from-home setup, I’m able to advance professionally while still spending meaningful time with the people I love.
What Balancing Work and Family Can Look Like
Despite the distance between us, I’m very close with my family. My parents, brother, and cousins all live over four hours away, so seeing them takes time and planning. A typical, in-person 9-5 would make this tricky– there are time off requests, missed work days and narrow windows to make the trip worthwhile. In fact, nearly 1 in 3 Canadians say that work demands interfere with their family life.
Working remotely means I can spend longer periods with my family, instead of squeezing a visit into a rushed long weekend. I also get to work from places that hold significance to our family, like my dad’s cottage, or my mom’s home in a quiet beach town. I love that I get to share ordinary but meaningful moments I would otherwise miss, like eating lunch on the dock with my dad, or taking an after-work stroll on the beach with my mom.
Flexible Work Has Helped Me Protect Time With My Partner
Fortunately, I do share a home with my husband; however, working in the restaurant industry, his hours are drastically different from mine. As I’m wrapping up my work day, he’s often getting ready to leave for his. If I didn’t work from home, I’d barely see him. With a long commute, I’d be out the door before he woke up and asleep before he got home.
The flexibility of my job means we still get time together. I can take a break to bring him coffee in the morning, and when he comes home (often with a midnight snack for me), we get to talk about our day. It means so much that we’re both able pursue our professional dreams, and still have moments of connection together every day.
Working From Home Has Helped Me Grow My Career, Too
Working with Tangible Words has meant integrating my values rather than compromising them. The flexibility of my job has made my career growth more sustainable, rather than pulling me away from my professional aspirations. Alongside flexibility, one thing I love about Tangible Words is our emphasis on coaching.
I’ve benefited hugely from the professional development opportunities here, from team training, guidance from smart colleagues, and even a business book club, which have helped me learn how to support clients more confidently. Every day I get to collaborate with a high-performing team, provide relief to interesting clients, and experience the cutting edge of SaaS.
Why This Kind of Flexibility Matters So Much
Working with Tangible Words has shown me that career growth and a full personal life are not mutually exclusive. So many smart, ambitious people want to build strong careers, while still being present for the other parts of life that make them who they are. That’s what makes this kind of flexibility so important to me.
Working with Tangible Words has allowed me to keep growing professionally while staying close to the people I love most. For anyone looking for work that makes room for both ambition and real life, that balance is powerful.
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