Corporate mom finds life balance
[attach]1151[/attach]For many, there aren’t enough hours in the day but for Aimee Israel, running both a company and household is all in a day’s work.
The 36-year-old mother of three is CEO of LifeSpeak, a company dedicated to delivering information to Canadian employees about balancing work and family life.
Israel was recently named one of Canada’s Top 100 Women Entrepreneurs by PROFIT Magazine.
“It’s a very exciting honour for our whole company,” she said. “It came after five years of very hard work.”
The mother of three began her career as a corporate lawyer working on Bay Street, planning on doing an MBA but after meeting with her current business partner, those plans were put on hold.
Through a collaborative effort, LifeSpeak was born and so far, Israel has overseen the company’s 400 per cent growth since 2005.
“After the birth of my children I had some experiences that led me to see the value in bringing expert information to parents and bring them together,” she said.
That knowledge helped her design the Parents at Work program which tries to help give mothers and fathers a good work/life balance.
The company also runs a program called Generations at Work, which features workshops discussing how to cope as a caregiver for elderly parents, and Vitality at Work, which focuses primarily on healthy living.
“The biggest focus of LifeSpeak was bringing expert speakers live into Canadian workplaces,” said Israel.
She said she has received an overwhelmingly positive response to the programs with people commenting that it gave them a sense of normalcy, knowing they weren’t the only ones dealing with such issues.
“That’s half the battle,” said Israel.
She also benefits from the experts tips and tricks. Along with running the company she is a mother to three children all under the age of 10.
“I consider myself fortunate because I get to hear expert speakers all the time,” she said adding that she applies their advice to her everyday life.
Her routine isn’t the usual nine to five daily grind. A typical day for her starts with getting the kids off to school.
“Most days I have the flexibility to take kids to school in the morning, which is nice as a working mother,” she said. After that she said her core workday begins at nine and runs until six.
Once dinner and homework are over and when the kids are tucked away she logs back in and works to keep up with the constant influx of emails and plans for the next day.
“It’s a lot of work but it provides me with the flexibility to be a part of my kids day because a lot of the work can be done after hours.”
For those who may find themselves overwhelmed with juggling work and family, Israel said it’s about finding some kind of balance. She finds eating well, exercising and spending time with family helps her enjoy her life and work.
“I think that it’s important for people to look at all areas of their lives and make sure they’re spending some quality time doing the work they need to do, being with their family and friends and taking care of themselves,” she said.
“It won’t be in equal parts but if you don’t leave any part neglected, you can be able to thrive.”
Israel said it is possible to be a good mother and businesswoman but sacrifices need to be made.
“I can’t be at every school activity like some of the other mothers, but I make sure to go on at least one field trip with each of the kids.”