Balancing the Grind with Joanne Stone, Founder & CEO of Blissful Breadwinner

Joanne Stone is the founder & CEO of Blissful Breadwinner, a coaching and consulting business helping ambitious female professionals struggling with work-life balance.

1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?

I’m a mindset and high performance coach who helps ambitious women balance their busy careers with a happy family, without burning out.

I launched my coaching and consulting business after a 20 year career in high pressure corporate jobs and am lucky enough to be growing a business that fuels me on so many levels.

2) What does a day in the life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?

I wake most days at 5.30am and spend my first hour doing a combination of meditation, gratitude journaling or exercise, depending on the day.

Once I’ve fuelled my mind, I then spend some time on my most important thing for the day, often something that involves creativity or strategic thinking. I then spend my day on calls coaching my clients, speaking to women and organisations who might become clients or networking with peers.

3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?

The joys of running my own business means I work my own hours. If I want to catch up with a friend for lunch, I build that into my day.

4) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?

I believe the key to balance is being intentional with your time, whether that’s at work, at home or with friends and family. When we drift through life we quickly get overwhelmed and unfocused, which makes us feel guilty and we beat ourselves up.

I’m incredibly intentional with my time, I protect my energy to ensure I’m as positive as possible and have learned to let go of society and others expectations.

5) In the past 12 months, have you started or stopped any routines or habits to change your life?

I’m always experimenting to see what works best to fuel my mind, depending on the season of life.

I previously did most of my mindset work in the evening, but during isolation I shifted to the mornings and that has stuck. I now relish my time watching the sunrise and smashing out some work before the rest of the house wakes up.

6) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts or newsletters that you’d like to recommend?

I’m always reading something new! A favourite book is Atomic Habits by James Clear, I’m a big Brene Brown fan and love the work of Dr Joe Dispenza on understanding our brain.

A lot of my breakthroughs have come after I better understood my brain, so the book The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine has also been a big help.

7) Are there any products, gadgets or apps that you can’t live without?

I have a range of meditation apps I love but for me, Spotify is my go to. Whether it’s using music to make me feel good, to let go or wind down, that’s my most-used app!

8) If you could read an interview about work-life balance by anyone, who would that be?

Those who have bucked conventional wisdom and proved that when you know who you are it can pay dividends to swim against the tide.

9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?

I believe all the talk around balance has become yet another reason to beat ourselves up, because in trying to have it all most women end up doing it all. This has got us to the breaking point where we’ve lost ourselves in business and forgotten why we’re here.

We don’t need to wait until we get the promotion, tidy the house or see the bottom of the washing pile to be happy. I believe mastering the tools to make yourself happy, irrespective of what’s going on around you, is the key to finding true balance.

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