This is a story about Martha Stewart, work-life balance, and consistency. It even came up before she made headlines for dressing as a homeless person for Halloween.
Let’s start with just about the last thing Stewart said recently when Vivian Tu interviewed her for the Richer Lives by SoFi podcast.
It came after Tu asked Stewart for advice for women entrepreneurs and professionals who say they have a hard time balancing all of the parts of their lives.
Here’s Stewart:
“There is no such thing as balance. Just get that through your thick skulls.
“You’re going to get divorced if you’re going to get divorced. You’re going to get married three times if you’re going to get married three times. ...
“This thing about balance, I don’t know who thought about that, but it just doesn’t work. Maybe infrequently, and I’m jealous of those people, but they’re also boring. ... There’s no balance.”
On the one hand, at age 85, Stewart has reached the age when you can say whatever is on your mind, whenever you want.
But as I saw this exchange pop up in a few of my feeds, I thought to myself: This is sort of Stewart’s brand, isn’t it?
Here she was nine years ago, in an interview for CNN, saying almost the exact same thing:
“It’s one of the most difficult things to do, that balance, which is so elusive to most of us. It didn’t work for me.
“I thought, oh, I can do it. I can do all of that. I had to sacrifice a marriage, because of the lure of the great job. But I don’t regret it at all, because what I’ve done is something bigger and better than just one marriage, probably. I shouldn’t say that.
“People who are happily married, don’t hate me for saying that. But for me, it’s true. It’s impossible for most of us to get that balance.”
And one more, because this was me, a full 10 years ago, writing about how Stewart seemed to be attacking an entire generation (millennials) for not working hard enough and wanting everything handed to them.
“[W]ho are Millennials? Now we are finding out that they are living with their parents. They don’t have the initiative to go out and find a little apartment and grow a tomato plant on the terrace….
“I understand the plight of younger people…. The economic circumstances out there are very grim. But you have to work for it. You have to strive for it. You have to go after it.”
In fairness and hindsight, maybe Stewart was speaking more wistfully about millennials than she was actually attacking them.
And of course, criticizing a generation’s work ethic isn’t exactly the same thing as arguing that work-life balance is impossible. But both comments seem to reflect a fairly consistent philosophy about ambition, hard work, and personal responsibility.
t’s interesting. Once I realized how consistent Stewart has been on this subject, I started wondering:
What have other “masters of the universe” types said about work-life balance?
I went looking, and found some remarkably different answers.
Richard Branson, in article he wrote in 2016 called, literally, “The Importance of Work-Life Balance: “I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for my family. ... I’ve tried to be similarly supportive of my children, and I make it a priority to spend time with them and my wife, Joan, every single day.”
Steve Blank, serial Silicon Valley entrepreneur and author: “People who talk about work-life balance, I think that’s a mistake ... I think if you’re going to invest in a family, it ought to not be balanced. [Your investment] should be in the family.”
Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx: “I just layered the full-time job of being a mom on top of another full-time job at Spanx and then wondered why I was so exhausted. I started to notice changes in my health and couldn’t think as clearly. I feel like this happens to a lot of women. We just assume we will figure it out. There is no manual, and no way to truly prepare. I am still a work in progress.”
Sheryl Sandberg, former Meta COO: “There’s no such thing as work-life balance. There’s work, and there’s life, and there’s no balance.”
Jack Welch, once upon a time CEO of GE: “There’s no such thing as work-life balance. There are work-life choices, and you make them, and they have consequences.”
What’s interesting is that even the people who seem to agree with Stewart don’t necessarily agree with one another.
So, where does this leave us? I hope it’s not a bad place.
Maybe there simply isn’t a single right answer. We all have to decide what’s important to us, make our choices, and live with the consequences.
And that’s another kind of balance entirely.
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Other things worth knowing …
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AP: Federal authorities have charged an Oklahoma man with sending hundreds of letters containing nonhazardous white powder to public officials ahead of the 2024 and 2026 elections. The powders turned out to be yeast or flour, though not all letters have been fully tested, the FBI said in a court filing made public Tuesday. Robin Martin is charged with conveying a hoax and mailing threatening communications.
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ABC News: A federal judge in Illinois has rejected a bid by McDonald’s to dismiss a class action lawsuit regarding its popular McRib sandwiches and is allowing the suit to move forward. The class action lawsuit, which was first filed in December 2025, alleges McDonald’s engaged in “false representations, omissions and concealments” when it marketed McRib sandwiches “deliberately crafted to resemble a rack of pork ribs” as “premium” pork rib sandwiches.
The Telegraph: The UK dismissed a series of bomb threats on flights across Europe as a “malicious hoax.” Eight planes, including three from the UK, were targeted with threats in the past 24 hours, raising fears of a coordinated attack.
NYT: Google announced Tuesday that early next year it would turn off artificial intelligence tools in its popular software for K-12 students, unless school administrators explicitly choose to make such tools available. But there is a catch: Schools that choose to restrict A.I. entirely will also lose access to Google search.
AP: An unidentified celebrity lost a bid Tuesday for a U.K. court injunction to block two news organizations from publishing sexual misconduct allegations against him. The celebrity denies wrongdoing and has repeatedly said he intended to take his own life if the allegations were published, according to the judgment. The case has drawn widespread attention in Britain because it highlights questions over public figures’ right to privacy and what media can report on the basis of public interest.
Thanks for reading. Photo by Franki Chamaki on Unsplash. See you in the comments!
I don't think there is any kind of work-life balance for those who have been remarkably successful. The price of their success has been sacrifice, and it's one they have chosen to make. For the rest of us, it's a razor thin line, particularly for women - too much work and we miss out on our kid's childhoods or on having kids altogether. Lean too much to the family side of the equation and we sacrifice the professional success we might have otherwise had. The illusion of being able to attain the perfect balance breeds guilt on both fronts.