Key Takeaways
- • Martha Stewart, 85, says "there is no such thing as balance," telling Vivian Tu of the social media account Your Rich BFF that the idea "just doesn't work."
- • Stewart, whose business empire is estimated at $400 million, wakes at 4 a.m., reads the entire New York Times, and is at work by 7 a.m. on projects including her lifestyle brand and an AI startup.
- • Stewart says she "hate[s] the word pivot," describing her career instead as a series of metamorphoses inspired by Franz Kafka.
- • TIAA president and CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett and former President Barack Obama have made similar arguments that work-life balance is often unattainable.
Summary
Lifestyle mogul Martha Stewart says the notion of work-life balance is a myth, telling Vivian Tu, who runs the social media account Your Rich BFF, that "there is no such thing as balance." According to the original report, Stewart believes major life events such as marriage and divorce inevitably disrupt any equilibrium, and while some people may occasionally achieve balance, she said she is "jealous of those people" but finds them "boring."
Stewart, whose business empire is estimated at $400 million, shows little sign of slowing at 85. She wakes at 4 a.m., reads the entire New York Times, and begins Pilates or a session with her personal trainer. By 7 a.m., she is working on projects ranging from her lifestyle brand to an AI startup, and she expects her staff to be working as well. She described her career not as a series of pivots, which she said she dislikes, but as metamorphoses, an idea she attributes to author Franz Kafka. She said she always seeks a new pursuit when something no longer excites her, stating, "I have choices."
Stewart served five months in federal prison for crimes related to an investigation into a stock sale and was released in 2005. The report notes she has since staged a significant comeback in rebuilding her public profile and expanding her brands.
Stewart is not alone in her view. TIAA president and CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett told Fortune editor-in-chief Alyson Shontell on Fortune's Titans and Disruptors of Industry podcast that "work-life balance is a lie." Duckett said she came to that realization during her tenure at JPMorgan Chase, where she rose to CEO of Chase Consumer Banking, and that she learned to accept that some periods would demand more attention at work while others would focus on family. Former President Barack Obama, speaking last year on The Pivot Podcast, similarly argued that excellence in any field often requires periods of imbalance and single-minded focus.
Stewart, whose business empire is estimated at $400 million, shows little sign of slowing at 85. She wakes at 4 a.m., reads the entire New York Times, and begins Pilates or a session with her personal trainer. By 7 a.m., she is working on projects ranging from her lifestyle brand to an AI startup, and she expects her staff to be working as well. She described her career not as a series of pivots, which she said she dislikes, but as metamorphoses, an idea she attributes to author Franz Kafka. She said she always seeks a new pursuit when something no longer excites her, stating, "I have choices."
Stewart served five months in federal prison for crimes related to an investigation into a stock sale and was released in 2005. The report notes she has since staged a significant comeback in rebuilding her public profile and expanding her brands.
Stewart is not alone in her view. TIAA president and CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett told Fortune editor-in-chief Alyson Shontell on Fortune's Titans and Disruptors of Industry podcast that "work-life balance is a lie." Duckett said she came to that realization during her tenure at JPMorgan Chase, where she rose to CEO of Chase Consumer Banking, and that she learned to accept that some periods would demand more attention at work while others would focus on family. Former President Barack Obama, speaking last year on The Pivot Podcast, similarly argued that excellence in any field often requires periods of imbalance and single-minded focus.
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