A Career on Two Continents: How to Build the Life of a Slasher

By Shanley Knox

“When are you going to go full time as an entrepreneur?”

A question others ask me on a daily basis.

The real answer? Probably never.

But, until recently, I’ve avoided admitting that to anyone except myself.

I’ll soon be able to take a full time salary from a manufacturing business I’ve built in Uganda, and, to be honest, a part of me is feeling constricted by a rising expectation that I’ll sacrifice everything else. During a recent breakfast meeting, I reluctantly admitted this to a friend of mine.

“I know I should be a full time entrepreneur soon,” I told him. “I’ve worked so hard for this. But I feel so energized from my freelance work that I’m dreading giving it up.”

His response changed everything for me.

“That’s an American idea you’re adapting,” he said. “Think of what you’ve seen in Uganda. The women you work with invest their time in multiple businesses. They follow their interests. They pursue ways to increase their cash flow. What if you continued to do the same?”

Upon further reflection, I realized that even my most singularly minded female friends are a jumble of multiplicities. A friend in architecture is also a professional pianist and, more recently, a part time writer. Another friend is a business owner, a mother, and, an invigorated creative hoping to craft her own sales platform soon. Another still is a shop owner, who recently wrote me that she wants to take on some freelance projects to “flex her muscle” in the marketing space again.

I’m not convinced that our current culture allows space for this. As a woman, in particular, I’ve been taught that my life must exist on an axis of balancing family, and work. But I don’t have a family yet, and, as someone that already struggles with the pressure to find balance, I’ve been wondering if this narrative isn’t the sign of a deeper societal pressure for us to be perfect at just one thing.

Over breakfast, my friend and I discussed the idea of crafting a life that holds several things in tension: whether it be a part time dedication to playing the jazz piano, a penchant for publishing freelance articles, a desire to have a baby, or, like me, an career bent on two professions.

En route back to Uganda, the week following, I found a quote in an airline magazine that said, “Balance is Beautiful.” It was written by a bridge designer.

It was 5 AM in Amsterdam — and I was too strung out on caffeine and stress to sleep, so I started googling bridge designs. And, I learned that — for a bridge designer — balance is found through opposing forces.

When a bridge is no longer strong enough to handle the force it’s enduring in either direction, buckling or snapping occurs. But the combined force of multiple pressure points creates the most durable structures in the world. And, I can’t help but think that we might discover strength in a similar way.

So, where do we start?

Creativity is Key.

We’re told over and over again that, as women, we have to work twice as hard to get ahead. We better clock in early. We better punch out late. But, according to a recent study from San Francisco State University, those more engaged in creative activities outside of their day job often score 15 to 30 percent higher on performance rankings than those who were less engaged.

Kevin Eschleman, an assistant professor of psychology at San Francisco State University, writes that, “We found that in general, the more you engage in creative activities, the better you’ll do at work.”

Cross training is Crucial.

I used to think I had to keep my life in neat, organized silos. But experience has told me something very different. When there are no existing frameworks for directing rural supply chains in Uganda, I implement brand building blocks that I’ve learned through freelance work in New York. When I start to lose my inspiration between tight deadlines and long work days in New York, I find myself invigorated at the chance to return to my work in Uganda. What if we applied this mechanism to music, or mothering, or even the pursuit of new fitness goals while we work?

“Kitesurfing is one of the hardest sports I have learned, as you have to contend with four things simultaneously — the wind, the waves, the kite, and the board,” Scott Picken, founder and CEO of Wealth Migrate said recently in an Inc. article. “It’s no different from starting a business because without the necessary skills, you end up fighting against the various obstacles along the way.”

Make your own Manifesto.

In a recent piece in Harvard Business Review, business professors Brianna Caza and Sherry Moss suggest a surprising solution for burn out. “If your job feels as though it’s draining you,” they write, “Do more.”

In a series of interviews, the two found that sometimes more — a lot more — is better, especially when “more” entails a diversity of tasks. They discovered most people actually feel more centered and whole through pursuing several different roles.

“This process of prioritization is almost like writing a manifesto or my rules for life,” on participant, Kara, noted.

I can’t help but think that, regardless of how many roles we juggle on a daily basis, we can all work together to create a culture that allows one another to do the same.