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Transparent HR Podcast
The Reality of Work-Life Balance: Boundaries, Burnout & Breaks with Elena Doolan | Ep. 14
Hosts Prince Tate and Mario Hunt sit down with special guest Elena Doolan to unpack the evolving challenges of work-life balance—especially with the shift back to in-office work.
They explore what real balance looks like today, how to spot burnout before it spirals, and why both employees and employers play a role in making balance sustainable. This conversation is full of real talk, practical tips, and encouragement for anyone trying to stay grounded in a demanding world.
✅ Work-life balance is a daily practice, not a one-time achievement
✅ The return to the office is impacting employee mental health
✅ Employers and employees share responsibility for creating balance
✅ Setting boundaries increases respect and productivity
✅ Recognizing burnout signs helps protect your well-being
✅ Take inventory of your commitments to reduce stress
✅ Therapy and support systems help keep you grounded
✅ Blocking off time for self-care boosts long-term focus
✅ Every season of life requires different priorities
✅ Balance starts with knowing what matters most to you
Connect with Elena: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elenadoolan/
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#TransparentHRPodcast #WorkLifeBalance #BurnoutPrevention #ReturnToOffice #MentalHealthAtWork #CareerGrowth #HRInsights #WorkplaceWellness #SettingBoundaries #EmployeeWellbeing
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Today's episode is all about work-life balance, finding stability in a demanding world. Is it real, who's responsible for it and how we actually achieve it. So let's get into it, hey, and welcome back to the Transparent Nature Podcast, where we bring real conversations to help you navigate your career and workplace challenges. It's your host, prince Tate, and joining me in this episode is my co-host, mario Hunt. What's going on, mario? Hey, how you doing, man? Hello everyone Welcome. Hey, doing good, doing good, mario. What you doing, man? Hello everyone Welcome. Hey, doing good, doing good, mario. What you been up to?
Speaker 2:Man working. You know what I do? I get out there. I make things move, I shake a little bit, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man but we also know you're a businessman, right, and so we know you're a busy man.
Speaker 3:You're a busy businessman.
Speaker 1:Yes, Well, I'm glad that you're on the show with us, mario. We have a very special guest today. We're going to introduce her in just a second, but you know we wanted to continue to do these episodes and have this type of collaboration and really the conversation Right. I think people really enjoy the conversations that we have on the Transparent HR Podcast. If you are enjoying the show, we'd love for you to hit that subscribe button, share the episode with someone who can benefit from it and leave us a review. We want to see your feedback, see how much you're loving it. I know we often get feedback through my LinkedIn and people comments, but we want you to put that in a review so we can receive the love that way as well. Your support continues to help us to bring real insight that helps you succeed in your career as well as within your workplace.
Speaker 1:Our guest today is Elena Doolin. She's an HR Development Manager at UMRF Ventures. She started as a recruiter just last year and now leads their internal HR function, all while pursuing a master's degree in Human Resources Leadership. With so much on her plate, she knows firsthand what it takes to manage work, school and personal life effectively. Elena, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3:Thank you, so happy to be here. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:Hey, tell us a little bit about you outside of work. What do you enjoy doing? What do you love?
Speaker 3:Well, in my free time, I really like to read. I've been an avid reader since I was eight, nine years old. I was reading middle school, high school level, so I'm kind of a nerd. I like to play video games, but I really like to spend time with my family, cook, try new experimental dishes. And something I've recently started taking up is traveling. Didn't have a big chance to do that when I was younger and now I have more of an opportunity, so I'm really taking advantage of that.
Speaker 1:Hey, I know someone who loves traveling, that's Mario.
Speaker 2:I love to travel. Love it, love it, love it.
Speaker 1:All right, so let's get into the discussion. Today, again, we're talking about work-life balance, and I think it's really important that we talk about this topic, because we're seeing a lot of organizations pulling back on their work-life balance initiatives, such as remote work, and they're asking their employees and making them come back into the office. So what do y'all think about this? All of this that's going on as it relates to remote work?
Speaker 3:Well, I feel like that's a shift that I have been seeing a lot more recently, especially just on LinkedIn seeing job postings, especially, you know, just on LinkedIn seeing job postings. All of it says full-time in office, whereas you know, a year ago, two years, it would have been either fully remote or hybrid. And I really feel that a lot of us that are in the workforce now, who kind of lived through and worked through COVID, you know that whole time period that was something that we integrated into our work-life balance was having either a remote or hybrid option. So I feel like that there is a shift. I'm eager to see where it's going to go. I'm eager to see if we're going to push back and make this a permanent situation or if we're going to be back in office fully.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, mario, I know you said in our last episode on episode 10, you love, love, love remote work.
Speaker 2:Just in perspective to the topic and some of the things I can agree with with Elena um, I feel like it's a catastrophic change. It's huge. Um. I I honestly feel like it's extremely, extremely unfair to the workforce. Um, we were forced to move into remote Um so a lot of people did not have have they did not have an option. We were kind of forced to do it and people did it, they adjusted and as soon as you get adjusted and this has become a part of your norm, it's changed and flipped back and it's returned back to work physically. Back to work changes.
Speaker 2:I think a lot of people really saw the difference in how to be able to balance and it created an environment or forced people to conform and learn how to balance their work life. You know, work, your personal life, family and just yourself giving yourself back so much. And I think, from my perspective and from some of the feedback that I received, it was a positive change. It was needed. People learned how to separate the two but not be required for them to actually go to a location to actually work. So now that everyone's comfortable, they have made a lot of arrangements. Most people have gone into their homes and shifted their homes and changed them to where they have workspace in their homes and a lot of people, well, a lot of companies, capitalized off of that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and to get out of that place that I feel of security, a place that you've created, to be able to balance everything and to force again a force of change for people to return like this never happened, um, I think is huge, I think it's devastating for some people, um, and I think you well, in my perspective, we are starting to see how, um, how it's kind of affecting people when it comes to mental health, People realizing, yes, because the stressors we don't realize how many things that we face daily when we have to go into a different location. You know the travel, the traffic location. You know the travel, the traffic, the sum of the energy that's passed from employee to employee and, of course, working in human resources I think we all have. So we know what it's like to have to work with a person and come in with that person and, depending upon the state of where they are, it can kind of transfer over to you.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, um, I think it's kind of um devastating, Um I think it's going to affect a lot of people. It's already affecting a lot of people and, um, I'm, I'm really um anxious to see if this is something, as Elena said, that will continue, or if we will be forced to make some changes to accommodate people with this catastrophic change that has taken place with making the workforce return back on site in this article from Harvard Business Review and it says in a recent survey, 64% of employees at top companies said that they would forego a $30,000 raise if it meant they didn't have to return to the office.
Speaker 1:So that speaks a lot, right, it says a lot. People really don't care about the money anymore as it relates to having peace and just mental health great mental health, right. And so that speaks a lot. And I think it's important for organizations to really reconsider how they implement work life balance opportunities for their employees. But not only that.
Speaker 1:I think what's been most interesting is the swiftness in the change. One day you're working from home, remote, and then the next day, immediate change, next week come in the office. It's mandatory. If you don't, you'll be at risk for termination, and I think that has been really scaring and really shocking employees across the US and even across the world with how we are managing, I like to say, work-life balance. So one of my questions that I want to ask is you know, for work-life balance and just starting in my career, I thought I had to, or I thought the organization was managing work-life balance for me, like it was up to them on how work-life balance is. But before we even go there, is work-life balance a real concept or is it just an ideal? How do you define work-life balance?
Speaker 3:I like to say that work-life balance is not something that you can achieve. It is something that you continuously choose to practice every day, and everyone has different what I like to call seasons of life, and one season of your life might require a little bit more work balance, whereas another season might require a little bit more life balance. So, waking up every day, knowing your intentions, knowing your goals and being self aware in order to align your goals and be able to maintain that balance, so that you are maintaining and not sacrificing your physical or mental well-being. I really like the term seasons of life in the sense of you know you might be getting married or having a baby, or getting another degree, another degree. Either way, you have to be able to manage and adapt your goals, and you have to be.
Speaker 1:You're the only person who knows yourself, so you have to be able to identify that and then adjust accordingly. That's really good, mario. So kind of going with what I was talking about. Right, I thought my company managed work-life balance. So who do you think is responsible for work-life balance the individual or the employer?
Speaker 2:I think they both are. I think we all are In too many cases. I think that the employer and with you know, with us being HR, professional, talent professionals, we are kind of charged to be to like that, walk that tightrope, as I always say, where we're supposed to support the company, mitigate risk and in liability, but at the same time I'm think about its most prized position, which is it's human, it's human capital, the people that are helping this company, that's building this company and helping to bring in the revenue and grow. But I think, a lot of times, with the company itself not being a part of what we consider the HR family, they don't think like we think the HR family, they don't think like we think. So they don't think about things outside of what those goals are, what those numbers are and those metrics that need to be met. It's our responsibility to remind them that it's also the company's responsibility to think about the well-being of their workforce. If your workforce is not happy, if your workforce is not in a good, stable condition, it will show in the productivity of your business and your company and I don't think they see that part, they don't connect to it. So in all times it's our responsibility to get out.
Speaker 2:Unfortunately, we're on both sides, so we're going back and forth on trying to push the envelope and make sure that each side sees the benefits of everything working out and is balanced Not just our work-life balance, but it's just balanced throughout the company as well. It's human capital, it's staff. The staff needs to understand that some things. We need them to go this way so that the company can benefit from it, because when the company benefits, we benefit as well. We're employed, we receive benefits, you know. But we also need the company to understand as well that when sometimes we have to step back and give a little bit more to our employees, because when the employees and the staff, when they're happy, when they're in a good mental state, when they're healthy, then we can get the best out of them, which AE or ends up reflecting in the productivity and the metrics. So I think it is a combined responsibility, yeah.
Speaker 3:I agree.
Speaker 1:Wow, yeah, I think it is, and I think that you know, in order for you to have work life balance again, you have to look at what you're doing, as well as looking at even resources within the organization, because they may have some resources to help you have a work life balance as well as well. So let me ask this question what are some practical strategies for our listeners today to help them just establish a work-life balance within their lives? Elena, if you want to take that one, yes.
Speaker 3:So when I was thinking about this question, I was reflecting on my own life, because, in addition to my job as an HR development manager and grad school, I also work two other jobs. I'm a server at two restaurants in Memphis, so I am always either working or studying. So work-life balance has been important and I had to find a good way to navigate that. And, right off the bat, I am a big, big supporter of therapy and whether that be going and seeing a professional or having someone in your life that you consider like maybe your best friend if they had the emotional bandwidth to listen to you. But I'm going to give an example that my therapist and I talked about, because we've had this conversation several times, as you can probably imagine.
Speaker 3:It doesn't matter. You know the state that you're in. I think everyone can benefit from therapy and having someone that they can talk to. State that you're in, I think everyone can benefit from therapy and having someone that they can talk to. But I talked to her a lot about I feel like I'm overwhelmed, I have too much on my plate, and she gave me this great metaphor that imagine that your life is a pie, metaphorical pie. Can you eat, Prince, can you eat a whole pie in one sitting? Can you eat?
Speaker 1:um, prince, can you eat a whole pie in one sitting? Just, I probably can, if you, if you challenge me what?
Speaker 2:would it be healthy. Could you sit?
Speaker 1:and just eat a whole pie in one sitting no, I would feel awful if I ate the whole thing exactly he could do it.
Speaker 3:He could, he could, but it wouldn't be healthy hey, they call me big neck at work.
Speaker 3:So she gave me this All right. So do you have your different slices of pie. You have your spiritual, your religion, you have your career, your education, your family, your love life every different slice. You can't sit and eat a whole pie in one sitting, but what you can do is you can take a bite from this slice and a bite from this slice, and you have to choose the slices that you're focusing on.
Speaker 3:And right now, the slices I'm focusing on are my financial goals that I have set for myself, my education and my career, and that helped me take a step back and recognize that I don't need to take on everything all at once, which helps balance out that work-life balance. Asking yourself questions, this important question of what do I need right now to be able to show up um in my best way for my, for, you know, for others, in every space that I'm in, whether it be work, whether it be with my family, whether it be in a romantic relationship, what do I need right now to show up as my best self? Um, and that takes, you know, taking inventory I love that phrase taking inventory of what you have on your plate right now, what can be pushed to the back burner or, you know, maybe to next week, so that you're not crashing and burning when your family, you know something pops up and your family needs you or something pops up at work. I mean, we're all HR professionals. We walk in the door and we never know what our day is going to entail. But being able to show up for our employees, show up for our families or whoever we have in our lives is so important.
Speaker 3:So therapy, but really just having a good support system that can also clock it when they're like hey, you're getting a little bit irritable, you have a lot on your plate. My family calls me out on that all the time. They're like hey, you're, you know, I think you might need to get an extra couple hours of sleep. Or maybe make sure you eat something you know. So like, make sure you have someone to hold you accountable.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. You know what? Recently I've been listening to the Mel Robbins podcast and she's been talking about and really giving resources, about. You know how do you how to get your life back Right? And one of the episodes I realized I'm like I just need sleep, like I just need to take a nap.
Speaker 3:You know, a nap will change everything. I promise you, I'm a big proponent of naps too.
Speaker 1:So you know, taking ensuring that you're not so booked up where you can't take care of you, that you're not so booked up where you can't take care of you, and sometimes that means taking a nap, sometimes that means going to get a massage, sometimes that means going with Mario to the gym and working out right, releasing, you know those things that you need to release those stressors. And I think it's important that, as employees, especially if you are a hard worker like myself, you go to work and you want to give 100%, but sometimes you can't give 100% right, and so that kind of leads me to thinking like you can't put all your eggs in one basket.
Speaker 3:You can't.
Speaker 1:You can't, you can't. You know, if you have a week and you know it's going to be busy, you have to prepare yourself, you have to embrace, for, you know, just having a long week, and so I think it's important that too, that you start off your week well. And so what I try to do is, on Sundays, after church, after I go to you know, eat or whatnot, let me take a nap, because this is going to help prepare me for Monday, tuesday, wednesday, all the way into Friday and Saturday. So thank you so much for that, that insight. Mario, can you give us some, maybe some signs of burnout when you realize? You know what? I think I pushed myself too far. Tell us what do you think?
Speaker 2:For me. As Elena said, I think we're all kind of in the same boat. I work a million jobs. Well, I say a million, but it's not really a million, but it feels like that sometimes. Yeah, as you can see, you know it's a Saturday and we're all kind of working with the podcast, but I'm literally in my clinic and, as you stated, I'm going to the gym with me. I'm a fitness instructor as well as working with NHR and talent and just combined with a lot of different tasks For me.
Speaker 2:I think the signs for burnout for me are when I always feel tired. I always feel like I need to sleep longer, no matter what I do, no matter how I try to take some me time or some time to myself, if I'm always feeling like I can't recharge. I'm getting more sleep, I'm doing more things physically for my physical, I'm going to the gym, which again also benefits you mentally as well but I'm still feeling tired. So I feel like that's a sign of burnout.
Speaker 2:Another sign I've seen, not just within myself but within other people you start to lose that balance that you have. You cannot manage the things that you have set up. You have it structured out, but you're still somehow not actually getting the job done completely. Not actually getting the job done completely. You're still before you can get done. You can't. You don't think as well. Elena, you said you like to read, so could you imagine trying to read and your focus is leaving while you're trying to read because your eyes are tired, you know so signs like that I'm saying the words but I'm not reading anything, you're not comprehending it, you know.
Speaker 1:And so, look, I just fall asleep. So, elena, what are some last minute tips or insights that you want to give to our listeners about work-life balance? And, really, how do they set those boundaries without jeopardizing their careers or their jobs?
Speaker 3:Well, prince, that's a that's a great question. Jeopardizing their careers or their jobs? Well, prince, that's a that's a great question and one that I struggled with for a long time. Because I am a high, high achiever, I want to give 110%, like you said earlier.
Speaker 3:But being able to recognize this is a lesson I had to learn early that saying yes all of the time is not going to make everyone else respect you more. They're going to respect you more when you know your boundaries, when you know your non-negotiables, whether it be your work hours, your channel of communication, like hey, please don't text me. You know, send me a message on Teams or Slack or whatever. On Teams or Slack or whatever. That would really help them respect you more because you know your boundaries. And then you've been consistent with those boundaries, and consistency is the key word there. Don't tell someone something once and then let them break that boundary. So, in addition to that, something that I've implemented, that I've encouraged all of my colleagues, whether they be in HR or my industry whatever is blocking off time on your calendar to make sure that you are taking a lunch break, because that is something I am chronically known for is not taking a lunch break. I do working lunches.
Speaker 2:Right, you just work through it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly, I'll be sitting there eating my sandwich or whatever, but I'm also typing an email at the same time.
Speaker 3:So block off time on your calendar, take that first 30 minutes, you know, to an hour of your day, to slowly you know. Go into your day, drink your coffee, eat your banana, do whatever it is that you do in the morning. Whatever it is that you do in the morning. I personally, a big part of my job is interviewing. I don't let anyone book my calendar before 10 am. I come into the office at night. They're not allowed to book my calendar before 10, because that is my time to wake up, do my morning rounds, like I was telling you, and really prepare myself for the day so that I can show up better in those interviews and for all of my employees. So my big tips here are set your boundaries consistently, identify your non-negotiables and make sure you're taking time for yourself, whether that be micro breaks or just blocking off time on your calendar to be able to take care of yourself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, setting boundaries is really important and that's one thing that I learned about work life balance is that you have to some, you have to say no sometimes. Right, and that does not mean that that people aren't going to like you anymore or your performance?
Speaker 1:is going to go down, that people aren't going to like you anymore or your performance is going to go down. But again, I think setting those boundaries and letting people know those boundaries is going to allow them, as you stated, to respect you even more, even more In HR. You know, I think our organization sometimes wants us to be available 24-7. You just don't know what's going to happen. But again, I think, even in our space, in our roles, we have to also set boundaries. So, if you are an HR professional and you're listening, make sure you set boundaries.
Speaker 1:And again make sure you spend time to take a short break, to take a walk. That's something that Maria and I used to do when we used to work together. We would take a break, we would walk for about 15 minutes or so and get back in the office and get right to it, and so set those boundaries so that you can be successful and have all of the energy that you need to show your best self, to show your best self Before we get out of here. I want to share an encouraging Bible verse. As we talk about balance and managing life's demand, I want to remind you of this verse. It's from Ecclesiastes 3 and 1.
Speaker 1:There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens. Again, ecclesiastes 3 and 1. And I think, elena, you talked about this you know there's a season for every moment, right, you know, in this moment, you may be focused on your finances and so sometimes that means that you're working two or three jobs. You may have to focus on family at a point in time, but I think that, again, if you set those boundaries, if you set things in place, it's going to help you to be successful. So, again, when striving for balance, remember that every season has its purpose. Prioritize what really matters in that moment and trust that things will align in the right timing. So, elena, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing such valuable insights. Also, we appreciate Barrio. Tell us how people can find you, elena.
Speaker 3:You can find me on LinkedIn under my first and last name, elena Doolin, but you can also connect with me through the company UMRF Ventures. If you go to the website, all my contact information is on there.
Speaker 1:Awesome. We'll definitely have the links. You can also connect with me as well, as Mario. We have the links in the description below. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the Transparent Nature podcast, share it with a friend and leave us a review. It helps us to continue to bring transparent and practical insights straight to you. It's Prince Tate and Mario, and we appreciate you for listening. Until next time, keep navigating your career with clarity and confidence. You.
