Nov05
LIFE BALANCE: Michelle Obama on work life balance from MomToWork.com
MRS. OBAMA: Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, Donna, and thanks to all of you who are part of the Corporate Voices for Working Families. I’m happy to join you today as you begin this annual meeting. This is a very good thing, and I am so glad I could be here.
Many of the issues that you’ll be discussing are issues that, as you know, are near and dear to my heart. I personally, as Donna described, know the challenges of leading a busy life at work and at home, trying to do a good job at both — and always feeling like you’re not quite living up to either — and trying not to pit one against the other, really trying to balance it so that — if people here are like me — I call myself a 120-percenter. If I’m not doing any job at 120 percent, I think I’m failing. So if you’re trying to do that at home and at work, you find it very difficult and stressful and frustrating.
And even though my current life, trust me, is very different than it was and for most people — and I do know that; I know that right now I am living, as challenging as it may seem, in a very blessed situation, because I have what most families don’t have, is tons of support all around, not just my mother but staff and administration. I have a Chief of Staff and a personal assistant, and everyone needs that; that’s what we need. (Laughter.) Everyone should have a Chief of Staff and a set of personal assistants.
