Happy Monday. It’s John Garrett coming to you with another episode of Green Apple Slices. I have with me on the other line, the Accountants Group Leader in Canada for Sage, Rachel Fisch.

Rachel: Hello, John. How are you?

John: Doing great. I got your title right this time.

Rachel: You did. You were very careful with that. I’m in Vancouver this week with Alliott Group’s International Conference. So excited to be here.

John: Gosh.

Rachel: Hosting them in Sage’s home city of Vancouver, so yeah, very cool.

John: Yeah, look at you reckon up the frequent flyer miles.

Rachel: A little bit. I’m going to make that. I’m just saying.

John: That’s impressive. I’m later this week heading to Houston for the Houston Society of CPA’s Energy Conference.

Rachel: That sounds like a hoot, yeah.

John: Yeah, that’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m going to emcee the whole thing then drop some fun knowledge bombs on them at the end. That’ll be a lot of fun and a little bit warm.

Rachel: Very good.

John: But every week, we always get together and talk to an article that we find online, an employee engagement or culture and things like that and how to make workplaces a better place to be for everybody. This article was in Financial Women’s Association and it was, “Perspectives on Work-Life Integration: How to make it Work for you.” It was a little bit of an article about a panel that they had and some of the points that they brought up. It might have been the Women’s Association blog but I think it applies to everyone.

Rachel: There are definitely some points in here that anybody could use across the board. I also, I really like that the term work-life balance has been changed a little bit more to work-life integration, because balance — if you’re thinking about scales, that means that if you’re doing one thing, you’re not doing another. It’s not a full on a work mode, full on life mode. It’s like these things are messy noodles that integrate all the time. So how can we just manage that a little bit?

John: Yeah. I also think that balance is also one of those things where it assumes that all of the things are up in the air at the same time where sometimes you have to put some of those things down, whether it’s family or work or within your job, certain things. And balance assumes that you’re able to hold all of those things at the same time and it’s just not true.

Rachel: I do agree. Although I must say and I need to speak carefully here, what I don’t love is that it feels like when women get together in a professional conference kind of atmosphere, the biggest topic is going to be work-life balance and I think or that work-life integration conversation. But I think that so much of what we talk about in talking about great culture and building friendships in workplaces, you know what, that actually applies to women too. What I found is that in my professional life, I actually haven’t connected as well with women as I have with men. I’m not sure why that is. In my home, we’ve got kind of a role reversal situation here a little bit, so I’m not sure if that dictates that.

But what I would say is I think that us as women spend more time competing with each other than we do to just befriending and supporting and upholding one another. I think that a lot of the change that we talk about that we want to see in organizations and in workplaces that change starts with, John. But I think it’s true. Some of these tips also are great, using technology wisely, seeking out workplaces that do fit within your culture expectations.

John: Right here. Nurture friendships and support systems.

Rachel: I know, I’m not great at the whole stress management piece, so I need a little bit of help with that. So get the help when I need it, and again just reach out to other people who can support and encourage you. Again, not rocket science, but I think that this is something that we as women were such fixers and we want to fix for other people and support other people and sometimes don’t stop long enough to realize that we may actually be the one needing fixing or needing the support and encouragement, and that’s okay too.

John: Yeah, that is so good. If you’d like to read the article, you can go to greenapplepodcast.com. There’s a link there, and also don’t forget to hit “subscribe” so you can listen to every Monday episode that Rachel and I do together. And then every Wednesday, I interview someone different who has a hobby or a passion or an interest outside of work. A lot of them are really, really amazing. Have a great week, Rachel, and enjoy your trip to Vancouver. We’ll talk next Monday.

Rachel: Thanks. Have a great week, John. Talk to you later.