What are everyday women (and men) discussing and struggling with regarding work life balance? And why has this remained a seemingly uniquely female problem? Join Maura Carlin and Christie Derrico as their guests share stories on how they tackle the hows, whys and what ifs of balancing work, life, family and self.
On The Balance Dilemma we speak to parents and non-parents alike! While there may not be one answer, the guests on The Balance Dilemma will share insights to help listeners carve their own path.
Episodes through August 2023 originally aired on WVOX Radio. All rights reserved.
Episode 107 Church Lady, Finally Uncensored with Susan Byrum Rountree
She's a self-described "professional church lady" who spent fifty years writing around one rule: be home when the kids get off the bus.
She's also just written a novel that opens in a grocery store with a cucumber — and doesn't stop there.
Susan Byrum Rountree built her career freelancing and teaching writing while raising two kids, then returned to nonfiction with Nag's Headers, a history of North Carolina's Outer Banks cottages now back in print for its 25th anniversary.
But the real story is what came after: a breast cancer diagnosis in 2019 that she credits with pushing her to finally finish the novel she'd shelved for decades — and the permission that came with it, at almost seventy, to finally write without holding back.
In this episode, Maura and Christie talk with Susan about choosing motherhood over a faster-moving career and never fully regretting it, the particular sting of pitching and rejection as a freelance writer, surviving a serious health setback and rededicating herself to her craft, and what it took to finally write her upcoming novel, Church Ladies — including the scene she says she wouldn't have dared write twenty years ago.
Show notes available at thebalancedilemma.com (thebalancedilemma.com/episode-107)
31 Aug 2026
Episode 106 She Had the Career. Then She Redefined Success with Nicole Batiste, Founder of nest & nook
She had already built a career and led a company through a successful acquisition. Then she took another corporate job — and quickly realized she couldn't run it, launch her own business, and manage a household all at once.
Nicole Batiste, founder of nest & nook play loft, talks about the moment she chose to leave corporate life behind for good, and how her definition of success has changed since.
This episode covers the "rubber balls vs. glass balls" framework — the idea that some responsibilities can bounce back if you drop them, while others will break — and how Nicole uses it to decide what to protect and what to let go.
It also covers how she and her husband have stayed 50/50 partners even on one income, and her honest answer to the question every guest gets asked: can you really have it all?
Recorded July 29, 2026 at the LMC Media Podcast Studio. Show notes available at thebalancedilemma.com (thebalancedilemma.com/episode-106)
29 Jul 2026
Episode 105 From Vogue to Vacant Homes: Reinvention, Radical Transparency, and Her Last Pivot with Harriet Libov
Harriet Libov spent the early years of her career in marketing at Vogue magazine, then stepped away to raise her children — building an accessories business out of her Manhattan apartment along the way.
What followed was a string of pivots: staffing, a Judaica business with a friend, and finally, in her forties, a real estate license she calls her "last pivot."
Today she's an Associate Broker with Houlihan Lawrence in Northern Westchester, and the host of her own podcast, Your Real Estate Connection in Westchester, where she teaches buyers and sellers what no one else explains.
In this episode, Maura and Christie talk with Harriet about what it actually takes to reinvent yourself in your forties, the "detective" work great agents do that clients never see, why she built her business on education instead of self-promotion, the moment a stranger told her "I listen to your podcast," and — even after 25 years of success — why she still says you can't have it all at the same time.
Show notes available at thebalancedilemma.com
Inside a recent episode
Episode 55: Career Shifting From Real Estate to Olive Oil with Marie-Charlotte Piro
Published 16 Apr 2023 · Transcript excerpt
[…] I'd never had the time or really the willingness for it because I was busy with my career. But then I got a little... Open, you know, open-minded about it. And when I saw the potential of it, I said, you know what? I think we could do even better with this fantastic product. And I gave it a full time two years ago. So did you just walk out of business with your husband? Did the two of you shut down the business? What happened? Not at all. No, no, no. Our company is still running. My husband is still managing it. And we have a fantastic team. You know, we have people who work with us. in Miami who take care of a lot of our properties and our clients. […]
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