We had the good fortune of connecting with Kelly Mendenhall and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kelly, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
This is a great question, especially in my case, because I am the poster child for what happens when you lack work-life balance. I often refer to myself as a recovering nonprofit professional. If you’ve worked in the sector, you’ll know that staff usually do the work of 2-3 employees, and the salaries almost universally hardly support the life and livelihood of a single person, let alone anyone with a family.

Throughout college and graduate school, and even as a young adult early in my career, my body and mind sent me plenty of signals that I was repeatedly in or nearing burnout. I experienced secondary trauma in some of my positions, especially working with children and youth. However, I kept putting my health off.

First, I said I’d worry about my health after I survived and graduated from undergraduate school. I said the same thing while pursuing my Master’s Degree. Once I got my first full-time, salaried position with benefits, I would say, “I’ll worry about taking better care of myself when I’m settled into my career and making enough money to keep the bills paid and afford healthy eating and a gym membership.”

Spoiler alert: It did not end well.

Throughout my nonprofit career, I struggled to eat healthier, exercise regularly, have a healthy spiritual and social life outside of work, and handle my workload in the various nonprofit organizations I have worked with. That is, until one day in 2017 when the Universe and mind-bending pain struck me down and forced me to be still.

Seven years, four neurosurgeries, two abdominal surgeries, a spinal cord stimulator implant, and years of physical and emotional rehab later, you may understand why I often speak to my audience about work-life balance, honoring our minds and bodies and their unique needs and limitations, and the three pillars of health as I see them.

The three pillars of health are physical, emotional, and spiritual; I imagine them as the legs on a three-legged stool. Without one, the other two will fall, and you will not be able to sustain your career or lifestyle long-term, no matter how successful or satisfying it may be.

Please don’t mistake this as me saying that I wish I were back working in the nonprofit sector. On the contrary, I have been known to say that my body failing me was the best-worst thing that could have happened to me. I believe that life happens for us, not to us. Because, before the pain, I was only half-living. I was scraping by financially, in an unhappy and unhealthy relationship, and left a lot of dreams unrealized.

My old therapist often said, “God teaches us the same lesson until we finally decide to learn it.” I learned the hard way about the things that matter in life. I refuse to sacrifice my peace or emotional and physical balance to make money again.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The disabled population is the only disenfranchised population that anyone can become a member of at any moment.
Allow that to meditate for a moment. Everything I am now was born out of the ruins of what would be most everyone’s “worst-case scenario ” situations. My vitality is my responsibility.

I’m not responsible for the past traumas inflicted on me by doctors, lawyers, judges, ex-partners, former family members, etc.; All of that will be what it is, forever. But I *am responsible for vitality, and it is ultimately up to me whether or not I pursue and achieve the best possible quality of life. There is a saying about not drowning by falling in the water but drowning by staying there. It’s up to me (and you) to fight to get back to the water’s surface and take that breath.

No one is coming to save us. We have to be the heroes of our own stories.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This is a pain point for me because it is one million times harder to have a night out on the town now versus when I was bio-typical. When your spine is at the center of your chronic pain and disabilities, the furniture, seating options, whether or not you have to traverse steep stairs to get to the restroom, where the parking is in relation to the venue itself, all of these factors are so critical to whether or not I can enjoy myself out on the town.

Often, venues and restaurants or retail shops will say that they offer accommodations in line with the ADA or that they can create a safe space for me, but they fail to do so, and I end up having to leave and give up on enjoying the experience I’ve paid for. This lack of inclusion and accessibility is true for plenty of other public figures and entertainers and the disabled community in general. One out of four people in the US has at least one disability, but millions of us can’t tell you an ideal itinerary for a night or a day out on the town because it’s been years since we have experienced one. Sorry if that sounds like a Whiney-Pants Wendy kind of answer, but that’s my reality.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Brittany Lynn Budd is a business mentor and a friend. She has been instrumental in my personal and professional growth because, like me, she is a fellow Spoonie. We share similar diagnoses and neurodivergent traits, which allows her to understand how I process things in my personal life and work.

Brittany possesses excellent instincts and provides intuitive guidance for marketing efforts and business growth plans. Her instincts are supported by impressive professional credentials, practical experience, and the lessons she has learned while building her own business. I am incredibly grateful for her support and guidance.

She has a talent for encouraging me to step out of my comfort zone and grow consistently. Our senses of humor are very similar, and we excel at supporting each other through emotional upheavals or stressful business days by making each other laugh. Every creative and entrepreneurial woman should have a friend or mentor like Brittany in her corner!

Website: https://kellyjmendenhall.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/kellyjmendenhall

Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/kellyjmendenhall

Facebook: https://facebook.com/affordableartrevolution

Other: https://tiktok.com/@kellyjmendenhall

Image Credits
Eliza Daniels

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