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were convincing women they could have it all…wonderful careers, wonderful families…and because we deserved it, we could make it happen," she explains. "The thinking now is that we have choices," she continues. "The "It's changed from the '70s when consciousness-raising groups question is, how are we going to make these choices work for us and our family?" As Mullins explains, while balance has long taken center stage for working moms, these days the spotlight on the issue has widened to show how it's a reality for all. "I don't think there's anybody this isn't affecting," she says. nered over the years, in many ways we've become more imbalanced than ever before. "Whether you're balancing a dating life, taking care of yourself, working out, cooking, having some leisure time … the data points out that Americans tend to work more hours than in many other countries—and that's not necessarily a good thing." Yes, ironically, despite the attention work/life balance has gar- You have to work on it." "Happiness doesn't fall out of the sky. Christi Andringa our work with us everywhere we go. "Probably the biggest challenge right now is what many are call- The latest culprit? Technology. Many of us are literally carrying ing the work/life merge," Mullins explains. "Instead of going home and having some time to ourselves … we're checking e-mail on our phones … And I think there are really dire consequences for that." The issues haven't gone unnoticed in the business world. While there might be little companies can do to keep employees from checking e-mail in their off hours, many businesses around the country now offer benefits such as in-house daycares, flexible hours and wellness centers in an attempt to promote more har- mony between outside life and being at work. Others have recently sought to tackle the issue from a legislative point of view. In April, Madeleine Kunin, a former U.S. ambassa- dor and governor of Vermont, released "The new Feminist Agenda: Defining the Next Revolution for Women, Work, and Family," a book pinpointing work/life balance as the new frontier for wom- en. Her argument pushes businesses and governments to do more to promote success for women juggling careers with family life. In the meantime, figuring out how to balance it all remains a per- sonal journey. To find out how one local woman has learned to make sense of working life and motherhood, I make a call to Anna Stern. A for- mer attorney and current vice president of Tri-North Builders, one of the largest construction management companies in the nation, and mother of young girl, Stern has the appearance of a woman who's got it all together. In many ways, she does. But, while chatting with Stern in one of Tri-North's sleek conference rooms, she explains, quite matter- of-factly, what it really takes to manage her high-powered career alongside family life. 44 BRAVA Magazine July 2012