Her Life Is Time Off

elizabethAs a former branding executive at Proctor & Gamble, Elizabeth Jarosz is perhaps best known as the former contestant on Donald Trump’s reality series, The Apprentice. In 2004-2005 she trumped over 1 million candidates to appear on the show (pun totally intended!). Achievement is something with which Elizabeth is very familiar. As the first child of Italian immigrants to attend college, Elizabeth had worked on branding and market research projects for more than 30 Fortune 500 companies and over 40 multi-million dollar brands by age 30. Some of the campaigns on which she has worked include: Tide, Pantene, Olay, Glad, Gallo of Sonoma, and AT&T Wireless, to name a few.

With such an impressive portfolio, it is even more amazing that she left her high-powered P&G position to start her own company, Pulse40. Before she did, she took a leave of absence from P&G so she could write, produce and direct an award-winning short film.

Using her experience and brand wisdom, Elizabeth now focuses on making a difference in people’s lives. Take Humanity Unites Brilliance, an organization she co-founded that works towards sustainable abundance for all. Work-life balance and women in business happen to be two of her favorite topics. We connected via VoIP for a chat about life, gender issues, and making a difference.

Balance is as much about “getting what you want” as it is about “wanting what you have.”

CLH: What caused you to make a change in your life from a high-powered brand manager for a major US corporate to an entrepreneuer?

Elizabeth: I believe strongly that we all have a purpose in life.  I downshifted so that I could make time to live my potential and do all the things I dream of, most of which involve making a positive and powerful impact in the world. I wanted to dedicate more time to my ‘passion projects’, things that I really felt had a lasting impact. Even though Procter & Gamble is a great company to work for, I realized if I stayed where I was with P&G, I’d not be fulfilling that true purpose.

CLH: How do you view work-life balance?

Elizabeth: To me, work/life balance is fulfillment on all four levels of existence: physical world (what we create/do), mental (our mind), emotional (our feelings) and spiritual (honoring our authentic self – not to be confused with religion).  When all of these are fulfilled, we have the feeling of balance.  If any one is out of alignment, we feel out of balance.

Balance is as much about “getting what you want” as it is about “wanting what you have.”

CLH: You seem to have a lot going on! Do you ever take time off?

Elizabeth: My whole life is time off. I pick and choose a project, which usually is within two weeks of agreeing to it, and it takes three days.
I have designed my life in that way. It’s been like that for over eight years.

When I was young, I wanted to work in the media to positively influence society. But I did what any second generation child of immigrants would do. I attended business school instead. After accomplishing so much all my life, I finally decided I wanted to work five days a month and do whatever I want the rest of the time. When I first started Pulse40, I worked full-time and thought! Hey, this wasn’t the idea! It took a while to find the right balance. Now I work with the people I want, when I want while still making the money I did at my corporate job.  I developed a women’s workshop entitled Beyond the Boardroom. It is a one- or two-day workshop for working women to help them define success in ways they might not normally think. We talk a lot about work-life balance. It is so gratifying to watch people light up after realizing their true potential.

CLH: Good luck on your passion projects. Thanks so much for your time, Elizabeth!

Elizabeth: Thank you!

For more, visit Elizabeth Jarosz’s Web site.

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