Our mission statement

Balanced Act’s mission is to provide effective tools, resources, and support systems that are easily accessible, regardless of whether an individual or a small business is located in a mega-metropolis or a small rural community.

Who and What is Balanced Act

I’m Carol Hartman, Balanced Act’s owner, a relentless learning fanatic with a passion for growing personally and professionally. The silver lining in this is that it helps me better serve YOU – my clients, and to more fully contribute to what’s good in the world. People often ask why I named this business Balanced Act. The answer is simply this: Because I firmly believe that maintaining life balance – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually – is the key to a fulfilled life. It’s not an easy process – and it’s the journey of a life-time!

I became a business consultant and independent contractor in 1992, working primarily with large corporations in Southern CA. In 2001, after completing graduate work in psychology, I added business and life coaching to my services. And over the next years I began also working with smaller organizations including non-profits.

Balanced Act today

At the end of 2010, a particularly grueling multi-year project had come to an end. I wanted to reinvent Balanced Act to meet changing needs in the marketing place. The timing was great! I saw many entrepreneurs struggling to reshape their businesses to be more competitive in a tough market. I talked to many talented individuals trying to find a job. I met with bright people currently in the workforce that yearned to find a career path they truly loved. And then there were those folks that just wanted to reinvent their entire life for a variety of reasons.

When I told friends, neighbors, clients, and professional colleagues that I was adding business redirection and career and life reinvention programs, I was exhilarated by the amount of encouragement I received. Many said that they too wanted to make positive changes but didn’t know where to start. Some even admitted they were plagued with apprehensions given today’s difficult economy. A common response was that they didn’t want to do it alone.

The decision was made. I knew what I wanted Balanced Act to provide for clients:

• An array of services for individuals to help them better redirect their careers or navigate through life transitions.
• Similar types of resources and processes for small business owners to help them reposition their companies for greater success.
• Easily accessible, quality resources from books and the Internet to help make reinvention easier, more “do-able”, and less overwhelming.
• Non-competitive peer support groups called Mastermind Groups that I have found to be incredibly helpful for me personally – organized and facilitated so that small businesses owners can share ideas and brainstorm solutions to problems on a regular basis.
• Similar training programs, coaching services, and Mastermind groups for individual clients to help them explore options for career or life redirection.
• “Tele”-services that are easy to access, often using a tool everyone has at their fingertips – their phone.
• An on-going collection of additional downloadable resources available on this website.

More about Carol Hartman

My formal education includes an M.B.A. from Northwestern University's J. L. Kellogg School of Management and an M.A. in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica. My undergraduate degree is from Virginia Tech.

I spent the first decades of my career successfully working in fast-paced corporate environments. I was fortunate to have over a dozen articles published on various business topics and to gain experience in both the for-profit and non-profit arenas.

My corporate work was often exhilarating – career promotions, generous expense accounts, business travel to interesting places, job relocations, but usually long, long hours! Finally, I realized it was time to find more balance in my life. I left the corporate fast track to start my own business as a consultant and contract trainer. I named the business Balanced Act to remind me of the importance of finding a balance between providing quality, effective service to my clients and keeping my own life balanced. (I have to admit that sometimes I do the personal life balance well and other times, not so much – it’s a life-long process.)

Today even though Balanced Act is physically located in North Carolina, my telephone and the Internet takes me – and this business – instantly anywhere in the world!