We had the good fortune of connecting with Christina Barragan Forshay and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christina, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
I discovered the secret to work/life balance! It’s flexibility. I released a ton of pressure off of myself once I realized that a “true” balance will never exist. I finally relented to the idea that life will sometimes be more filled with work and sometimes more filled with everything else. I really did feel that as a woman, as a minority and as a mom, I had to come at the world at 100% all of the time to prove that I can “keep up”. I really did feel that I had to give my family and my work the same amount of energy every day. That type of 50/50 balance is very rare as a freelance creative/business owner and mother–or anyone really. That line of thought created a constant nagging feeling that followed me every day: when I was working I felt like I was not giving my children what they needed. And when I was with my kids, I felt the dreadful feeling of not getting my work done. And spending time on myself? Not even an option! It really was not a way to live fully productively. It created animosity, resentment, frustration and in my case, led to a serious case of burnout.

As I’ve grown, learned and worked on myself, I’ve realized how much my well-being impacts the well-being of everyone around me. So redefining what work/life balance meant to me was of utter importance. It really comes down to being forgiving of myself when I feel like I didn’t hit that balance mark that day and that sometimes the tides will pull me in one direction for a day, week, month or season. It’s ok. It’s going to be ok. I remind myself that I’m fully capable and things WILL work out in the long run.

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.
Finding my footing as a children’s book illustrator has been a long and winding road for me. But once I realized that I cannot do it alone and found my niche in an art community, the path became clearer. I spent a few years after graduating from Cal State Long Beach trying to figure out how to get my art into the world–how to get it seen and recognized. Once I joined the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), I found my way. I put my work out there and continuously entered portfolio competitions and eventually began winning these competitions. This helped me land my agent and get my work seen by art directors and editors. It also surrounded me with new friends who were on the same path as me.

As an artist or any creative, putting your work out into the world is really one of the most important ways to start picking up momentum as an artist. I utilized SCBWI’s meetups, conferences and portfolio showcases/competitions to gain confidence to put my work on display.

Over the past 15 years or so also met life-long friends through SCBWI which helps with having a sense of community which is very much needed in the life of an artist. We still get together a few times a year to share our illustrator stories, go on “art dates” and provide critique support.

I’m excited to have two picture books I illustrated debuting in 2025! The past couple years while I’ve been working on them have been extremely tumultuous for me personally and I’m so happy to finally see them come into fruition!

The first book is titled LUCIA’S GOALS written by Angela Patron (published by Lee & Low) is a bilingual picture book about a young girl who’s love for soccer is met with racism, sexism and discrimination and how she battled those things to become a professional soccer player.

The other book is OUR CHRISTMAS TREE FARM written by Lisa J Amstutz (published by Feeding Minds Press) and teaches kids about life on a real working Christmas tree farm.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The past couple years have been a really challenging road for me personally. I have leaned on so many people in my life, from older women who have become my mentors to other moms and also my groups related to my career. I’ve found that having community around you in all areas of life is so, SO important. I would love to shoutout to Larissa Brown Marantz, an all around beauty–in her personal life and in her career. She has been one of my beacons of light on my dark days.

Website: www.christinaforshay,com

Instagram: christina_barragan_forshay

Linkedin: Christina (Barragan) Forshay

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