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

Hi James, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
I was usually alone, working as the sole tax person for a large corporation. When I wasn’t alone, I was in small teams, all of us working late to complete deadlines. My colleagues would put in ten to thirteen hour days and I would too thinking this was the expectation. As I became more familiar with my role, I was able to organize data, create better process efficiencies and automate much of the work. I regained some control over my time to a reasonable eight hour day schedule instead.

Despite the reduced hours I created for myself, I still wasn’t satisfied with my work-life balance. Like many people, it never felt like there was enough time for myself. Work and personal life still didn’t mesh. How would you work excel formulas into going out to dinner with your friends? You don’t.

When I was offered the opportunity to join Easie, it was a chance to combine my work and life as a whole. I could use the skills I acquired working in finance, expand my business knowledge and gain more control over my time.

Easie is a results-oriented work environment, meaning everyone works completely on their own schedule. At Easie, I’ve come to discover that freedom and flexibility to work when you want is one of the most important aspects of ensuring balance. Balance doesn’t necessarily mean putting in fewer hours or always working on a set schedule. I’ve worked till midnight without realizing it because time feels irrelevant. I’ve come to find my work and personal life to be more contiguous as the projects I’m working on interest me. Focusing my efforts on better processes and efficiencies has allowed me to spend time working on things I find interesting or fun. Resources and technology are always advancing in providing better ways to do things. It’s just a matter of being aware of what exists and adapting it into your work. It’s rewarding when we can do the same for our clients.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Easie is a single source B2B consulting firm providing services in over 30 different knowledge areas, including design/3d modeling, engineering, automation, marketing and complex project management. Our service offerings were formed organically based on client demand and are continually expanding.

To put it simply, clients send us any project or idea and our core team manages these projects by utilizing our network of over 250 professionals to deliver solutions.

You can ask us to help you with anything!

People can read about what Easie did in 2021 here: https://www.soeasie.com/blog/what-easie-did-in-2021

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m a huge foodie and San Diego is no stranger to great food. Some of my favorite dishes include the chicken mole tamales from Dia Del Cafe, liang pi noodles from Shan Xi Magic Kitchen, dry-aged steak from Born and Raised and smores ice cream from Stella Jean’s Ice Cream.

Walking down Madison Ave towards Mission Valley, you really get some gorgeous sunset views overlooking San Diego. I also like to take guests out to Julian for some magnificent waterfall hikes and Mount Laguna is always great for stargazing with binoculars.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to give a shoutout to my colleagues in the executive team at Easie, Rock W. Vitale and Rebecca Gray.

Rock W. Vitale, CEO and Founder. As fellow project management professionals (PMPs), it’s great working on projects together, facilitating client communications, business development and exchanging ideas on emerging technology to grow our products and services.

Rebecca Gray, Head of Operations. Rebecca has been great at stakeholder management, leading a large team of different subject matter experts and navigating complex project management in a variety of different industries.

Rock and Rebecca both paved the way through the past four years to grow the business to what it is today. You are visionary leaders and I’m incredibly grateful to work with both of you!

Website: https://www.soeasie.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heyeasie/?hl=en

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-lee-pmp-cmi-6b68347b/

Image Credits
Easie

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