Astrid Bracke is a small business mentor who works with women worldwide to build sustainable, profitable businesses. In her Forbes column she covers work-life balance for small business owners, focusing on what it actually takes to build a business that supports a life rather than swallowing it. Bracke has mentored for 20 years and has run her own business since 2019, helping hundreds of business owners across her courses and programs. She holds a PhD in English literature from Radboud University in the Netherlands, and writes about small business in her Substack newsletter Female Owned. Follow her for coverage of how to grow at a pace your life can sustain, which marketing channels keep working when you don’t, and how to take real time off.