 I can say I'm a woman in aviation and I'm a single mom and that's okay. I'm Senior Airman Kayla Reel. I work at the 41st RGS, Helicopter Maintenance Unit and I'm a hydraulic systems journeyman. I work in a very male dominated career field with crew chiefs being with hydraulics being with engines and we're all considered to be APG. I'm the only female out here on the flight line working consistently with them every day. So average day for me would be getting on top of a helicopter, servicing the hydraulic systems of the helicopter and ensuring that it gets what it needs to fly. Personally some of the struggles that I face with the work-life balance would be time management. I get my daughter every three weeks and it is difficult because I do miss her throughout the week. Once she's here I couldn't ask for anything more than her and I to be here together. However it can be a little difficult because this 40 hour work week that was accepted by companies and jobs everywhere was not made for the single mother who has kids. It just is not. So that can be a challenge with having a work-life balance. It's not always going to be 50-50. Sometimes I might give more to Elena and I try to give her everything that I can every minute of my time. Sometimes I end up giving a little more to work. The fulfillment you get from working in the military as a woman in aviation is amazing. You can do it. There might be more challenges that you face because of the struggle of raising a child and working that 40 hour work week every week and you know you get burnt out or you might have more stress than the next guy you know to your right or left. I would say keep working at it because it's worth it. Being a woman in aviation for the past 16 years I've been through it all. I've been a single mother. I've been the young airman. Here I am now 16 years later married with the child. It can be done. Anybody can do it. Essentially my job is to ensure that my flight is doing their job correctly and making sure that all the programs and resources within my flight are managed properly. I also ensure that my flight members are inspecting the equipment up to par to make sure that our pilots are flying safe. Some of the struggles that I do face balancing work and life would be schedules. Everybody's on a different schedule. Everybody has something different going on day by day. I use my phone mostly as my personal assistant to keep track of things but sometimes even then I lose track of time or work gets in the way and I have to partner up with my spouse to make sure we get things done or my son gets picked up on time. Work-life balance honestly sometimes it's hard to find time for yourself. You have to really carve out time for yourself and make sure you take the time for self-care. A lot of people do push that aside and next thing you know they're burned out and you cannot do that. You have to take the time for yourself. I am a woman in aviation and I am a wife and mom of three amazing kids. I am Major Chrissy Rupec. I am a traditional reservist T6 instructor pilot at Laughlin Air Force Base. Work-life balance is important because if you're willing to work for it and continually work for it you can have it all. This has been a learning lesson from day one and there are times when my husband and I shack it and our communication is on point, our scheduling is on point and there's other times when we don't know where the other person is or what the children are doing or even what's for dinner for that matter but we figure it out and we learn from every downfall and we grow each step of the way. It's really important to talk openly about work-life balance because I think you don't know what you can accomplish if you don't know what is out there and what the abilities are to assist you in that work-life balance and if we don't make it readily apparent that yes it is a struggle and we all go through it then everyone thinks they're doing it wrong if it's hard. There's a lot of time that I spend away from my family there's a lot of time that I have to be on the computer or be away from town or be on the road and so when I am able to be with my family it is incredibly important that I am mentally and physically present with them and that they know that that time with them is the priority for me and that they mean everything to me and they are why I do what I do. I'm a woman in aviation and I'm managing work-life balance.