- Peter Lewis, a tech and finance executive, travels yearly between two countries with his family.
- Lewis involves his son in work events, turning challenges into entrepreneurship lessons.
- He said the key to his success is making intentional choices about what gets his attention and when.
Peter Lewis is a 44-year-old tech and finance executive who spends nine months of the year in Wichita, Kansas, and three months in Santiago, Chile.
"We're a traveling family," Lewis told Business Insider. "My wife and I homeschool our eight-year-old son part-time to allow for extended travel."
For a few months each year, the couple packs up and heads to South America, where their son's grandparents live and where Lewis spent 15 years of his own life.
Lewis explained that while he and his wife need to ensure their son stays connected to both worlds, the back-and-forth between countries also means that they're constantly balancing their own work with homeschooling, coordinating their son's social life in two countries, and ensuring he stays on top of schoolwork.
While Lewis describes his life as a roller coaster balancing tech, finance, fatherhood, and everything in between, he's landed on some effective hacks that help him make it work.
Starting the day early helps with work-life balance
Lewis juggles three professional roles simultaneously. He's a CMO at AI tech company Clearpol, head of growth at alternative investment firm WebStreet, and founder/CEO of his own strategic consulting agency that he runs with his wife — along with trying to be a present dad to his school-age child.
The day begins early for Lewis — usually around 4 or 5 a.m. Central Time — as he attempts to squeeze in a solid block of work hours before his son wakes up. One reason for starting before the crack of dawn is that he prioritizes taking his son to school every day when he's not being homeschooled and picking him up later in the afternoon. The other reason is that since Lewis' team spans multiple time zones, by the time he starts work, it's already mid-morning or even late afternoon for them.
"If I can knock out key decisions and remove roadblocks early, it frees up the rest of my day to focus on strategy, creative work, and — most importantly — my family," Lewis said.
Allowing children to attend work events can be a positive experience as well
About a year and a half ago, Lewis said he was invited to keynote a large convention in Tacoma, Washington — a career-defining opportunity that he felt he couldn't pass up. The event happened to fall right in the middle of his wife's annual monthlong trip with her girlfriends, which meant there was no backup childcare for their son.
With no family to lean on, Lewis brought his young son along.
"Instead of making it a quick trip, I turned it into a mini-adventure," Lewis said. "I pulled him out of school for a couple of weeks — he was six-and-a-half, and I figured missing the end of the semester wouldn't hurt too much."
While Lewis was on stage giving keynotes and running workshops, his son sat in the corner with a book, a snack, and a timer set on his watch so he knew when dad would be done." It worked like a charm," Lewis said.
Once the event wrapped up, the pair rented a car and hit the road, driving south through Oregon, where they spent some time camping together.
"It was a blend of work and family — the kind of flexibility I value, but also the kind of unpredictability that keeps me on my toes."
Lewis also turns potential negative feelings about work-family challenges into teachable moments for his son
"Instead of feeling guilty for working around my son, I've turned it into an opportunity to teach him about entrepreneurship and leadership," Lewis said. "It's like he's getting a crash course in business without even realizing it."
For example, when Lewis and his wife are working on their consulting agency together, the couple has strategy conversations about managing client budgets or the performance of ad campaigns in front of their son.
"He's eight now, and while he might not fully understand the difference between entrepreneurs working on weekends versus employees working Monday to Friday, I think he's starting to grasp how things work," Lewis said. "I'll often explain to him in simple terms that our work is what helps pay for the house, the car, our camper, and our ability to travel."
Lewis is also actively involved in organizations that teach kids entrepreneurship because he wants his son to grow up with that mindset.
The tricky part is shifting from a work mindset to being a present dad
By the time his son wakes up, Lewis has already spent three hours deep in revenue projections, client pitches, and brand strategy. But when his son is at the breakfast table, the overstretched dad says he understands that the last thing his kid cares about is a pipeline report.
"I need to be there, fully present, talking about the birds outside or which superhero is winning the day at school," Lewis said. "It's hard to turn off the fast-paced mental gears, but it's important to me that I'm fully there for him."
For Lewis, the key isn't in trying to achieve daily balance; rather, it lies in embracing the chaos and making intentional choices about what gets his attention and when.
"I've learned to find meaning in how our work and family lives intersect," Lewis said. "It's all part of one big, rewarding journey, and honestly, I wouldn't trade it for anything."
If you work in Big Tech or finance and would like to share your work-life balance story, email Tess Martinelli at [email protected].