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The daily balancing act of consulting, owning her own cosmetics business and taking care of the household was enough to prompt Tiffany Jeffers to take action.

The 30-year-old Baltimore native says every working mother should have help with the small details. Married for seven years to Verian Jeffers, a Grammy and Stellar-award nominated artist and with three girls ages 6, 5 and 1 she describes her days as manic.

“With Girl Scouts, managing a baby, working as a project coordinator part time for Coppin State and owning my own cosmetics studio, I hardly have time to myself,” she explains. The entrepreneur came up with a solution. She hired an assistant to handle the details that may otherwise go undone throughout the day.

“When I first came to the decision to hire help, people looked at me like I was crazy! How can I afford to do this? Who did I think I was? But those same folks were mad when I missed meetings, deadlines, etc.,” says Jeffers, who explains that her personal assistant schedules her life, answers emails and everything else she needs done that she can’t get to. As a result the multi-tasker says she is proud to be home in time to fix dinner, help with homework and meet important deadlines.

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Jeffers says she negotiates a rate that both she and her assistant can agree on. “It’s well worth it,” she says. “If you need someone, look on craigslist or local colleges. There are students who are willing to intern or just help with errands for nominal fees.

Jeffers is not alone when it comes to balancing work, family and social responsibilities. Dante’ Howard, 34, a civil engineer also from Baltimore, knows all too well what it is like to juggle a full schedule. He and his wife of 10 years have three children, a daughter, 19, and two sons: 8, and a newborn.

In addition to his demanding, full-time job, Howard is writing a book and plans to produce an animated filmstrip using 3D software. As if that were not enough, he co-owns a professional basketball team, the Bay Area Shuckers, a first-year organization in the Atlantic Coast Professional Basketball League, where he serves as the director of player personnel.

“I got my work ethic from my mother,” says the engineer. I usually get up at 6 a.m. so that I can be in the office by 7. After I put in a full day, I get home to help my 8-year-old with homework. Then, depending on the season, I either take him to football, soccer, or basketball practice,” says Howard. After a long day he puts in work on his novel, the film, or the basketball team.

The novelist credits his wife for being his support system. “I’m asked often how I juggle it all and the answer is really simple, my wife,” he explains. “She is behind me in all of my endeavors, just as I am behind her in hers. If I didn’t have her, I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to do any of what I do.”

Not everybody has family and career responsibilities; social responsibilities can be just as demanding. Nobody knows that better than Detroit native Michael Bembery. The 20-year-old is a business finance major and drum major at Jackson State University. The busy student may be away from his home state of Michigan, but when he returns for the holidays he always makes an impact.

The future businessman started a charity called Local to Global Foundation, which collects canned good, hats, scarves and monetary donations to buy toys for at least 50 children in his community every holiday season. “The only way you can build the future is to deal with the present,” he says.

Bembery says he started the charity because he wants individuals his age to be activists within the community, not just live there. “I can get people together to party, but it’s different to get together to do something positive,” he says. “It’s a great feeling.”

As a single parent of 3-year-old Christian, Honoray Ard says he manages his day by simply being mindful that there is only so much that can be accomplished in a day.

“You have to recognize that there are only 24 hours in an day and not allow your self to become overwhelmed,” says the 35-year-old educational advisor and part time psychology professor. “We are all on borrowed time so we have to make the most of it. When you realize that some things are going to carry over, then it becomes less stressful.”

Prioritizing and realizing what is important also helps Ard make the most of his day. “I got friends that are married and they say its hard with two parents and they wonder how I do it with it just me. One of my biggest things is I do not make Christian an option; he always comes first. Anything involving him comes first, whether its school or doctor’s appointment, then I’m off to work.”

For community activist and founder of the Ladybug Club— Tonja Robinson-Murphy, it’s all about properly delegating tasks. With 47 young and impressionable young ladies it was important for Murphy that the young girls got to see their mothers in leadership roles outside of the home.

“The moms of the girls are the volunteers and every position within the organization is held by a mom,” Murphy says “And every year we try to put new practices in place that help us operate more efficiently, such as a designated person to take pictures, or keep the history. This helps take a lot off of me.”

Written by: NaTosha Hubbard