I think the key is being honest with a breeder, if you go for a pup. One of the first things we said when enquiring with our breeder was "we do both work - is this a problem?" - mainly so we didn't waste her or our time, but also it showed we had considered that this wasn't ideal, but had come up with ways to meet our pup's needs in spite of this.
From many discussions on here, don't think we could claim that Honey's breeder is one of the top-notch reputable breeders - she is half worker/half show, which I know is frowned upon. However, she was very knowledgable, clearly cared for her animals and their offspring and gave us excellent advice.
We didn't know a lot about cocker breeding when we started looking, and I guess we could so easily have ended up with a poorly bred animal, but we were so lucky to find the person we found (despite the fact that many on here would not approve) - she keeps in touch, we were able to go and visit several times before bringing Honey home, all the dogs she had, as well as all the pups from the litter, seemed so happy and confident, she had obviously done a fantastic job - and she gave us good advice about which pup to choose (from very early on Honey was quite happy to play with her litter mates, but also happy to play alone.... a good sign for a pup that's going to be left alone later in life). She was also virtually paper-trained....
We were prepared for the fact that we would probably be rejected by many breeders because of our work, but were willing to keep looking until we found one we were happy with who was also happy with us. Fortunately our search didn't take long at all.
We did consider rescue, but none of the local rescues would consider us because of our work.
I would underline what others have said about not making do with a breeder you are not happy with just because they are happy to give you a pup - if you don't feel happy about the breeder, walk away, as you could end up with a very troubled pup, who would not be able to cope with time alone.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do!