Burnout is real ya’ll, I almost threw my entire business away over some mess at my 9-5…
Not long ago, I felt defeated in my 9-5, I was working for a leader who lacked empathy and social awareness. Everyday, day in and day out, I questioned the ability of my organization to make sound decisions and if they really cared about the people that worked for them or was putting people first something that just sounded good.
I did all the things that they tell you to do- have a peer to peer conversation, handle it at the lowest level, report it up, and submit a formal complaint and it felt like nothing was working. I was starting to feel resentful. I was resenting choosing to stay in, resenting that I was chosen for the job and stressed all the time. I barely had time for myself operating in this environment and I hated it. As I was taking the “beating” from above, I was being that buffer for the people that work directly for me so they didn’t have to. It is hard being the person in the middle.
With days like this, I didn’t have the motivation to push through my business needs on my off time. I was becoming a half-ass business owner and I don’t do anything halfway. It just isn’t in me and I don’t like being associated with half-ass work. I was ready to throw the entire business away because it was hard showing up and being social when you feel like you’ve been fighting an uphill battle 10 hours a day. I told my husband that I will have to take an hiatus from business because I just could not keep this up. I didn’t have the energy.
Then an unfortunate tragedy happened and a colleague passed away. In the midst of the information developing on what happened to her, this leader showed his true colors. As I was trying to arrange to get her family home, he said “there is nothing you can do about it from there, I need you to stay on this call & that I was panicking and leaders don’t panic” Those words shook through my body, but it also woke up my soul and ignited my passion. Because there was something I could do, I could figure out the process to getting this person home instead of talking about things that could have been an email. Not to mention I wasn’t panicking, I was speaking with a sense of urgency because in life & death situations time is of the essence.
That weekend I decided that it was time to use my voice and not continue to shrink because of some counterproductive leader. I booked a podcast strategy call, one that I had been putting off because I was in a rut and didn’t feel like myself (you can check out season 2 of More Than A Brand at www.morethanabrand.co) I rebranded and changed my business name, incorporated a phoenix in my brand identity because baby I rise and so do my clients. I also signed up to go to a summit in Puerto Rico where I met some of my business besties in real life which also lead me to a wedding in Mexico a few months later. I have been on fire ever since, just like a phoenix.
Sometimes those moments of burnout are there to light the fire under you to help you burn shit down. They thought they had burned me out, but nah I was just getting lit.
