As an entrepreneur, it’s easy to feel like you need to be doing it all, and all the time. However, this mindset has the potential to put you on the fast track to work exhaustion- aka burnout!
If you’re currently in the midst of burnout or feel like you’re on your way there yourself, know that there's hope for recovery and avoidance altogether. We spoke with 15, high-achieving women who’ve experienced burnout as a result of doing too much all at once. Luckily for them (and for you), they’ve since bounced back by implementing more sustainable strategies to ensure they are thriving both personally and professionally.
You are capable of doing a lot, but you don’t always have to be doing everything. Take the advice from these successful entrepreneurs.
Katie Ward
Owner of Katie Ward Photography, a brand, editorial, and portrait photographer based in NYC and the Hamptons.
My experience: I experienced severe burnout at the end of 2021. I am the primary parent and primary earner in my household and I had been exclusively pumping for a baby, spending three hours a day driving my older child to and from school, as well as working more than full-time. I ended up having to dip into savings to take two months off to get back to baseline, sleep, and figure out my priorities. The biggest strategy I employed was to significantly raise the prices of my offerings. Doing so enabled me to work 25 to 50 percent less, while still being able to support my family both financially and emotionally.
My advice: Sometimes there is no avoiding burnout, especially with the unrealistic expectations that society has placed on everyone, but more specifically on working moms. But there are tools we can use to get through it. Focusing on getting enough sleep, eating regularly, and finally getting a therapist who I felt comfortable opening up to helped me a lot.
Ashita Shah
CEO of Arunashi, a combined 11th-generation fine jewelry atelier that specializes in rare and one-a-kind gemstones.
My experience: Burnout is real. With kids and an active social life with work dinners and friends, it was like the hamster wheel with no end in sight. Outsourcing and hiring a good reliable team for me was worth the weight in gold, from managing life at work to managing the home and the kids. Time management and planning have also been extremely helpful. With a monthly brain dump and a short daily list of goals, it allows me to get to the finish line in smaller chunks versus being overwhelmed by it all.
My advice: Hire. I can't tell you how much sanity and peace of mind this will bring to you. Hire to manage all the things you can't do—from filing papers, to creating and managing schedules for home and personal life, to answering general emails—so you can focus truly on what you can do. Hiring a few great individuals is all it takes to stay ahead of the curve and not feel like you are gasping for air.
Dorothy Kolb
Founder and CEO of dk east associates, providing clients with customized business strategies, financial confidence, and a curated network of professionals, experts, and allies.
My experience: Because I'm in the service space as a fractional CFO, I'm always working for others. I pride myself on my bespoke offerings but it has also, on occasion, left me feeling unsupported, tapped out, and burnt. As a single mom of four, I also need to be fully myself for my sons. Burnout has manifested itself in me feeling empty, crushed, and useless. I have built up a network of colleagues, experts, and allies who I can rely on not only for referrals but for help. Referring along parts of work not only allows me to source the best for my clients but allows me to take a break knowing my clients are in amazing hands.
My advice: It's so important to have a bunch of resources. Now and then you just need to refer out some work to someone you fully trust so that you can regroup. Trust me, it pays itself back in multiples.
Rossalvi Marte
Founder and CEO of Marte & Co., a consulting agency specializing in business marketing and branding for personal and lifestyle brands.
My experience: The first time I experienced burnout was in my corporate career. This was a mental burnout since I’m a mom of two toddlers and I did not have time for anything after work. I would bathe and feed my kids quickly so that they could be in bed as soon as possible. After starting my business, I experienced burnout again because I said yes too many times when I should have said no. What helped me the most was working with a naturopathic doctor and life coach at the same time. Making time for self-care is also now a non-negotiable for me.
My advice: Spend time thinking about what drains your energy and what boundaries you need to start implementing in your life today. Block time on the calendar for true self-care and commit to it.
Mellinda Abbott
CPA at Abbott and Company LLC, a boutique accounting firm working alongside successful entrepreneurs to ensure their growth and success.
My experience: I would say I was a member of the “I can do it all” club until my late 40s when divorce and a health scare forced me to stop and evaluate. I learned to be sure that each day I focus on the things that are meaningful to me—the ones that put a smile on my face and feel good.
My advice: Pause, sit with yourself, and identify what is important to you. If you are not healthy and happy, no one else in your life will be either.
Shay Paresh
Founder and CEO of SHAYDE BEAUTY, a skincare line made with melanin in mind.
My experience: I’ve had several burnout moments throughout my career because I overextended myself. It’s important to re-evaluate your priorities and learn to set boundaries. Learn to say “no” more often. Saying no allows you to say “yes” to the commitments you want to make!
My advice: Set aside time to disconnect and participate in an activity you truly enjoy, such as attending your favorite workout class or connecting with a community that is personally meaningful to you. It’s vital to surround yourself with the right people, personally and professionally.
Ashley Rector
Founder of Laura Alexandria Marketing, a female-powered social media micro-agency working with venture-backed businesses to expand their reach on social media.
My experience: Burnout is very real and very scary. I was a practicing attorney for several years while simultaneously running a side hustle focused on building authentic communities. I thought I could do it all and that I had no boundaries. I hit a breaking point where I mentally collapsed and couldn't handle it anymore. I had to take a step back, identify the things that brought me joy, and evaluate how I was spending my time on a day-to-day basis.
My advice: We are a sum of all of our small actions. When you start to skip things that fill up your bucket here and there, you don't realize that those actions of putting yourself last add up tremendously. So don't skip the morning indulgent coffee, the 10 minutes in the park with sunshine on your face, or the manicure.
Carlye Morgan
Founder and CEO of Chalonne, creating luxury Apple Watch bands for women, hand-crafted in France with the finest leathers, gemstones, and solid gold.
My experience: Growing up, I was told that women could have it all—they could have a career and a family and life could be wonderful. But in reality, I found that balancing a career and a family was incredibly challenging. Around the time my daughter was four years old, the long hours, stress, and politics at my corporate job began to take a toll on me emotionally and physically. Since many factors in my work environment were completely out of my control, I decided to take control of my own destiny and walk away, which was one of the hardest decisions of my life. But once the weight of my stressful job was lifted, I was able to get back to myself and reinvent my career on my own terms as an entrepreneur. Granted, it was a very risky thing to do. But sometimes, you have to take a great risk to get a great reward. I have not regretted it for a moment and in hindsight, I just wish I had done it sooner!
My advice: It’s incredibly hard to do the same thing for many years, feeling like a hamster on a wheel. I would recommend attempting to make a lateral move to a different position within your company. I did that successfully for years and it helped keep things fresh and interesting.
Belma McCaffrey
CEO of Work Bigger, a career coaching platform for high achievers who want to find their purpose.
My experience: One of my most significant burnout experiences happened when I was working full-time at the largest news organization in the world. At the same time, I had my first son and was working to launch my first coaching business. I was trying to "have it all"—the success, the family, and the business. I didn't know it at the time, but my self-worth was based on my level of success and achievement. It was this harmful belief that led to my burnout. My No. 1 strategy was to take a pause and rest, and work on my self-worth and my confidence.
My advice: Understand where your burnout is coming from. One place to start is by identifying your emotional triggers. Emotional triggers are events or experiences that trigger a negative emotional response. These can show you what you need to heal so that you can learn to work from a healthier place. You can learn to set boundaries and say no, which is critical for getting your power back.
Jenna Sereni
CEO and Founder of HandsDown, the shopping platform built for communities and friends.
My experience: Burnout is so very real, and especially as a parent and a founder, there is so much to juggle in the pressure cooker that is this career. That said, after 15 years I think I’ve finally unlocked my escape when it comes to burnout. If you’re going to be taking on a big job, an exceptional challenge at work, or a new project, first check in with yourself and think about the balance you’ve been able to create as it relates to your personal self-care. What brings you peace? What makes you feel at ease? For me, it’s a 30-minute daily morning workout, short meditation, and monthly mani-pedi. My No. 1 priority when setting up my day, my travel schedule, and my personal vacation schedule? It all revolves around my self-care needs. Because ultimately, if I don’t take care of myself, we’re at risk of it all unraveling.
My advice: Find what brings you peace and makes you feel at ease, and make that a priority. I promise, carving out that small amount of time will be worth the effort in setting up the habit. Two helpful resources are Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty and Atomic Habits by James Clear. Read these two books and you’ll be on your way to a lifestyle that prioritizes your personal health, setting you up to crush it in your professional one.
Michelle Glauser
Founder and CEO of Techtonica, a nonprofit that helps women and non-binary adults with low incomes overcome barriers to entering tech careers.
My experience: As someone who founded an intensive tech education nonprofit and managed it while working another full-time job, I have both personally been affected by burnout and advised many people dealing with it. Even during the toughest times, I make sure to get enough sleep and regular exercise, because no combination of other things can make up for the foundation sleep and exercise provide. I also found that identifying the feelings I have and sharing them—whether with a friend or in my journal—helps me process and move on. When you care so much about the work you do, you have to remember that your value isn’t defined by your level of productivity. Be intentional, consistent, and unapologetic about taking time to recharge.
My advice: When you feel the most overwhelmed and in danger of complete burnout, it usually feels like the worst time to take a break, but it’s the most essential time to take a break. I recommend everyone use a trauma-informed tool we recently implemented at Techtonica called a WRAP, or Wellness Recovery Action Plan—create, share, and stick to a personal doc that lists what you will do regularly to maintain wellness, what triggers a stress response for you, signs that you are overwhelmed, and what you will do to recover.
Felicia Kashevaroff
CEO of Tend Task, a newly imagined tool for household organization.
My experience: My experience with burnout came during my years as a stay-at-home mom. Since I wasn't "working," I felt compelled to prove my worth by joining every committee and acting as room mom for all three of my children's classrooms. I planned fundraisers and sat on nonprofit boards—important work, but did I need to do it all? My partner couldn't understand that these responsibilities, combined with the mental load I was carrying at home, were simply too much. Ultimately, his refusal to value my time and contributions forced me to do it myself. I learned to say no more often and started exploring the meaning of equitable partnership.
My advice: My most meaningful advice is to value your time. It's your most precious resource. Say no without guilt and call on your friends, family, and your partner if you have one to support you when you feel burned out, or feel burnout approaching.
Emily McDonald
Co-Founder of My Founder Circle, a community for early-stage female founders to help them launch and scale their companies.
My experience: I faced major burnout with my first start-up, The Stylist LA. I was working more than 80 hours per week, raising investment, and ran a large team. I always put myself last. These factors resulted in massive burnout. I realized I needed to put my needs first. I needed to prioritize sleep, exercise, and healthy eating, which in turn made my work even better. Working 80-hour weeks wasn't helpful in the long run, even though it felt like it at the time. Putting myself and my mental health first is ultimately so much more productive for my business.
My advice: Remember to give yourself grace. Find a confidante, a therapist, or a business coach who you can be 100 percent honest with. Open up to them about how you are feeling and have them assist with strategies to get through it. Take a step back and give yourself space from the office, from your work, or whatever you may need. Try and move your body, get some sleep, and put your phone down. All of these things help when going through burnout––but they also help in avoiding burnout. Remember: there is so much more to life than work, even though it's hard to see when you are in it.
Marika Adamopoulos
Founder of Marika Creative, an agency specializing in stunning visual experiences, boldly and strategically supporting global businesses to increase their revenue.
My experience: As both a creative and an entrepreneur, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that burnout is a familiar place for me. Especially when I was first getting my business off the ground, I was working eight days a week, 57 hours a day. I didn’t take a true vacation for three years, and, at one point, I was taking on up to 20 photo projects a month. This pattern and the stress it induced led to some pretty significant health challenges, bringing me to a place where I was forced to make some changes.
My advice: Schedule your rest time and plan all your work-related tasks around your non-negotiable “you time.” Burnout is fairly easy to avoid if you set up a structure in your days, weeks, months, and years where you create the time you need to work through internal battles, lay on the couch and do nothing, lift at the gym, or whatever you need. As someone who’s experienced burnout many times, a big piece of overcoming it is realizing that it is okay to step away from your work, and to realize that you’ll be more successful and productive if you do step away for a time. Talking this through with a coach, therapist, or strong friend to help you get to that understanding internally can be really useful, and can then get you to the place you need to develop the rituals that will work best for you.
Katherine Sprung
Founder of Sprung On Food, a series highlighting food and beverage companies and featuring food conversations with musicians and public figures.
My experience: I've owned and operated Squish Marshmallows, a small-batch artisanal marshmallow and confections company, for eight years. When you're a sole owner of a bootstrapped business, you wear an incredible amount of hats, and you're working non-stop. After seven years of running the business, five of which I ran a brick-and-mortar retail shop with pop-ups and satellite locations, I was burning out quickly, especially going through the height of the pandemic. For me, the best way to give myself the freedom I needed and not completely run myself down, was to not renew my lease and close my brick and mortar, basically changing the model of my business.
My advice: Evaluate what you're doing, and where you're putting your time. For so long we've been told to "hustle," "no days off," and "sleep when you're dead." Those are all the things that are burning us out. My favorite mantra has always been to be the tortoise, not the hare. If you're driving yourself full force, not stopping, you're not only going to crash and burn, you're going to miss out on life. We often think that the business that we're in, or building, is the only thing that's happening and unless we're only sleeping three hours a night and working around the clock, nothing will get done. Sure, we could all use more hours in a day, but what we need to do is shift our mindset and give ourselves more grace. Slow down, work hard, but allow yourself room to breathe and live outside of your work.
About the author: Gesche Haas is the Founder/CEO of Dreamers & Doers, a private collective that amplifies the entrepreneurial pursuits of extraordinary women through thought leadership opportunities, authentic connection, and access. Gesche's been featured on Bloomberg TV, CNNMoney, The New York Times, Huffington Post, Business Insider, Forbes, Fortune Magazine, Refinery29, Broadly/Vice, and other major media outlets, as well as at the United Nations, where she spoke during the sixtieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women.