04/08/2026
The burnout lasted over six months. The longest burnout I’ve ever experienced.
Looking back now, I think it really was a consequence of what started in December 2023, when I started working on our new salon project. From that moment on, life became one long stretch of working behind the scenes. Building systems. Growing the team. Solving problems. Planning. Creating. Constantly thinking.
By October 2025, I was completely drained. Not because I didn’t love what I was doing.But because I had forgotten that I am human too.
As business owners, we become very good at pushing through.
We wake up every morning, smile, lead our teams, solve problems, make decisions, encourage everyone around us… and from the outside it looks as though we’re exactly where we’re supposed to be. It looks effortless. It looks like we’re in our element. But sometimes… we aren’t.
Sometimes we’re simply pushing through another day because that’s what business owners do. Many people never see that side of us. Sometimes even our own families don’t. Not because we don’t want to tell them, but because we’re so mentally exhausted that we don’t even have the energy to explain how we’re feeling.
The strange thing is… this isn’t the first time. I still ask myself why I let it get this far. Perhaps I’ve become too comfortable with working long hours. Perhaps I’ve trained myself to thrive on pressure and constant stress. Or perhaps, after so many years, it has simply become a habit.
The good news is that by June this year, I finally started feeling like myself again. Not completely. But enough to remember what it feels like to wake up with energy instead of obligation.
I’m still learning. Learning that rest isn’t something you earn once everything is finished. Learning that taking care of yourself isn’t a luxury. And learning that no business success is worth losing yourself for.
I hope that one day I’ll recognise the signs much earlier. And I’ll choose recovery before burnout chooses it for me.
