The hidden cost of keeping it together while experiencing high-functioning burnout as an entrepreneur

Have you ever cried in a parking lot over nothing?

No, seriously.
Like a full-on breakdown over laundry detergent… or forgetting someone’s birthday… or because your inbox hit 99+ and suddenly it felt like the world was ending?

That’s not weakness, sis.
That’s called high-functioning burnout.

It’s what happens when the woman who “has it all together” is slowly falling apart.

And in Episode 2 of The Unstoppable SheEO, I’m digging into exactly what happens…
when the strong one breaks.

Because let’s be real: you don’t need another productivity hack.

You need permission to stop holding the universe on your back.🙃

What is high-functioning burnout?

Most people think burnout looks like:

• Can’t get out of bed.
• Boss calls; you ghost.
• Stress leave. Dramatic spiral.

But for women like us?
It hides in plain sight.

You still show up.
You still get the work done.
You smile for photos.
You write the email.
You book the call.
You cook dinner and schedule the dentist and draft the Instagram caption about “balance.”

And all the while…

🫠 You’re completely fried.
Exhausted. Disconnected.
Going through the motions like a machine.

This is the silent reality for high-achieving women, and nobody talks about it—until we break.

We don’t talk about what happens when the strong one breaks

If you’re always the one who pulls it together…
Who helps the team rally…
Who carries the emotional labor at home, at work, in your friend circle…

Then who’s carrying YOU?

This episode isn’t just personal—it’s primal.
Because I am the strong one.
And I broke.

In a coffee shop.
In front of a network marketing group. 😅
(I wish I was joking.)

I tell the full story in the podcast—what led up to that moment, what triggered the fall, how my nervous system straight-up quit on me…

But I’ll give you this—

It wasn’t weakness. It was wisdom.

My body was screaming something I was too “successful” to hear:

“You don’t need more systems. You need REST. You need REGULATION.”

You don’t need to do more.
You need to feel safe enough to do… less.

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High-functioning burnout does not care about your resume

It doesn’t matter how brilliant, capable, or organized you are.

Burnout doesn’t knock, it floods.
And it doesn’t show up as failure.
It shows up as:

• Irritability over small things (“Why did you put this bowl in the top drawer?!”)
• Feeling nothing after big wins (launch, promotion, client milestone)
• Never being able to fully turn your brain off
• Crying when no one’s watching… then fixing your mascara and getting back on Zoom

Sound familiar?

You’re not broken.
You’re just burned OUT.
And I say that with zero judgment and full knowing.

Why women don’t recognize high-functioning burnout

Because we’ve been trained to ignore it.

We’ve been told:

• “Strong women don’t complain.”
• “If you’re tired, you must not want it bad enough.”
• “You’re lucky—don’t be ungrateful.”

So we keep stacking pressure on top of stress on top of silence.

What we NEVER ask is:

What if the way we’re living isn’t sustainable?
What if “strong” isn’t the goal anymore?

And to that I say HELL YES.
Let’s not be strong.
Let’s be supported.

The moment I realized I wasn’t lazy—I was fried

There was a point where I started questioning EVERYTHING.

Why was I so snappy with my partner?
Why did launching a creative project I loved feel like dragging 100 bricks uphill?
Why couldn’t I maintain my energy no matter how much I “optimized” my calendar?

Here’s what finally clicked:

📢 I wasn’t lazy. “Unmotivated.” Or disorganized.

I just had a fried nervous system.

One that had been in high-alert mode for months (okay… years),
Running on cortisol, caffeine, and people-pleasing…
And finally said, “Nope. We done.”

Why this podcast episode matters (so much more than motivation)

In this episode, I unpack the real reason high-achieving women crash.

It’s not because we’re “doing too much”…
It’s that we’re doing it from a place of chronic survival.

🧠 I talk about how our trauma responses dress up as work ethic
🧠 Why numbness sometimes masquerades as confidence
🧠 And what it looks like to finally get clear, calm—and come BACK home to yourself

This isn’t me preaching from a pedestal.
It’s me crawling out of burnout and handing you the damn ladder. 🪜

If you’re nodding along and realizing this may be you—I talk about it in depth in Episode 2 of my podcast, The Unstoppable SheEO with Brit Nicole.

You can listen to episode one now on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Just search The Unstoppable SheEO, or click here to listen directly.

And if you’re thinking, “Wow. This is me”—I created something else just for you.

A Vision Retreat For The Burnt Out Female Entreprenures

Feeling all of this in your bones?

Then it might be time for a nervous system reset that hits deeper than a yoga class or some Pinterest quotes.

That’s what The Vision Retreat is for.

📍Happening this October, in Scottsdale.
🎯 Designed for the high-achieving woman who’s tired of the chaos.
🧘🏽‍♀️ Breath, breakthroughs, and real calm—like the kind that stays with you, even when life’s loud.

This isn’t fluff.
This is where clarity, calm, and actual breathing room are built.

Because you don’t need another planner.
You need nervous system peace—and a plan that works with your biology, not against it.

Let’s go there.