In this testimonial interview, Charlotte, a product manager and mother of two, recounts the intense burnout she experienced before joining Lynne Levy’s coaching program. She describes feeling overwhelmed by work demands, tech industry pressures, and family responsibilities, leading to long hours, weekend work, and a sense of spiraling without progress. Through Lynne’s coaching, Charlotte learned to step back, use specific prioritization frameworks, and consciously decide where her time and energy should be invested. This shift allowed her to gain confidence, feel in control of her decisions, and balance professional and personal life more purposefully. She also highlights the value of group sessions where peers shared similar challenges, reinforcing her new perspective. Charlotte warns that without such control, one risks making emotional decisions, remaining stuck, and missing opportunities to lead both at work and at home. She now schedules dedicated family time and applies the leadership mindset across all areas of her life.
Chapters
Before, I used to be like, oh, I don't know where I'm going. Like, I'm, you know, you get worried about where you're going to land, but not anymore because I just take those stairs with confidence. I know they're going to go somewhere that is going to be good. Like, I'm managing how I feel and how I behave and what I do. So the outcome, as long as I'm going up, it doesn't really matter.
Where were you before you joined the program?
So when I joined the program, I reached out to Lynne Levy Levy, and, um, and I was super stressed out. I just, like, I, I really like being a product manager, but I just felt that with, you know, I have two kids, and with all the requirements from work and what was going on in the tech world, I just couldn't keep up. Like, I wasn't being a good mom, I wasn't being a great employee, and I wasn't doing these two things that I really love to do. And so I just felt like no matter how much effort I put into things, I wasn't moving forward and I was just spiraling. So everything that was going on at work was just very, very stressful and it built on top of issue over issue. And felt like I wasn't moving forward. And no matter what I did, I just couldn't take that next step. And so I was really, really frustrated and working all kinds of crazy hours and working weekends and not doing anything, especially for myself.
What was really a lot of the significant impact from, from working with Lynne?
So from working with Lynne, I think the The biggest impact was that I took time to step back and, and really think through what's important to me. And then also using a lot of what she teaches to be able to just take control and put a different perspective on what's happening at work and in my life and putting a different prioritization to everything that's going on. So that I could take control and make decisions exactly on where is my time worth being spent. And I was just like pretty much playing whack-a-mole at work and I was playing whack-a-mole because I was putting weight on what others told me was important. And while, yes, that is important, I needed to also add what's important to me and what's worth me, um, doing for work versus spending time with my family or spending time like eating lunch, you know. Um, so while I knew that that, that stuff is important, it was difficult to implement in life without somebody telling you like, use this framework, step back, or ask yourself the following questions. I think the confidence comes from being able to You feel like you have control over your decisions and you're being very purposeful with everything you do. And there are certain things you're not going to be able to do, but that's okay because I decided that and I've assessed what the impact is of me not participating in certain things or doing certain projects. So, so yeah, so that's where the confidence comes from. And then also attending all the sessions allowed me to see others who were in the same situation as I was. I got to hear their experience and learn from it. And it just helped me change that perspective really to like pause, step back, reassess, understand what's really important, what's not important, where is my energy best spent so that I can make the most progress with the very little time I have.
I would love to know what your advice is, what you feel like you risked not doing it if, if you had made a different decision.
I think the risk is is if you don't take control of how you feel and what's in front of you and put that different perspective so that you can make decisions, you end up making emotional decisions. And this had happened to me before where I was in a different role, felt like, you know, I should have been promoted for this and it didn't happen. Or, you know, so-and-so got a project that I should have received or whatever. And you start playing these stories and you just spiral more and more. In that particular instance, I changed teams because that was, that was the point. It was like, oh, it's this team, it's my manager, or it's this job. And I was kind of heading the same way in this new role, which is what made me realize maybe I need to figure out how to handle this versus just running away every time or just being upset. At everybody around me when I show up to work and not doing the best job I can do or enjoying what I do. So I think that's the risk. The risk is that you keep running and at some point you have to stop running and figure out how to deal with it because things aren't going to change. They're going to continue happening. Like you're going to work for people you maybe don't like. You're going to have opportunities to work with colleagues that aren't going to listen to you or align with your project or help push your priorities. And, and you just can't get upset about that. You have to figure out how to take control and lead. And so it's, it's that it's missing out on the opportunity and being able to lead in every aspect of your life. Whether it's work or also leading at home. Like, you know, from a personal level, I also set up a schedule with my family. Like, I know when I'm going to meet with them and, and at what time am I 100% mom and what are the things I'm going to spend time with my family or kids doing. So it applies everywhere. It's leading across your entire life.
