New Mom Overcomes Burnout & Finds Purpose in Work

I was a new mom who was struggling with the aftermath of having a baby in a pandemic, as well as struggling with my mental health. I had postpartum anxiety and depression, which was really challenging. I came back to work after an extended maternity leave to an incredibly hostile environment, and all of When before I left my job, I was working like 12 to 14-hour days. I literally worked until 9:00 PM the day before I had my daughter. And so I went back to an environment that expected that to me and from me and was angry that I wasn't there for 6 months. So that's where I was. It— having my daughter, um, just cracked open a piece of me that I couldn't ignore anymore. I just knew that she, like, she was such an important aspect of my life, and I wouldn't sacrifice that aspect for work that was unsatisfying, that I wasn't even happy doing. And so pretty quickly after returning from maternity leave, I think I I came back part-time in August. I mean, within a couple of weeks it was very clear that it was just not gonna work. Like what, who I was before was not the person that came back and who I was willing to be was not, not the person that wanted to show up there every day. And so I think in September I started like, there would be days where I just couldn't go into work. Like it'd be Tuesday and I was like, I can't do it. And I would just take the day off. Which didn't feel good, but I also could spend time with my daughter. So we, there was like a trade-off there and it was very clear that like my priorities were out of alignment and I needed to do something to help figure that out. It also, I had had a lot of colleagues who had left and had much, much better, happier lives. So I knew that there was possibility out there. And so I started just asking around about coaching programs or what, how I could make that transition because I wasn't looking to change jobs or change roles or do anything as a brand new mom. I would had a 6-month-old. Um, and then I, someone had recommended you. Um, Shin Young actually, um, had recommended you and said that you had helped her a ton in her transition. And I admire, I admired her experience, her approach to work and life. And, um, she seemed really happy and she spoke very highly of this program and said So yeah, and so I gave you a call and we had a great chat, and here we are.