MY NAME IS
Donna
AND THIS IS MY STORY…
Healthcare Professional
This program awakened me to work on and focus on myself and to get to the root cause of my triggers. I don’t think there’s any other immersive program like this that would work with me on a one-on-one basis to help me deal with my burnout.
CHALLENGES
After nearly three decades in the healthcare field she loved, Donna was in her dream role.
“I have the power to make a difference in my position. I am seen as a leader and an expert in my field, the physicians and the patients I serve see me as a valuable resource, and I’ve changed many lives because of it.”
A dedicated servant to her patients, Donna constantly put her job first above all else—including her own health. She didn’t know how to slow down.
“Being in a car for the past 12 years driving 4,000 miles per month non-stop for work, it starts to take its toll. I gained weight, and my physical body suffered,” says Donna about her commuting, which accounted for 90 percent of her time.
She adds: “I experienced headaches, pain all over my body, and I just kept working. I have Lupus, and at the time, I received a diagnosis of attention deficit disorder (ADD), and I was in therapy and taking medication for anxiety and depression—and then COVID-19 hit. I remember I had difficulty sleeping for almost a year—three to four hours of sleep if I was lucky—even with the help of medication.
“My whole family was suffering. I was working hard to provide for my family, but in the end, it was just hurting them,” says Donna of her lack of presence and work-life balance.
Despite trying therapy, meditation, podcasts, and general self-help courses, nothing she tried improved her physical and mental health or helped her slow down. She was restless, reactive, and quick to anger.
“I felt like there was something seriously wrong with me,” says Donna. “I was hypercritical with everyone, immersed in negative self-talk, and let feedback from work run my life.”
It was after a late-night Facebook scroll that she came across an ad for our program.
“I was burnt out, and Julie nailed every single feeling spot-on. She was so in tune with me. I felt she was speaking to me directly. I wondered, “How is it possible that she knew everything that was happening to me?”
Donna was confident after speaking to her breakthrough coach, Erin, that she finally made the right call that would change her life.
“I don’t think there’s any other immersive program like this that would work with me on a one-on-one basis to help me deal with my burnout,” she says. “Erin was 100 percent sure this program would help me.”
“Before the program, everything seemed dark and hopeless, and I was completely lost,” says Donna. “Nothing seemed to be going right no matter how much I tried to make things better and please everyone around me.”
For Donna, her goals were to create more balance, improve her presence and deepen her connection with her family, create positive and upbeat relationships with colleagues, reduce her reliance on medication, and improve her physical health.
“I’ve made so many sacrifices and gave my all to my work, very little to my family, and zero to myself. I felt that I was missing out on life,” says Donna, who deeply desired her two kids to see her as a balanced mom who was happy.
RESULTS
Since joining our program, Donna’s quality of life, both personally and professionally, has grown exponentially.
“I joined the program to help me deal with my burnout at work but scoffed at the idea that after 12 weeks my problems would be gone,” says Donna. “The program turned out to be much more than I expected. I spent the majority of my focus on myself, my family, my relationships, and rewiring how I think.”
Not only has her physical and mental health improved dramatically to the point where she’s eliminated medications, but she’s also happier, more self-aware, more present, making more time for her family and her personal well-being—and she’s working less.
“This program awakened me to work on and focus on myself and to get to the root cause of my triggers, including my connection with stress and food, my addiction to achievement, and how I need to create more boundaries with work so I can prioritize myself, my family, and my life,” says Donna.
“The program really helped me understand how focusing so much on work meant I was neglecting other important areas of my life,” she says. “I realized I needed to value what’s important to me first.”
Donna used our boundary-setting tools at work and prioritized time on her calendar first for herself, her family, and her personal development followed by work meetings, which was shared as a best practice with colleagues. She gained confidence to say “no” more and to delegate when possible, giving other colleagues a chance to shine.
“My managers have supported me, encouraging me to take the time off I need, and they even split up my territory. There’s something to say about prioritizing yourself first. I learned it was me who was putting more on myself,” she says, having won a highly-esteemed company award, while working less.
“My company has prioritized people’s mental health. I have a flexible schedule to put myself first and my quality of life is better.”
And while her career is thriving, her family has seen the biggest impact.
“This program helped me connect with my inner child and learn to support her, listen to her, and try to tell her it’s going to get better. When I started talking to her in this way, I had to do the same for my kids,” says Donna of our deep self-exploration of pre-conditioned beliefs around communication, relationships, societal expectations, and more.
“I grew up in a family where emotions were not shared. I had to change how I think and how to be there for people emotionally,” she says, which has directly impacted her relationship and communication with her nine-year-old son, who has autism.
She shares: “My son has anxiety when trying to go to sleep, and my wife and I would repeatedly tell him to go to bed and eventually get so frustrated we would yell at him. One evening, I decided to join him in his room, laid down next to him, and explained to him that it wasn’t his fault as to why he couldn’t sleep. I gave him a massage, which helped him calm down, and he eventually fell asleep. I realized that this is what he needed, a nurturing mother who is gentle with him and paying attention to his needs.”
Donna’s deepened understanding of her family of origin has helped increase her awareness about her own negative beliefs and patterns that led to criticism, conflict, reactiveness, and a quick temper and how they impacted her parenting and marriage.
“While certain beliefs I had were passed down from previous generations, I now get to correct this and pass on new beliefs to my daughter around how to deal with her anger and ask for support and lean on support,” she says.
Donna shares that her five-year-old daughter has also picked up the program’s meditative practices, having caught her daughter meditating at a public park.
“That made me realize I’m doing something right,” says Donna. “She might not fully understand what she is doing, but she’s copying very good practices that will benefit her in the long run. It’s good to know that I am passing down something important to my daughter that will also have a positive impact in the world.”
Donna added: “My communication with my wife has improved as well. I am hyper-aware of my eagerness to fix and help solve problems. I’m trying to do less of that and more of being present and really listening to what she is saying without judgment.”
Donna credits the ongoing lifetime support of the program’s client community as a key differentiating factor from other programs she’s participated in.
I’ve made such strong bonds and friendships with the sisters in this community. To know that there is a group of women who truly understand what you are going through and who are just as courageously reclaiming who they are and becoming a better version of themselves…it’s powerful.
OUTCOMEs
- Exponentially increased quality of life
- Reduced work hours and work stress
- More boundaries and time allocated for mental health
- Increased self-awareness, empathy, and self-compassion
- Deepened connection with family and improved communication
