Beyond Burnout: What a Community of Women Entrepreneurs Reminded Me About Finding Ourselves

On June 25, I attended a NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners) Empower Hour, a twice-monthly gathering where women entrepreneurs come together to connect, reflect, and learn from one another.

I joined NAWBO because community has become an essential part of my own entrepreneurship journey. As a small business owner, I have learned that building something meaningful does not happen in isolation.

I expected to leave with new business ideas.

Instead, I left with a renewed understanding of why I became a psychologist.

My Journey: Burnout and a Different American Dream

Years ago, I experienced corporate burnout while working at one of Taiwan's most respected hospitals. At that point in my career, I had achieved what many people would consider success. Yet I also began to experience the painful gap between holding a prestigious role and living a life that truly reflected who I was.

Later, I came to the United States to pursue advanced doctoral training in clinical psychology, also with the intention to become an entrepreneur.

For me, the American dream was never about building a large company or chasing endless growth. Instead, it became the opportunity to become a small business owner—to create work that reflected my values, my voice, and the kind of psychologist I wanted to become.

I didn't want to recreate another system that exhausted people.

I wanted to create a different way of working.

Although that chapter of burnout happened many years ago, its impact has never left me. It continues to remind me that our work should reflect our values—not simply the roles we have learned to perform.

Finding Community With Share Similar Journeys

This wasn't my first Empower Hour.

One of the reasons I continue attending is because I consistently find myself in a space with women who share overlapping identities and experiences—entrepreneurs, caregivers, professionals navigating multiple roles at once.

During a previous gathering, one discussion centered around the question:

"Who would you hire next?"

Many people answered with positions that would directly grow their businesses.

Then one woman shared something completely different.

She said she would hire a personal assistant—not to increase revenue, but to reduce the invisible labor she carried every day.

That simple answer shifted my perspective.

Invisible labor is still labor.

When we reduce unnecessary burdens without guilt or shame, we are not only investing in our businesses—we are investing in our physical health, mental health, relationships, and our capacity to create.

That conversation stayed with me long after the meeting ended.

Two Questions Beyond Burnout

This month's Empower Hour centered around two questions:

• What does your sales pipeline look like?

• How do you navigate your business during difficult seasons in your personal life?

At first, I approached the question about sales pipeline in a practical way, like many business owners do. But as I reflected more deeply, I noticed something unexpected in my own work.

Over time, I have seen that many people come to therapy not simply because they are seeking growth, but because they have reached a point where continuing as they were is no longer sustainable. Burnout, medical leave (e.g., FMLA, STD...etc.), and emotional exhaustion often become the moments when people finally pause and seek support.

This realization was not something I felt proud of as a "business insight." Instead, it felt like a quiet reminder of how much suffering often exists beneath professional success.

Then, as the conversation shifted to how people navigate difficult personal seasons, the room opened even further.

Women openly shared stories about burnout, therapy, caregiving, personal crises, grief, invisible labor, and the ongoing challenge of protecting their health while running a business.

As I listened, one realization kept growing stronger.

For many people, entrepreneurship was not simply about pursuing success.

Sometimes entrepreneurship begins because continuing life exactly as it was is no longer sustainable.

Entrepreneurship Is Not the Destination

One of the most meaningful insights from that evening was recognizing that entrepreneurship itself is not the answer.

Some women left corporate careers because they burned out. Others needed flexibility while caring for family, while some were searching for more meaning or autonomy in their work. In each case, entrepreneurship became one possible path forward—but not the only one.

This realization helped me see more clearly that entrepreneurship is not a universal solution. It is simply one way people attempt to reshape their relationship with work and life.

Not everyone is meant to become an entrepreneur, just as not everyone is meant to stay in corporate life. The deeper question is not which career path is better, but what kind of life allows a person to become more fully themselves.

That question reaches far beyond careers. It is ultimately a question about identity, values, and alignment.

Familiar Stories Outside the Therapy Room

As I listened to these conversations, I began to notice something familiar beneath the surface. The stories being shared did not feel new to me. In fact, they echoed many of the experiences I hear regularly in my therapy office.

Over the past several years, I have primarily worked with high-achieving professionals in Silicon Valley who struggle with burnout, anxiety, depression, and the painful realization that the lives they worked so hard to build no longer feel sustainable. Although their external circumstances differ, the internal questions they carry are often strikingly similar.

Many begin to wonder who they are beyond their work, what they truly want, and how much of their life has been shaped by expectations rather than conscious choice. These are not simply career concerns; they are deeply personal and psychological questions.

In that moment, I was reminded that these struggles are not confined to therapy. They are present in professional communities, entrepreneurial spaces, and everyday conversations. Therapy offers a structured and protected space to explore these questions, but the questions themselves exist far beyond its boundaries.

Rediscovering Why I Became a Psychologist

As the only mental health professional in that room, I felt deeply moved by how openly everyone spoke about therapy and emotional well-being. The conversation was not only about business challenges, but also about protecting one's health, setting boundaries, and recognizing personal limits.

Several women encouraged one another not to sacrifice their well-being in pursuit of achievement, while others acknowledged the importance of psychological support. Their words reflected a shared understanding that behind every professional role is a human being who needs care, rest, and meaning.

In that moment, I felt a renewed sense of pride in becoming a psychologist. Not because my profession was recognized, but because I was reminded of the broader impact of this work.

Mental health is not separate from business, leadership, parenting, relationships, or creativity. It is woven through all of them. Supporting psychological well-being is not an isolated task—it is part of how we build sustainable and meaningful lives.

Beyond Therapy: Why I Continue to Write

That afternoon also reminded me why I continue creating educational resources through Inner Journey Psychology. While therapy offers a powerful space for healing, it often begins after someone has already reached a point of significant distress.

Public education serves a different purpose. It creates opportunities for people to reflect earlier, to recognize patterns before they become crises, and to engage with important questions in a more accessible way.

I hope to continue creating different spaces where these conversations can happen outside of the therapy room. Not because therapy is insufficient, but because psychological growth can begin earlier.

In many ways, these efforts are about expanding access to reflection, awareness, and self-understanding—so that people can begin shaping their lives with greater intention.

The Real Question Beneath Burnout

When I left NAWBO Empower Hour that day, I realized the event had reminded me of something I never want to forget.

I was once the young psychologist who burned out. Later, I became an immigrant who came to the United States to pursue advanced training and gradually discovered that small business ownership was my own American dream. Today, I have the privilege of walking alongside others as they ask many of the same questions that once shaped my own journey.

Not everyone needs to become an entrepreneur, and not everyone needs to leave corporate life.

But at some point, many people encounter a deeper question that cannot be avoided.

I begin to wonder who I really am, what I truly want, and whether the life I am building reflects my authentic self or simply the roles I have learned to fulfill.

These are not only career questions. It's beyond burnout.

They are the beginning of the inner journey.

Sometimes the greatest success isn't avoiding burnout—it's finding the courage to become who you truly are.