Episode 006: For When You’ve Had Enough Hustle

Has there ever been a time when the momentum you worked so hard for started to feel more like a burden than a blessing?

In this episode, Kat reflects on the journey of Afternoon Culture as the consultancy celebrates its seventh anniversary. She opens up about the kind of growth that starts to feel heavy instead of energizing.

After years of chasing success, Kat shares the moment when everything came to a head with serious burnout. It was only through slowing down and reevaluating what truly mattered that she found the clarity to move forward.

Kat dives into how healthy growth isn't just about pushing harder. It's about knowing when to step back, take care of yourself, and build something that will last.

If you're navigating a phase of growth that feels more like pressure than progress, this episode will offer the insight you need to turn things around and move forward with intention.

Full Transcript

This month, Afternoon Culture, my brand consultancy that helps trailblazing founders and executives build bold, magnetic brands, is turning seven. Seven feels really nice. I feel grounded and clear on our path for growth in the years to come.

But just a couple of years ago, around our fifth anniversary, I didn’t feel this way. After a period of rapid growth, I hit a wall of burnout and almost walked away from it all.

If you’ve ever felt like the hustle and growth were taking more than they were giving you, this episode is for you.

Let’s get into it.

In March 2020, when the NYC lockdown was announced, I lost 80 percent of my revenue practically overnight. Most of my business came from in-person interactions and brick and mortar businesses, so when those vanished, I had to pivot fast. I quickly moved our operations to Zoom, Slack, and Calendly, revised our offerings, and launched a new marketing strategy focused on increasing brand awareness and attracting new clients who aligned with our values and approach on social.

Most of 2020 felt rocky. But slowly, we started attracting a new wave of clients...mostly purpose-driven founders who were building their brands online and understood the value of having a strong brand. By 2021, things started to turn around. Our quick pivot to remote offerings began to gain traction, and we successfully created a digital experience that clients adored. That led to more referrals and more happy clients.

Between 2020 and 2023, we tripled our revenue, doubled the size of our team, and I made the leap from NYC to LA. 

But behind that growth, our foundation was shaky. I did my best to expand the team and delegate, but growing that much that fast meant I was constantly putting out fires and never really had a chance to rest. Scaling a team for the first time remotely during the pandemic was an extraordinary challenge. I found myself juggling the experience of managing a team remotely, holding emotional space for team members who weren’t in a great mental health space, and offering extra support to clients who were struggling.

I felt pressed, but I channeled all my energy into fostering a healthy company culture. One of our team members had come to Afternoon Culture after working at a company so toxic it made national headlines, and that really motivated me to build something good. I didn’t realize it at the time, but as a leader, I almost completely put aside my own feelings and needs around the big changes the pandemic brought to my life and focused entirely on taking care of everyone else. I worked sixteen-hour days, slept only a handful of hours a night, had days packed with twelve to fifteen Zoom calls, and literally slept next to my computer.

Then in the spring of 2022, one of the projects I worked on got an Emmy nomination. It raised the bar for how I wanted to show up. It was a wake-up call...a reminder that I was capable of creating work that was truly spectacular and worthy of recognition.

For three years, the grind was real. I was committed to producing work at the highest level no matter what. I was also working with so many mission-driven companies, which only amplified my sense of responsibility. I felt a deep commitment to supporting our clients and helping them achieve massive success, but in doing so, I was sacrificing my own well-being.

I sought out so much support. I hired an executive assistant who had worked with major celebrities, a business coach, a health coach, and an HR consultant. And all of them were telling me the same thing: I couldn’t keep pushing like this, and I needed to reconsider both my team and my approach.

Then in November 2022, I went on a coffee date with a nice man, and suddenly found myself in a whirlwind romance. As we spent more time together, he started echoing the same message as the coaches and consultants: I was overloaded and needed more support.

2023 got off to a rough start and I had finally reached my limit. I made the tough decision to part with two team members and scheduled my first real vacation in years.

I also got curious about my health, because everything in my body just felt off. I went in for my first check-up in over eighteen months, and that’s when I realized just how much my health had been suffering from the pressure I’d been putting on myself for three straight years. My labs showed the toll all of it had taken.

I’ll be honest, I was being a bit stubborn about the fact that Afternoon Culture couldn’t keep going the way it was going. But the data about my health was the push I needed. It confronted me with the reality I didn’t want to admit. That moment was a full stop. It forced me to reassess everything...how I work, how I lead, and how I take care of myself.

When I told clients I was taking a vacation, they were stunned. Not because they thought I’d leave them hanging, but because many of them had been working with me for years and had never once seen me take a break.

They encouraged it. They told me I deserved it. It made me realize that while the pressure I was carrying felt so real, I had built trust and had a track record that spoke for itself. I had poured so much of myself into the work, and it was okay for me to occasionally slow down.

I put up an away message and, for the first time in a long time, I didn’t think about work at all for a few days. I went to Puerto Vallarta and had the most glorious five days by the beach.

But when I landed, I came back to pitch my first million-dollar project. We had worked hard on the proposal and it felt like a major opportunity, but I also knew it would be a big push for us.

A few days after the pitch, I heard back. They told me they loved me but had ultimately decided to go with another firm. I asked for feedback and they said that while they believed I was the right person for the job, they didn’t feel confident in my team. They felt I needed more support to deliver at the level they required.

To be honest, I don’t think they were wrong. That feedback stung, but it was exactly what I needed to hear. It held up a mirror and revealed the gaps I hadn’t wanted to fully admit.

A few weeks later, I started making real changes. I brought on a fractional CFO to help shape the big picture, streamline our financial processes, and make sure we were scaling in a way that was sustainable.

We focused on growth that would stand the test of time, not just short-term gains. I streamlined our services to focus on the work we did best. Hired legal support. And began building a more strategic, sustainable foundation.

2023 became a year of deep resets. I began to pay closer attention to my own capacity, the health of our business, and where we were truly making an impact.

I let go of some of the people-pleasing habits that emerged during the pandemic, especially in hiring and collaboration. Over time, I started to reconnect with my creative spark and rediscovered my love for the work. And slowly, I started to reconnect with  my creative spark and fall in love with the work again.

There’s this Radiohead lyric on “Karma Police,” I always think about when it comes to the years “For a minute there, I lost myself.”

During the three years that I experienced the most growth, I was centering everyone but myself in my own business. Once I started building a team, I started to deprioritize my well-being. I was ultra generous, pouring so much into everything and everyone, and that energy wasn’t always matched.

That hustle mode worked for a while (hello, 200 percent revenue growth), but the always-on, always-pushing mode eventually lost its edge because it wasn’t sustainable.

I needed more support but I was so afraid to restructure my team, even though it was clear they weren’t meeting the needs of the business. It took me a long time to admit that. And even longer to take action. 

After a while, I wasn’t as sharp. I wasn’t present. The work started to feel flat. I didn’t have fresh ideas. And the well of energy and passion I had built this business on was drying up.

Yes, the growth over those three years was incredible, and it truly changed my life. But I also forgot something important.

When you’re trailblazing, rest is not a luxury but a necessity. Slowing down lets you recharge, gain new perspective, and get clear. Sustainable growth comes from knowing when to push and when to pause.

Healthy growth often requires making tough decisions. Sometimes that means stepping away from the urge to please everyone, and staying focused on what aligns with your mission.

And if you find yourself in a moment where you’re pushing hard, and growth is coming at the cost of your joy and wellbeing. It’s probably time to take a step back.

Growth can be exhilarating, but its true power comes from honoring both your business and your well-being. When you neglect your health, you’re neglecting the very foundation of your success.

By prioritizing rest, joy, and renewal, you’re ensuring you’re building something that will last. Because real success includes you too.