I was featured on Fried The Burn Out Podcast with Caitlin Donovan
BIO: Darlene Hawley is a mother, wife, connector, storyteller and dream builder. She is also a Brand & Business Clarity Coach and the founder of DarleneHawley.com.
She helps ambitious, heart-centered online entrepreneurs who are struggling with building a successful personal brand and business. They’re afraid to share their unique life story but know they need to stand out if they want to build an authentic and profitable online business. She helps them build a solid brand foundation so they can share their message with the world, attract dream clients and have the impact, freedom, and flexibility they desire.
Before starting her own business, she worked her way up in big box retail management, as a mortgage loan officer, and a financial coach. Darlene was trained by the largest business coaching franchise in the world and has been committed to helping entrepreneurs launch and grow their business since 2007.
She now spends her time supporting women to reach their goals and live out their dream life, all while raising her family and creating memories each and every day."
DARLENE’S STORY:
My burn out story is that I was a teen single mom and had my oldest son just months after graduating high school. I found myself working in retail management doing work I loved helping my employees move up within the company as an Operations Manager but I was working 60+ hours a week, working lots of evenings and weekends and though I had vacation hours I was never able to use them as their was something always going on at work that required me to be there. I had a ton of mom guilt as I was missing so much with my son and was frustrated that I wasn't there with my son for all of the important stuff. My health was struggling, and I was exhausted and knew I needed to make a change that I was burnt out and couldn't continue on that path much longer.
I lost my mom unexpectedly and it was during that time that I knew I had to make a change and couldn't continue on the way I was.
CAIT’S NOTES:
Darlene talks about time mapping out her week ahead of time so that she still has a structure and can stay focused without burnout out. As an entrepreneur, we often leave our calendars too lax and then tasks spill into one another and we lose focus. We say yes to clients outside of our normal hours because we can - but then we find ourselves missing out on the same parts of life that we missed out on when we were employees.
Creating structure for yourself as an entrepreneur is so important and learning to stick to the structure and routine that you create is no small feat. It requires discipline, focus, and an ability to say no when you need to.
The other thing that kept coming back around to storytelling, owning your story is a massive part of using your life and your history to make a difference. Darlene reminds us of the lesson she learned when she lost her mother; we don’t know how much time we have and when we feel stuck, we should reach out for help so we can show up in the world the way we want to, the way that aligns for us.
Darlene gives some amazing advice on how to capture, review, and own your story within this episode, so you might want to have a notebook ready!
Listen on the player above or find it on your favorite player
HERE.
XOXO
Cait