Episode 20: Burnout and Messy Starts with Katie Leigh of Modern Magic
Burnout is Real
Over the course of ten years, Katie of Modern Magic, built up a marketing business and worked her way up to a marketing director and later a marketing consultant. She tells her story of the hustle she experienced and the burnout that followed her at the height of her career. In 2020, she lost her job working for a wellness company and found herself completely burned out after working insane hours to try to keep their doors open during covid. She explained that her symptoms and signs of burnout were always being exhausted, lack of interest in things she used to love, and even hormonal imbalances. However, with this new shift in direction, Katie saw this as an opportunity to start her art business, Modern Magic, and also start healing from burnout.
Making a thoughtful and intentional decision to step away from social media is what brought about new sparks of creativity. Katie worked on many paintings during this time and eventually sought professional help through a therapist and EMDR therapy. Her art also became a safe space and an incredible source of healing for her to reconnect with herself.
The Importance of Alignment
Katie takes us back to revisit “sixteen-year-old” Katie and how comfortable and confident this person was. She knew what she liked and she wasn’t concerned with what others thought of her. As Katie grew up, she expressed the pressure to “be a part of society” and survive. She took part in the hustle of making more money and striving for exponential growth. Even though she was at the height of her marketing career and her consulting was super profitable, she wasn’t happy and she was not aligned. She reflected that starting her art business and creating is what fuels her and she is so much more aligned and happy.
She still has days of self-doubt if she made the right decision going into art and worries about money, but is comforted by her knowing that she is in alignment and that she loves what she is doing and creating.
Messy Starts
Starting a business is messy and full of new experiences with trial and error. Katie unpacks how her Type A personality and tendency towards perfectionism have been stretched during the newness of starting her own business. She tries to remember perfectionism isn’t something that is going to go away overnight and does little things to stretch herself like launching when she isn’t completely ready. She tries to accept the messy and tries to believe that done is better than perfect.
In closing, Katie explains that in her business, Modern Magic, she creates art and wallpapers to build calm spaces to rest and restore. With all of her art, Katie hopes to inspire rest. She hopes to help people recharge and recover from burnout in these spaces and remember the magic in the everyday.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Taking a step away from social media doesn’t need to be scary. It can be a healing and centering experience to turn down the noise.
Symptoms of burnout can vary from person to person, but common signs are: excessive stress, fatigue, sadness or irritability, detachment, loss of motivation, and decreased satisfaction or sense of accomplishment among many others.
Burnout is real and should be taken seriously. If you believe you are experiencing burnout seek support.
Creating artwork can reconnect us to ourselves and even tap us into the younger parts of ourselves.
Looking back at who we were in our childhood or adolescence can remind us of who we are deep down before we started to be influenced by the world around us and what we believed was expected of us. Our egos get in the way as we grow. Take the time to go back and remember that person so long ago, you may be surprised by what you discover.
There is a fire in all of us. This fire can either help us build and create or it destroys. As creative entrepreneurs we do not HAVE to chase after exponential growth. Be aware of what your needs are and ask why you have the income goals that you have. Are you in alignment?
Embracing the discomfort, starting from scratch and believing the messiness will all be worth it can help in times when we feel the need to be perfect.
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Katie Leigh Jackson of Modern Magic is an artist+wallpaper designer based out of Denver, Colorado. Through her art, she helps women create calm spaces to get inspired and recharge.
Explore Katie's website at www.shopmodernmagic.com and follow her on instagram.Katie's Art show "Silent Generations" all around the divine feminine archetypes
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