Preventing Burnout and Thriving in Your Business with Julia Avery
Happy Friday feels, Tribe! Can you believe we’re at the end of August? I don’t even know how it happened. It’s crazy how summer can seem to lazily crawl by and then all of a sudden you blink and time fast forwards.
For today’s episode, I am so incredibly grateful to bring you the beam of sunlight who is Julia Avery. Julia and I met about a year ago and were in an amazing mastermind together. She has the same passion as I do — helping people grow their business and make their impact on the world!
I first found her online, and I remember always thinking that she was magnetic. She absolutely radiates happiness. Sometimes it can be really hard to captivate that energy when you're working from an online space, but this girl can pull it off!
Julia is a gift to the business coaching industry, and I've just adored her ever since we met. She is also passionate about helping others. I always say that if you wake up with the gut feeling in your stomach that you are meant to help people, then it’s 100% what you are meant to do.
But sometimes, even fulfilling your purpose and making your impact can be exhausting. And if you’re not careful, it can lead to burnout. I know you’ve probably heard that term a lot — it’s everywhere.
Tribe, that’s because it’s so real. I experienced burnout when I first started my business, and let me just tell you — it was not a fun time. Julia is familiar with the experience of burnout too, and she has some great tips for us today about how to prevent it, how to get out of it, and so much more. So without further ado, let’s go!
Who Is Julia Avery?
Julia Avery was born and raised in Houston, Texas, but after graduating from college, she set out for New York City. There, she began a lackluster career in investor relations.
Soon, however, Julia realized that just living in the city was no longer enough. She began teaching fitness classes — eventually landing a job teaching at a gym in the Cayman Islands — before finally starting her online coaching business, Step Up, about a year ago.
Step Up is a 12-week group coaching program where you will get mentored by Julia and also have an incredible gang of fellow entrepreneurs to support you along the way! You’re definitely gonna want to check it out.
Today, Julia is on a mission to help entrepreneurs like herself grow and scale their business, avoid burnout, and thrive. I know that by the end of this episode, you are going to love this girl as much as I do!
The Basics of Burnout
For Julia to tell us how she learned to prevent burnout and get out of the “hole” of work-life exhaustion, we first need to hear about her story!
It often takes a while for anyone to figure out how to truly make their impact. For Julia, it took being in New York City working in investor relations.
Although it was a good first job, the work didn’t light her up or excite her. Let’s be real — what’s the point of doing anything in life if it doesn’t light a fire inside you? After looking around for a while, she found a job in fitness as an assistant fitness instructor at a small studio:
“I had never taught a day of fitness in my life … but I loved it. That was kind of like the gateway for me, where I was like ‘Wow, okay. This is what it feels like to want to show up every day to go to work and get excited … That was the start of me realizing that I could help people — when people would tell me how much one fitness class changed their life.” - Julia Avery
Isn’t it magical when you find something that makes you feel like you are making an impact on others? At first, Julia loved what she was doing and started adding more classes to make a full time living in fitness.
But showing up at such a high level eventually drained her energy. Between having crazy hours and zero free time, she quickly started to reach burnout:
“I started hitting burnout as many do fitness professionals, especially in New York and probably other cities … They call [the fitness industry] the five to nine because you are up working from 5:00AM until 9:00 PM … I was getting to the point where I was like, ‘I don't even want to go teach class anymore.’ Like I was just getting super burned out, starting to resent everyone — my boss, my clients. So I knew something was wrong.” - Julia Avery
Tribe, you should never feel like that in your job. It’s not okay to feel like you’re drowning. It’s not okay to dread showing up for work every day and feel exhausted when you are supposed to be doing what you love. Life is just too damn short, am I right?
Luckily, right around the time that Julia came to the realization that she was facing burnout in New York, a job opened up in the Cayman Islands as a personal trainer. She was able to get a taste of the entrepreneurial life, being responsible for her own clients and sales.
At first, it was amazing. But that was just because it was new and different. Eventually, the burnout set in again. She was still not in control of her own hours and not making the money that she knew her service was worth:
“One of the things that I find that makes me really sad is when I see coaches who are helping people and making people's lives better burning out and hitting that point where they just don't want to do it anymore. Or, they're going to do it and not show up the way that they could or the way that they used to.” - Julia Avery
That lack of passion from burnout affects everyone — the client, the coach, and even the job itself. But that’s what happens when you are doing too much. It happened to Julia, and it happened to me too!
I remember when I was doing one-on-one coaching, I had 52 nutrition clients. That’s a lot of humans to coach! I eventually found myself resenting the clients and the work because of all the time they took. But I was really just resenting the life I set up for myself!
I was resenting the fact that I couldn’t travel because of work. I couldn’t go to bed before a certain time or not work weekends. I couldn’t eat dinner with my husband or say “yes” to plans with family and friends. I wasn’t really living my life because I built my business around the mindset of ‘go, go, go.’
When I finally took a step back, I thought “Congratulations, Jenn. This is what burnout looks like.” Turns out, it sucks. Ever been there? Are you there now? If so, what are you gonna do about it? Julia has some great tips for us about getting out of the burnout phase and returning to a place where you can thrive in your business.
How to Beat Burnout and Rediscover Your Passion
When I was facing burn out about ten months ago, pulling myself out of it felt like someone just dropped me in the middle of the ocean and told me to swim. Sound familiar? I was so exhausted and didn’t know what to do.
At that point, all I wanted to do was sleep! Burnout is almost like a depression of your business. Getting out of it is hard. You don’t want to move. But guys, it’s completely possible. Julia noticed that the first step to beating burnout is to recognize that it’s there:
“I think the hardest part for me the first time I ever got burnt out was … recognizing what was happening. I just thought, ‘Oh, I'm just tired. I just need some more sleep. After a weekend of sleeping, I'll be fine.’ Or, ‘Oh, I'm just like mad at my boss because they gave me this extra class I didn’t want to teach.’ Or, ‘Oh those clients are just annoying. I hate that class’ All these little things that weren’t like me at all … it took me a while to realize it.” - Julia Avery
It’s amazing how easy it is to get so caught up in your business that you don’t even realize you’re dealing with burnout. But being aware of it is critical to being able to fix it.
Are you exhausted every day? Are small things about your business bothering you that didn’t used to affect you? Think about some of these signs of burnout and really try to be aware of whether it is happening to you!
Julia advised that once you’ve realized you are dealing with burnout, the second step to getting out of it is to set boundaries in your business.
As entrepreneurs, we build our businesses to help people. You know what comes along with that — wanting to say “yes” to everything! But overloading yourself will eventually harm your business because you will be too overwhelmed to show up to the best of your ability:
“I recognize when I’m feeling really uninspired. I don’t want to post on Instagram. I don’t want to show up for this or that. That’s my sign that I’m kind of teetering on the edge, and I’ll look and be like ‘... What am I overcommitting to? … I’ll take a step back and look at what I can take off my plate. Whether that’s getting someone else to do it or just letting go of it completely, just figuring out a more efficient way of doing things.” - Julia Avery
Boundaries are a huge part of life, and putting them in your business will not only help you get rid of burnout but will also help you prioritize your “you” time. Knowing yourself and recognizing what adds to your life can help you figure out what boundaries to set.
Tribe, we’re here on this planet to make an impact. We're literally here to change people's lives. And when we get tired or burnt out, we can't do that. Recognizing when burnout happens and setting boundaries can really help you get out of that mindset and get you back to being excited about your business!
So you’re out of the pit of burnout and back on track. Great. That’s awesome. But what can you do to prevent it from happening again? Julia has faced burnout more than once and has some great advice about how to prevent it from creeping back into her business.
Key Ways To Prevent Burnout
Here’s a bit of simple advice that may seem like common sense but is easy to forget: The best way to solve a problem is to stop it from happening in the first place. Well, the same thing applies to burnout. Preventing it from sneaking up on you takes a few simple tips, and a lot of awareness.
Julia noted that the first tip to prevent burnout is to schedule time for yourself, just like you would schedule time for a workout or meeting with a client:
“Make sure that you’re putting yourself first … schedule your own life in there because you’re here to build a business around your life, not your life around your business.” - Julia Avery
If you guys follow Julia on Instagram, you’ll see that she follows her own advice! She is working on her body in a way that feels good to her every day. She’s going outside with her mom and taking walks with her dog Blueberry (who I’m obsessed with).
I like to call the little things like that make me happy my “non-negotiable standards.” Whether it is working out or taking time to read a book — I prioritize and schedule things that make me feel like myself. Remember — you are the foundation of your business, not the other way around!
Another tip that Julia uses to prevent burnout is a mindset shift about her work. Sometimes it’s really hard to disconnect from the idea of the nine to five grind. You might feel like you are “lazy” or “not doing enough” for having your own hours. But that mentality will prevent you from being in love with life and your job, and it leads to burnout:
“It's a hard mindset shift to have when you're used to … the nine to five world where you literally have to be at your desk and you don't have a choice … And all of a sudden you have the power to control all of that, but you don’t really realize it because you either have this past experience to see everyone around you doing it a certain way. [It’s important to] disconnect from the idea that doing ‘nothing’ or not doing something work-related makes you lazy.” - Julia Avery
Tribe, why on earth do we leave the nine to five jobs to enter another one? The beauty of having an online business is that you get to control your schedule and get to do the things that you love.
Otherwise, we don't remember who we are. We know who we are as business people but do we remember who we are as humans? Do we know what makes us happy and what we like to do? That’s what life's all about, and I don’t want you to miss out on that.
Why You Should Listen to this Julia Avery Podcast Episode Right Now...
Let’s get real — burnout freaking sucks. It destroys your passion and energy, and it decreases your IMPACT and eventually can affect your INCOME. The good news? You can prevent it and beat it! Julia had so much wisdom for us today about how to do that, and I hope you got as much out of this conversation as I did!
If you are looking to get to know this radiant human being better and also scale your business to new heights, check out her signature program, Step Up. It’s a 12 week group coaching program where you will get mentored by Julia and also have an incredible group of entrepreneurs to support you along the way!
“We essentially spend 12 weeks getting really fricking clear on where you want your business to go and who your business is for and then go into making more money and being way less burnt out.” - Julia Avery
As always, I am a huge fan of investing in your business, and this would be a great way to do it!
I hope this episode helped inspire you to prevent burnout in your business. If you are in a place where you are feeling burnt out, I hope it helped you to get back to being excited about your business!
And as always, share this episode with your friends on Instagram and tag @juliavery and @thejennkennedy if you loved it!
Remember, you can beat burnout, and you can prevent it! You are meant to make a huge IMPACT on this world and make the IMPACT you deserve. I know you won’t let burnout get in the way of that!
I love you guys, and I’ll catch you next time!
