In the project, I invited over 20 entrepreneurs answer one question:

How has turning away from hustle culture increased your success?

Their responses are illuminating, inspiring, vulnerable, and incredibly powerful.

The project now lives as a beautiful ebook. Enter your email address below to receive your free copy.

Have you ever found yourself feeling trapped by the very business you created? Perhaps you're feeling burned out. Or that you're missing the best years of your (or your family’s) life because you're constantly preoccupied with work.

If you are feeling that way, you’re not alone.

That’s exactly where I found myself years ago.

I became an entrepreneur because I valued freedom above all else.

But after a few years, instead of finding freedom in being my own boss and calling all the shots, it seemed there was a lot on the line with every decision I had to make. I started to overthink everything and became caught up in ‘the hustle’.

I was stuck in my head and disconnected from my heart.

Sure, I could look at my business and see a success. But I didn’t feel successful. My work wasn’t satisfying me on a deeper level. And I had sacrificed the very things I valued most to get there.

So, of course the inevitable happened… Burn out. Something had to give, and it was me.

When it became clear that I had to pull myself out of the pressure cooker, I put myself on a path of exploration - inner and outer - to find a more relaxed, creative, and fulfilling way of running my business.

Looking back, the most important thing I did was to create breathing room.

If you’ve been there too, you know how hard that journey is. Because saying NO to ‘the hustle’ is countercultural.

Like many entrepreneurs, I had learned to believe that taking time out wasn’t smart, savvy, or productive. I’d internalized the idea that it was over-indulgent and unnecessary. I tried to tough it out and muscle through…

It took courage, determination, and an intentional daily practice, to question assumptions, do some unlearning, and carve out time for myself in my own life.

Prioritizing breathing room in my life and business gave me the sense of spaciousness and ease I needed.

And even though I was spending fewer waking hours on my business, it super-charged the time I did put in. I had greater clarity, became more effective and more creative.

Taking time away actually made my business more successful - and my life more enjoyable!