Running a Business While Mentally Drowning

What happens when you’re running a business, trying to keep everybody happy, and silently fighting burnout at the same time?

Who’s Even Listening ? — Season 2, Episode 40 (Overall 65)

In this episode, Andrew sits down with Kate White for a real conversation about business, burnout, boundaries, anxiety, and what it actually feels like to keep showing up when your mind and body are exhausted.

Kate talks about building and running her cleaning business, doing a lot of the work herself, learning through the ups and downs, and figuring out how to stay human in a world that often expects business owners to act like machines.

This conversation gets into the pressure to look polished, the fear of upsetting people, competition anxiety, nervous-system warning signs, and the moments where mental health has to matter more than pretending everything is fine.

There are funny moments, honest moments, and a lot of real talk about what it means to keep going without losing yourself in the process.

In this episode:
 🧠 Running a business while dealing with burnout
 🧹 The reality of building a cleaning business
 😵‍💫 Competition anxiety and mental overload
 🚧 Holding boundaries when it feels uncomfortable
 💬 Learning to be more human and less polished
 🔥 Showing up even when life feels like hard mode

If you’ve ever felt like you had to keep performing while mentally drowning, this one will hit home.

Kate's Links: 

https://www.facebook.com/immaculateservice 

00:00 - Highlights

00:41 - Opening remarks

01:55 - Question 1 - When did you first realize that you were living your life on “hard mode”?

05:48 - Question 2 - What are the warning signs that you’re slipping into burnout?

07:15 - Question 3 - What’s one business rule you broke because it didn’t work for your mental health?

11:44 - Question 4 - What does competition anxiety feel like in your body or mind?

16:36 - Question 5 - How do you hold a boundary when your nervous system is screaming “don’t upset them”?

19:14 - Question 6 - Where did you learn the idea that an owner has to look like a machine?

20:00 - Question 7 - What’s been the payoff of being more human and less polished?

21:57 - Question 8 - What’s the part of the job that most people never see but is the heaviest?

23:49 - Question 9 - What do you think the system gets wrong about mental health and illness in people in crisis?

26:11 - Question 10 - What is the most common lie anxiety tells you about yourself?

30:59 - Question 11 - In what situations do you feel safest to be your real self?

33:15 - Question 12 - What is something you’re proud of doing slowly even if the world pushes speed?

39:56 - Question 13 - What is the hermit crab story?

45:11 - Closing Remarks

Hashtags:
#MentalHealth #SmallBusiness #Burnout #Entrepreneurship #MentalMedicine #WhosEvenListening #ELE

ELE — Everybody Love Everybody 💚