From Retail Roller Coaster To Burnout Recovery

Deals that look done can vanish overnight, and the silence that follows can rattle your confidence. I share the unvarnished story of trying to sell my retail store three times, paying for fresh legal packs and profit and loss statements, and being ghosted at the death knock. When the numbers stopped making sense and the joy had already left the building, I chose to close, carry the lease, and fight for a transfer. After false starts and corporate landlord hurdles, a Pilates studio finally took over — and the relief was immediate.

Behind the spreadsheets sat something bigger: an identity unspooling. I’d been the buyer and merchant for years, certain on the shop floor and quick on decisions. Letting go pulled me into a midlife reset shaped by sobriety, changing values, and the need to feel rather than outrun grief. That’s where burnout crept in. I had joined masterminds — some genuinely supportive — but also found myself in rooms selling bro marketing shortcuts and “10k months” timelines. The highlights praised wins from people in different markets, and I slipped into comparison, doubled down on perfectionism, and worked harder without gaining traction.

I dig into what helped me step out of that spiral: filtering advice by business model, capacity, and season; choosing fewer, better actions; and redefining success beyond other people’s dashboards. I’ve shifted my creative focus to Instagram at Sparkle underscore sisterhood, back to community, play, and content that exists because it’s fun. Interviews are on the horizon via Instagram Live, a calm fit for my current bandwidth. If you’re navigating small business pressure, rising rents, and the myth of instant growth, this story offers practical relief and a reminder that closing a chapter can be a strategic win, not a loss.

If the journey resonates, follow along, share this with a friend who needs the sanity check, and hit follow or subscribe. Your reviews and messages keep this space real — what hard choice are you glad you made?

Transcript

The Store Sale Roller Coaster

Ghosted Buyers And Mounting Costs

Choosing To Close And Cut Losses

Identity Shift After Letting Go

Perfectionism And Burnout

Bro Marketing And False Promises

Cautious Advice On Masterminds

What’s Next And Where To Connect

Gratitude And Follow Request

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Hello and welcome back to Midlife Sparkle. This is a quick bite-sized solo episode. This season will be, which I've said before. So there's no music, there's no anything, so let's get into it. I sound like you like a DJ. Okay. Again, more bits and bobs about my uh my journey to burnout and depression. One of the things that was going on in my life in 2025 was me trying to sell my retail store business. And it was tough. It was a bit of a roller coaster. It's I suppose it's just like selling a house. So over the course of actually it was the end of 24, sorry, over the course of six months or so, I had three different buyers. Now this meant having to go and get different, I think they're called section, oh look, they're section something. So it's like a section 32 or something with with buying or selling a house. And these would cost$2,000 each. And three different buyers over, I don't know, it was six or eight months, or people that people that are as happy to take the bid and and yeah, have the sale. And I kid you not, each time, particularly two of them, it would get to the absolute death knock. Now, with these documents you have to provide, you have to provide them for the last month or so. I think it's more like a profit and loss as well. So I'd have to go and get those done too, which also costs money. And right at the death knock, right when we were getting contracts signed and what have you, or yeah, they pull out. They ghost me. I get nothing. They've fallen off the face of the earth. This was really, really hard to cope with. So emotional. I would be devastated in complete tears. Like, just it was awful. Awful. And I also because I still had 16 months left on the lease as of January 25. So made the decision to just shut and hopefully get someone to take the lease over. There are a few reasons for that. I wasn't happy. I'd had another breast cancer scare, and that prompted me to really look at what I loved. And sadly, I didn't love my shop anymore. I'd moved on, probably because when I'd stopped drinking, and yeah, my world just changed a bit. And I have talked about that in the past on previous podcasts. But yeah, I'd changed as a person and it wasn't fulfilling me anymore. But also what was happening, and you probably hear this all the time, and I've noticed there's quite a few posts lately with uh small businesses putting up please support small business because it's a dying thing. Fashion retail particularly, we can't afford the rents, we can't afford everything, the overheads, the overheads. So it's not, if you see these posts, it's not small businesses having a whinge. They literally have to close down. And look, if I had put myself bang into the business and I was working there six days to save money on wages, I I probably could have got through. And again, putting more savings, my savings, into the business. And I worked out that if I could get the lease taken over and I could close and shut the doors, I'd be better off financially. I'd sure I'd be paying dead money rent. But it would be more strategically financially prudent to do that. So thank God I had some savings. Now that was another roller coaster last year. I had three, or no, sorry, two different prospective tenants to take over the lease. I had to have lawyers involved because it's a, you know, it's again like the sale of the house. And my landlord is a corporate business, and they were very hard to deal with. And when someone was taking over my lease, they had to fill out an application, and then it would have to go through all this stuff with this corporate landlord. So it'll fall through. Anyway, long story short, in June it was taken over by a Pilates studio. So the first six months of last year, just that trigger the or stress of that store and uh and still paying the rent, and knowing that worst case scenario, I would be paying rent until April 2026. Then I also would have to rip up everything in it, which would be heartbreaking emotionally and financially to leave it as an empty shell. So it was such a relief. It was like, wow, in June. Now, going into that, I'd sort of also lost a bit of my identity, which happens to us in midlife. So the shop had gone, and yeah, sure, I wanted it to go. But without realizing it subconsciously, there was this change of identity in who am I? I know I'm a coach and I'm doing some speaking, but I was all I had had much more confidence, excuse me, in the shop and the retail space and being the buyer and the merchant. I could do it with my hands tied behind my back and my eyes closed. And not acknowledging them and feeling them and allowing myself to feel them, and the bloody stress that contributed to the path into burnout. And I also want to talk about burnout in having those perfectionist standards which I have, and look, I will always have, but managing them so they're not to your detriment. I had joined various business groups, and some of them have been so helpful, masterminds and things, and I've learned so much. I've actually made some lovely friends. Some of them I say I got sucked into because I did. They're very bro marketing. They're this bullshit, make 10 grand a month, you know, 10 grand months, easy, do it in 90 days, do this, do that, do this, do this, do the hustle, do the DMs, Facebook ads, newsletters, podcasts, blah, blah, blah. And me being patsy perfect and comparing some of their some of the other members, because the members that are doing well get highlighted. And subconsciously or consciously for me, I go into comparison cassie mode and think, well, what's wrong with me? What am I doing wrong? Which pushes me more to more patsy perfection. I just burnt out. I was doing all the things, all the things, and not getting, not getting uh clients. What's wrong with me? What am I doing wrong? I'm not good enough. How come she's and and some of these that were highlighted members, they weren't in the space that I am. They might have been in more a tangible goods business space. So I'm like comparing myself to them unrealistically. I'm pushing, oh, I want to get these 10 grand months. It's just bullshit, and I get angry about it. Having said that, as I said, some of the groups I was in were wonderful. This the learning, the support, the friendships I've made, fabulous. But if you're looking at doing some masterminds and business support groups and what have you, just be really cautious. And if you join them, great, but just be cautious of those things because we're all different. And just creating that extra pressure won't help and it will burn you out. I've got on my high horse there, haven't I? Goodness me. That's probably it for today. That's all I wanted to talk about. Probably the next episode will be the roundup. Uh, because I want to talk about other things. I want to talk about fun things. I want to, yeah, I want to be in your ears and having you having a little smile on your dial. Also, I want to do interviews, but because of my high-tech, incredibly sophisticated producing, as in, I can't do it. Well, there's no such one as can't. It's a challenge. And it's probably one challenge I don't need to do at this moment. I was thinking I'm going to do some Instagram live. So I've got some cool, lovely ladies, midlife ladies. So I will let you know, or I'll post them on my Instagrams. Talking of which, Instagram, Sparkle underscore sisterhood. Go there, have a look, have a laugh, and follow me if you feel called. This was my old Sissy Mandaliza, that was the name of my shop. This was my old shop page. And on my shop page, it was more a community. I would do fun things, I would do what I'm wearing, I would do Belinda Babel. And I'm going to talk about this more in another episode. I've returned to that. So I'm actually more on that page now and loving it. It's so much fun and lightness, and there's no agenda. I'm just creating content because I enjoy to. So Sparkle underscore sisterhood, take a look. And if you like it, I'd love you to follow me. This isn't a source pitch. And once again, do to do, do to do, there's the music where they're going now. I thank you for having me in your ears. If you liked this podcast, please like, subscribe, download, press plus to follow, or send it to a friend. Okay, lots of love, ladies. Have a beautiful day, night, life, week. All of the above. And I hope you get a little midlife sparkle happening in your life. Talk soon. Bye for now.