I am a burnout survivor.

In 2018, I experienced severe burnout that resulted in me leaving my job as a public health professor. I am in the top 1% of most cited scientists worldwide but being a leader, mom and wife was challenging in the competitive world of medical science research. I was sad to leave a field I was so passionate about; using behavior science to help communities become healthy. I still support researchers writing grants for the National Institutes of Health and other health agencies worldwide.

At first, I blamed myself and felt like a failure. My inner critic was screaming at me 24/7. I started to read about changing my mindset, letting go of authoritarian parenting, and learning my love language. I benefited greatly from coaching. And even did stand up and improv comedy.

But as I read about being a better leader I learned about the maternal wall and the motherhood penalty, that are particularly prevalent in STEM.

I had not realized I was burned out at the time, but as I learned about the conditions that lead to burnout it hit me that the causes and solutions for burnout are different for women. That burnout and DEI align.

I am now on a mission to prevent burnout in other working moms and to change the narrative that burnout is an individual problem. It is a systemic problem that needs strategic multi level solutions. And the good news is that burnout solutions can impact wellness, leadership development, and DEI at the individual, team and organizational level creating a more supportive workplace culture for all.