Episode #6: Lessons Learned from Burnout with Jolien BRX

In this episode, we welcome Jolien, a vegan & online pilates instructor. She’s been my friend for years now and I’m excited to finally introduce her to all the mission-driven entrepreneurs in my circle. Burnout

Jolien first found out about pilates while she was still studying. She realized that it was connected to teaching so she decided to eventually study to become a Pilates teacher.

While teaching pilates in the evenings Jolien had two teacher positions in different schools. Since being an educator goes beyond simply teaching during class hours, she also had to do prep work and all the other extras and she basically worked 150%.

This eventually led to burnout.

At first, she ignored symptoms to the point where she went blind in one eye and her body finally told her to stop. While it was a difficult time in her life, Jolien now looks back to it being a blessing in disguise. She learned a lot of lessons and discovered breakthroughs that led her to finally pursue pilates as a business, gaining a lot of online and offline clients.

When COVID hit, she also had the opportunity to finally create her online pilates course (Dutch).

Now, she knows that when things are not in alignment that’s when her body is telling her to stop and charge her batteries. She always asks herself “Is this the right situation for me and how can I make it better for myself?”

Listen to her story now and the lessons, breakthroughs, and actions she took after hitting burnout.

In this Episode:

(1:53) Who is Jolien and her mission

(2:14) Finding her life purpose

(4:16) The lessons she learned when she hit burnout

(6:50) How burnout turned out to be a blessing in disguise

(8:35) Her typical schedule prioritizing health and wellbeing (projector in HD)

(12:50) Balancing in the influencer world

(16:25) Change in the health industry

(17:34) Jolien’s long-term goals

(19:50) Her message to those who are transitioning to a plant-based lifestyle

(23:11) Advice for people who’d like to start with pilates

Episode Snippets:

“In that process of crashing and resting, that’s where I really found myself. But if you would tell me at the beginning of the burnout that I would find myself as the result of it, I wouldn’t have believed you.”

“The burnout really was a blessing in disguise because it taught me to really listen to my gut feeling and intuition.”

“You prioritize what’s important for you and not necessarily what’s important for your work.”

“Being healthy is not just doing pilates workouts to have the abs or a nicely-defined backside. It’s also eating healthy and eating with respect for your body. Not just doing it for the number on the scale. A big part is the mindset—the mindset of respecting yourself and respecting yourself enough to want to grow.”