Erica: Hey, girl. By now, you know I have Her Collective, my online community for ambitious women who are done doing it alone. Her Collective is for the women who are smart, capable, and driven, but they find themselves stuck on the sticky floors like self doubt, burnout, and waiting for permission that quite honestly never comes. Inside HER, you get more than motivation. You get real support, real strategies, and real momentum.

Erica: We work on things like clarifying what you want now and what's coming next, building confidence without burning yourself out, navigating hard conversations, career moves, and leadership moments with clarity, and surrounding yourself with women who actually get it. This isn't about hustling harder. It's about moving intentionally with the right tools and the right people in your corner. If you're ready to stop spinning, start choosing yourself, and build a career in life that actually feels aligned, I'd love to welcome you inside her collective. You can learn more and join us at www.joinhercollective.com.

Erica: Because honestly, girl, you were never meant to do this alone. Have you ever accomplished something fabulous but been too broken and burned to actually enjoy it? This is the type a trap, and my friend, Aaron Stafford, has written an entire book about what helps us succeed early in our career, you know, the hustle, the grind, the long hours, and the hard work, and how it can be the very thing that leads us to burnout. The problem is this behavior is so ingrained in who we are, and we don't know any other way. We've gotten ahead in every aspect of life through hard work, but unfortunately, it's not working anymore, and it doesn't work with burnout, which can be so deceiving, and it sneaks up on you in real time.

Erica: And then before you know it, you've fallen into this trap. To escape, what do we do? We do what we do best. We just work harder, which only leads to more exhaustion, more disillusionment, and more burnout. So how can we stay at our peak performance without burning out?

Erica: Well, let me tell you. My girl, Erin Stafford, is here. And after interviewing, studying, and surveying thousands of peak performers from all different walks of life, including Olympians, New York Times bestselling authors, leading doctors, celebrity coaches, retired US Navy SEALs, y'all. Erin is going to unlock the five mindset shifts to move from burnout to sustainable peak performance. I'm obsessed with all things growth and abundance, and I'm here to talk you through the tried and true secrets to get you to level up your career and your life. We talk about the hard stuff here, imposter syndrome, perfectionism, fear, and burnout.

Erin: So pull

Erica: up a seat, pop in an earbud, and let's dive in. Today's episode is for all of my type a's out there, and I want you to get ready for a mind transforming episode today with the incredible Erin Stafford. She is a keynote speaker and a consultant, but most importantly, as of this recording today, she is a published author, and she is a game changer when it comes to reshaping mindset. So Erin Yammie, how are you?

Erin: I'm good. I'm good. Thank you so much for having me. I'm, like, so excited to be here, and it's such a big day in my career with my first book coming out. So it's it's really exciting.

Erin: Oh my god.

Erica: It's huge. How are you feeling with all of this right now?

Erin: I'm feeling good. It's been a busy day. My phone is just like pinging it left, right, and center with social media notifications. And, Yeah, I'm like checking on the sales and seeing how things are doing. I'm like, oh, am I gonna make a best seller list?

Erin: You know, all the things that you don't think about until it's there. And then you're like, oh, well maybe. You know? It's it's just fun. For all

Erica: of our listeners today who don't know who Erin Stafford is and what this type a trap is, I would love to just kick it off with a little bit about you, your background, and what inspired you to write this book.

Erin: Funny enough, I consider myself a type a personality.

Erica: Shocked. I'm shocked.

Erin: And I may have burned out at some point. So, yeah, I was born type a, born this way as, you know, our friend Lady Gaga says I was born this way. I have always been this, like, super motivated, driven, ambitious, overachiever, always taking like a million classes in school so I could finish early and taking summer school and having the job and varsity swim team and this and that, you know, just like doing all the things all the time and never really caught on to the fact that I was probably doing way too much. But then, you know, progressed, went to college, lived abroad for many years in Europe for about ten years, went to school and worked there, and The States and really just like focused double down on my career, climbed the corporate ladder, ended up being the head of marketing for the largest healthcare staffing company in North America. We were a hyper growth company, grew 27 X in the six years that I was there.

Erin: As you can imagine, staffing healthcare during the pandemic was, stressful to say the least. So definitely had a, a bout of burnout. I mean, I had been pushing my whole life. I had been grinding away, burning the candle at both ends, doing all the things that we do to help us be successful. Not realizing that all of those things that make us successful are also the very things that cause us to burn out, hence the trap.

Erin: So I had this horrible burnout experience and just decided that I needed to make some changes in my life because I don't know about you, but I was one of those people that was like burnout. Like, please give me a break. That doesn't happen to people like me. You know?

Erica: I'm like, oh, I'm fine for it anyways.

Erin: Yeah. Nobody has time for that. You know? Burnout, that's like something that happens to weak people, lazy people like those people. You're tired, like when go take a nap, you know, what do you mean you're burnt out?

Erin: Like I had no sympathy. I was such an a hole. Like I just was like, come on, get your life together. And then it happened to me and I'm like, oh my God, this is like really a thing. It's not a matter of just getting a little more sleep or taking a yoga class.

Erin: Like I really was feeling like a shell of myself and knew that like, I couldn't acupuncture my way out of this. I had to actually just straight up make some serious changes in my life. So it's a little bit of the journey that started me on the path of studying burnout and writing the book. And we're gonna have to

Erica: this is why I love having keynote speakers on this show because when I'm like, what's your sticky floor? They don't have to think about it. They know what their sticky floor is. And, you know, it's like, I'm a type a person, and it drove me to burnout. Check.

Erica: Done. Okay.

Erin: We can rock and roll. But I would

Erica: love to hear a bit more about how that burnout really manifested for you. Because, again, I think so many of us are like, oh, yeah. Burnout, whatever. It really can show up physically, mentally, all of the things. How did it show up for you?

Erin: Well, I think it probably started during my fertility journey. So my husband and I have been on a very long and painful fertility journey. As I'm sure many people can relate to. We did four rounds of IVF, multiple miscarriages, ended up using an egg donor, have gone through the adoption process, all the things. We still don't have a baby.

Erin: So, but I feel like I'm on the other side of that now, and I can talk about it and, like, joke about it and not be like a ball of tears and mess. But for years, all of my tests came back normal. Everything was normal. There's no reason that I shouldn't have been getting pregnant. Even then when we use the egg donor, like we had, they grade all your embryos and we had the highest grade you could possibly get.

Erin: And those still were not sticking. Like, they still weren't working. I still wasn't getting pregnant. And, like, there was just all these things. That was definitely the start of it where I was like, okay, I'm healthy.

Erin: I eat well. I exercise. I'm not overweight. I drink the water. I don't drink lots of booze.

Erin: I don't have drugs. I don't like all the things, you know? And I was like, oh, I think I'm, this might have something to do with it. Like I have a really stressful job. I have a lot of pressure.

Erin: I have a difficult to work for boss. I had all of these things. I was like, maybe this is like affecting my health. I know sounds like, obviously, but at the time when you're in the thick of it, you don't always think that that's what the case is, you know? And then I just started noticing, I've always been this motivated driven leader and I was just starting to get really apathetic and emails would come in and I would just forward them on to, like, one of the 75 people on my team.

Erin: Never to think about them again. I was not delegating. I was just straight up abdicating. Like, here, you deal with it. Never never followed up on it.

Erin: Never like just was like, okay. It's not my plate. Someone else is dealing with it now. You know, like, it didn't really take one for people to notice, you know, that I had this change in my behavior. I would be just like aimlessly scrolling Amazon or Instagram during these zoom calls with my camera off, obviously.

Erin: Like I was just totally zoning out. And then I, I always say I was really like reduced to a mouse jiggle. You know, when you're sitting at your desk and you're on zoom and you just sort of like jiggle your mouse every now and then just to make sure that you're active on teams or whatever slack or whatever you're on. Because God forbid, you don't touch your mouse often enough because you're scrolling Instagram on your phone. So I was literally just like reduced to a mouse jiggle.

Erin: And, it just, it, it finally got to me where I was like, I had brain fog. I wasn't functioning. I wasn't focusing. Just all sort of came crashing down. And I think really the crux of it was, my boss ended up calling me and asking me if I wanted to resign one day.

Erin: And I was like, oh, crap. I guess I can't hide this anymore. Like, I guess there's something genuinely wrong with me. I need to get my act together because I could not afford to lose that job. You know?

Erin: So that was really kind of the turning point where I was like, crap. I gotta change.

Erica: I'd appreciate you sharing all of that because it does show up so differently for so many people. So just hearing your story, I know will resonate with somebody who's listening and they're gonna kinda have that light bulb moment of, oh my gosh, me too.

Erin: And, you know, I mean, I remember I used to live in Sacramento for a few years, but my friends from Sacramento were in town. And it was one of their birthdays. And I remember we were out and I was there physically, but, like, mentally, I was just completely vacant. I remember having conversations with one of my girlfriends and I was, like, having an out of bottom experience. She was, like, talking to me, but I was barely listening, barely paying attention.

Erin: I was just not there. And as somebody who's always been super dialed in and really extroverted, this was just not who I am. And I I just realized I had to make some sort of change because this was not cool. I didn't wanna keep going down this road. Yeah.

Erica: Hey there, listeners. If you have ever felt like you're stuck in a place, held back by self doubt, perfectionism, or that pesky inner critic, you're not alone. We all face those sticky floors that keep us from reaching the heights we dream of. But guess what? It's time to shatter those limiting beliefs and toxic behaviors to uncover infinite possibilities.

Erica: My book, Glassy Leads and Sticky Floors, is your ultimate guide to smashing through barriers, overcoming limiting beliefs, and stepping into your full potential. This book has been endorsed by none other than the great Mel Robbins, best selling author and motivational powerhouse. It's also been featured in Success Magazine, so you know it's packed with insights that work. Inside, you'll find real life sticky floor stories, practical strategies to help you navigate your own sticky floor moments, and a whole lot of inspiration to keep you climbing. This isn't just a book.

Erica: It's your road map to success, confidence, and freedom. Grab your copy of Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors today at www.ericaandersonrooney.com. Whether you're in the boardroom, the classroom, or just starting out, this book is for you because no one, and I mean no one, deserves to stay stuck, no one deserves to feel small, and you have glass ceilings to shatter. Let's do this. So what does it mean to be type a?

Erica: I mean, I've never heard of a type b or c. There's only type a. What does it mean to be type a?

Erin: So there is no, like, definition per se. It's not, you know, a medical ailment. Well, one could argue it is, but it's not officially. But there are just general characteristics that are usually used to to describe a type a personality. So that could be extroverted, very internally driven, internally motivated, takes risks, perfectionist tendencies, competitive, fast paced entrepreneurial, controlling workaholics, natural leaders, impatient.

Erin: So lots of good qualities that make us great leaders and drivers to move projects and company forward, but also, you know, a lot of qualities that can be detrimental to relationships, to your health as well. So if you are going check, check, check, check, check, you

Erica: may wanna check out this book because you're a type a person. You're probably stuck in that trap and you don't even know it. You've had such a transformation, right, from this burnout, this place of just utter despair, a shell of yourself to now, I mean, vibrance, just your website too, all the yellow and bright colors. Like, it really screens who you are as a person. What did that transformation look like?

Erin: Well, I mean, I am a really high energy, vibrant, fun, outgoing person. And so like when this all happened and I felt like I changed into somebody completely out different, I was like, This is not me. This isn't who I am clearly something's wrong. It took a lot of just trial and error. It took a lot of tears, a lot of money spent on doctor's appointments on things like acupuncture and yoga and this.

Erin: Basically when I burnt out, I looked at recovering from my burnout as the next thing I was gonna accomplish because, like, God forbid, I don't accomplish something during this period of time, which in and of itself is problematic. So, you know, when I first started feeling like I actually was burnt out, that this was a thing that I think I had it, I just went guns blazing as I do with anything. And I literally was taking yoga, Pilates, doing acupuncture, chiropractic, getting massages, facials, going to therapy, taking every freaking supplement under the sun, trying to get lots of sleep. I was meditating. I was like, whatever you could possibly do to get calm and still yourself, I was doing, but I was overdoing it.

Erin: And so even through that, I had to be like, okay, girl, you are stressing yourself out, trying to do all these like recovery tools. You just need to stop. Like you just need to stop doing all this stuff. Relax, flow your role a little bit. And that's hard for me as I feel like it is for a lot of people, because I have always felt like my worth was determined by my productivity.

Erin: You know, if I'm not being productive, I don't feel like I've done something. I don't feel worthy. I don't feel like I've accomplished something. I'm like the girl that wants to cross that thing off her to do list, tick the box and say I've done it. And so stopping feels like terrifying.

Erin: Like, oh my God, I'm gonna be wasting so much time. Like, dude, get your life together. So it just took a real mental mindset shift. I mean, that's why I talk about these mindset shifts because it's not a matter of just stopping. We have to re program our brain that it's okay to stop.

Erin: You know, that's why, like going on a vacation. Yeah. That's great. But that's not gonna solve your problem because you're literally just going on a ten day, two week, whatever it is, vacation postponing your burnout until later. Like you're, you're taking a quick break, but most of us are like still on our phones, still checking our emails, not totally tuning out.

Erin: And then we get back and we're even more stressed out because now we got to catch up on all the work that we didn't do while we were away. It really takes a mental rewiring and that's not something that happens overnight, particularly when you've been this way, your whole life. And so a lot of the stuff that I talk about in the book are just small little shifts because just like sort of diet and exercise, you know, we don't eat healthy one day exercise like a maniac one day. And then all of a sudden we're in amazing shape for the rest of our life. Now, sadly, we gotta drink the water, lay off the wine, you know, eat the salad instead of the French fries, take the stairs.

Erin: Like all of those things we have to just keep doing and we have to do them forever and preventing and overcoming burnout. It's the same way. It's small little shifts that you do to change your mindset, to incorporate some of these tools and tactics into your day, your week, your month, so that ultimately we can prevent and overcome burnout. We do, we can amass these tools to help us deal with this because the stress and the burnout's not going anywhere. We live in a society that applauds people burning out, I feel like.

Erin: You know?

Erica: In the world of hustle culture and busyness and all of that Yeah. Absolutely. And I love what you talk what you say. You're like, we just have to stop.

Erin: And that's it's that easy and it's that hard. Right? Yeah. When I'm sitting down and reading a book, like, when I'm working, I say, oh, I just wanna, like, lie on the couch and read a book. But then when I'm lying on the couch reading a book, I'm like, I really should be doing my laundry.

Erin: If I'm not working, and I'm just sitting here lying on the couch, I should do the laundry and get that over with. That's just then I then I can relax. I'll feel like, okay, it's done. You know? And then the it just continues.

Erin: Then when you're doing the laundry, you're like, oh, gosh, I really should clean the bathroom too, you know? Or, oh, I I need to go run this air. Like, our minds just don't ever stop. Mhmm.

Erica: So I don't wanna give away all the mindset shifts and all the favor, but I do wanna ask, which is your favorite one? Well,

Erin: there's, I mean, they're all pretty good, but the one is the slow down to speed up and realizing that instead of maxing out every race, like wearing our work ethic, like a badge of honor, being in this competition of who's the most tired and who's the busiest and this race to the bottom is not a recipe for success. I have this thing that I call the Coco Chanel takeoff, and I talk about it in the book. I talk about it in my keynotes. So Coco Chanel, obviously the famous French fashion designer behind the house of Chanel. She had this great quote when she's talking about dressing with accessories.

Erin: And she says, before you leave the house, take one thing off her point being less is more. And I take that same approach with my weeks. And so I say, instead of, I said, before you start your week, take one thing off. And so, you know, on a Sunday or Monday morning, look at your calendar and think like, what can I take off? Is there a meeting or a call that could just be an email?

Erica: I must be real. There's a lot

Erin: of those, you know, is this the week that your kids could like carpool the soccer practice with somebody else so that you can take those two hours while they're gone to do something else? You know, is this the week that you've already over committed and you have plans three nights this week, and it's already stressing you out, like reschedule one or go or better yet just cancel. We always say we have to reschedule everything. No, we can just straight up cancel the plans if you don't wanna do that. And if all of that feels like too much, I always say, you know, because sometimes there are weeks where you literally, everything is like a mandatory, I can't change it.

Erin: Turn the music off when you get in your car. So often we are just bombarded by news and noise and notifications on our phone and radio and music and podcasts and audio books and all the things we think as achievers, oh, I'm in my car. I don't wanna waste this time. Let me listen to a podcast, you know, as soon as it's like,

Erica: just I'm only laughing because it's true. You're in my car with me, obviously.

Erin: But it's like, just turn the music off and give yourself those five, ten minutes of silence when you are driving to wherever you're going, the grocery store, the dry cleaner, the school drop off work, the gym, whatever it is that you're doing, Those little five, ten, fifteen minute trips that we take fairly often throughout the week. Turn the music off. Just give yourself those moments of silence. And it feels weird at first. Trust me.

Erin: My car is my own recording studio. So like, I love to sing at the top of my lungs in my car, but I save that for my road trips. But for those short things every day, like just turn the music off. And it is incredible how it just like resets your nervous system. All of a sudden, like, think of stuff that you were struggling with that maybe now you've got an idea or something has sort of worked itself out in your head, or maybe you get a great creative idea for something you can do in your business or with your team or with your family, your partner.

Erin: Like it's amazing how just turning the music off for those few minutes throughout the day. It's just such a great shift. I love it now. I crave it.

Erica: I love this. The mindset shift is slowing down to speed up. And I will tell you immediately where my brain went because I'm a fitness enthusiast, so it went straight to my treadmill. I am always trying to beat my last best run or whatever it is. And I am Yeah.

Erica: Constantly working on myself to say, like, you are not the same as you were on whatever day. Right? Like, maybe you didn't sleep as well or maybe you didn't fuel as well or maybe your legs are tired or maybe you're just mentally not in the game and, like, that can be okay. Take it down a notch, walk it if you have to, and then Yeah. You know, the next time you will be more recovered to run better, faster, and farther.

Erica: It's also why so many fitness enthusiasts build recovery into their plans.

Erin: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the I did not come up with this, but there's that whole notion of, like, do less so you can show up more. Commit to less. Like, just commit to the ten minute workout.

Erin: But Yes. But do it every day, you know, instead of committing to an hour workout and only doing it once a week.

Erica: Well, I am so excited because my book arrives either today or tomorrow, depends on the Amazon gods and the horrible weather that we have going on in The Carolinas right now. But it's coming for me. I know it, and I can't wait to read it all about the slow down to speed up and the other four mindset shifts. So I have one question though before I let you leave us on your book launch today. If you had one piece of advice that you could give the Erin that's burnt out, running it into the ground, what would that piece of advice be?

Erin: I think it would be that there is a way out. If you're feeling stuck, exhausted, overwhelmed, and burnt out, there is a way out. It's doable. It's possible. It can and will get better, but it's gonna require some serious changes in your life.

Erin: My cousin always said, nothing's gonna change until you change it and true. No one's coming to save you. You've gotta figure this out yourself, but it can get better. It will get better and it is genuinely possible to be successful and not burn out at the same time. Now that's not to say that there's never gonna be a day where you have a run for the roses and it is just a go, go, go, go, go, go, go.

Erin: But as we develop these skills, as we develop these tools, just like with diet and exercise, you eat like crap one day, because you have a great party. You make it up the next few days and it's the same thing. If you have a day where you are stressed out and overwhelmed and you've got so much crap going on, how can we relook at the rest of our week to say, okay, I pushed real hard yesterday. I gotta make up some of this. Like, can I sleep in a little bit longer?

Erin: Can I get a nap in? Can I bail out of those plans? That sounds fun, but you know what? Let's do it next week. I, I just, I need the time to rest and relax.

Erin: So it can and will get better. It does take some time and some mindset shift, and you can be successful and not burnt out at the same time. Oh my gosh.

Erica: And you can read all about it in the book. And, Erin, where can people find this book? So they

Erin: can get it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books a Million, Amplify, which is the publisher. You can go to my website, erinstafford.com, to learn more about me as a keynote speaker or coach author. You can obviously get the book from there as well. So erinstafford.com is probably your one stop shop for all things.

Erica: Amazing. Well, Erin, thank you so much. Congratulations on your book launch. I cannot wait to get it.

Erin: Thank you so much for having me. Appreciate it.

Erica: Oh my gosh. What an episode. Erin has not just shared her journey, but she has given us a true road map to navigate your own. So for every type a personality, remember, the trap is real, but so is the way out. And if Erin's insights resonate with you, don't keep it to yourself.

Erica: Go out there, buy her book, read the whole thing, and share this episode with your friends, your family, your colleagues. Let's spread the word and help others, you know, all of us who are these type a ambitious women to escape the type a trap. I am so glad that you tuned in to the podcast today. If you loved this episode, make sure that you subscribe it and leave us a review. Every single review, every comment, every share, it truly helps get the message out, and you are making it happen.

Erica: So remember, friends, until next time, stop putting ceilings on what is possible and start breaking through

Erin: them.