Midwest Makers Podcast Episode #5 | Blessed, Busy, and Burnt Out: A Pep Talk for Makers

[00:00:00] Hey, besties. Welcome back to the Midwest Makers Podcast, and this is where we have real, honest conversations about building a maker business that lasts. I'm Kenna. I'm the co-founder of Midwest Fragrance Company, and today we're gonna be talking about what to do when you're feeling blessed, busy, and a little bit burnt out. Whatever you're doing right now, whether you're packing orders or pouring things, or maybe you're driving to a market, or maybe you're just folding laundry that's been sitting in the basket for way too long, that's me, I feel that in my soul, I just want you to pretend with me just for a minute that you and I are gonna be sitting down for a little biz bestie coffee date. Oh my gosh, I'm just having this moment where wouldn't that just be literally the best thing ever? Oh my gosh. Seriously, goals. But until that day comes, I wanted to share with you about some recent conversations that I did have with makers. Heading into busy season, I reached out to five makers who are running amazing businesses, and I asked them, " What's going on in your business right now? What are you struggling with, especially with busy season coming?" And I thought I was just gathering a little bit of info for this episode, but what actually ended up happening was I was having these long, amazing [00:01:00] conversations in IG DMs with these women, sending ridiculously long memos back and forth, pouring into them, sharing things that I've learned over the years, and really trying to help them to see the truth about where they are. And honestly, what happened was they ended up pouring right back into me

I just thought it was so crazy what I discovered. Five different businesses, five different women, five different lives, five different seasons, and still every single one of them was feeling some version of the same thing. I heard things like, " I'm only one person. I'm making, I'm packing, I'm doing wholesale, markets, social media, and I'm just overwhelmed."

I can relate to so many of these things, and I wonder if you can too. Another thing that I heard super often was, " There's so much to do, and I don't even know where to start. Everything feels important, and I feel like I should be posting more, launching more, doing more markets," et cetera. Another thing I heard was, "I'm so grateful because these are the things that I prayed for, but I'm also so exhausted, and then I feel guilty because I always am feeling like I'm behind." Or I feel like I need to be on all the [00:02:00] time, and I love what I do and I'm so passionate about it, but I feel like it's always on my mind.

Or last but not least, I'm so burnt out. I've lost my motivation, and honestly, I feel like some of my joy, too. So today, I really wanna talk to you about these things that I heard over and over from every single one of these makers. Because if all five of them are feeling this way, and bestie, I have seriously either felt this way currently or I have in the past, I have a pretty good feeling that you might need a little pep talk in these areas, too. And so I just wanna share with you what I told them, the thoughts, ideas, strategies I wish someone would have told me years ago. And as always, if it doesn't apply, let it fly. Before we get into anything further, I really just want you to hear this.

When you're a one-person show doing a million different things, of course it feels like it's a lot, because it is a lot. And that doesn't mean that you're failing or that you're doing it wrong. You are not alone in this, my friend. We're in this together, and you are on the right track. Okay, I just needed you to hear that.

Let's get into it.

I wanna break down each of these maker thoughts that I heard [00:03:00] over and over, and I wanna go through what I told them that I really need you to hear too

So the first one, maybe you've said this or if you've thought this before, " I'm only one person. I'm making, I'm doing wholesale, I'm packing, I'm doing market, social media, and I'm just overwhelmed." If this is you right now, I have to say wow. Wow. Because seriously, look at that list. You're making all the product, you're packing all the orders, managing wholesale, doing markets, showing up on social media, and somehow you're still also being a human being.

You're doing the work of three people, if not more, and you are, you're doing it well, even though you probably don't think that you are. Personally, I feel like I'm literally in awe of you. You're basically Superwoman, and I need you to know that. I want you to just stop for one second and just give yourself a little bit of credit.

It's so easy to only see the struggle or what isn't getting done or where you're not at 100% or what could be better. But I wonder if you could just zoom out for one second and see yourself as I see you. You have so much resilience. You're [00:04:00] working so hard. If you have kids, you're showing them how to go after their dreams, and you're having the best and the biggest heart and learning a million different things all at the same time.

You're growing

Seriously, bestie, I'm so proud of you. But if this is you and you are still feeling the overwhelm and all the things that go along with all of those things that you're doing, I really wanna share with you a few things that really changed the way I was approaching this for myself, because I certainly know that I have struggled with this

And I think it's really just starting to come to this realization that it's true. You and I, we are one person. A super one person, but still one person. And I don't say that to limit you. I say it because we have to actually start planning for that reality, because your capacity is real. And once you learn to work with it and not against it, the game really changes

Here's what I think a lot of us do. We plan for this imaginary version of ourselves. An imaginary you never gets tired. Nothing unexpected ever happens. Nothing ever breaks. Somehow we make all the product on our list, and we complete all the to-dos in record [00:05:00] time. We pack all these orders like we're Amazon.

We post a reel, we make dinner, and somehow we're in bed by 9:30. I don't know about your imaginary you, but my imaginary Kenna has really high ambitions. And I guess so does actual real life normal Tuesday Kenna, but I'm also human, and sometimes I wake up tired. I don't know about you, but sometimes I have low motivation or maybe life is just life-ing. I could go on and on, but by the end of the day, I start to really dislike this imaginary Kenna and her high ambitions that always are making me feel like I can just never get it all done.

I don't know if you can see yourself in that, but I sure can

Here's what I want you to try. Instead of making this giant list of everything and assuming that somehow you'll fit it all in, start to look at the actual amount of hours you have available in the day. You need time to be a human and make dinner and spend time with people you love and, dare I say, sleep.

But look at the actual amount of hours that you have available truly and realistically, and then look at your list of tasks and plan around real life. Because if you have 12 free hours this week and [00:06:00] 26 hours of work planned, that's not a productivity problem, friend. That's a math problem, and no planner or app or 5:00 AM alarm is gonna fix it. Something has to be simplified, pushed back, or dropped, and a lot of grace needs to be given as well. So how do you decide what?

That brings me to our next point If you're anything like me, you're looking at that list and you're thinking, " There's so much to do. I don't even know where to start. Everything feels important, and I feel like I should be doing all these things more." So I wanna kinda break that down and talk about that one piece at a time. So everything feels important.

Here's the thing. It's not all equally important. It just looks that way. Every single thing lands on the same metaphorical plate. The orders, the restock, the emails, the content, the new scent idea that you had in the shower, it all lands on you, so it all looks like it's the same size.

So you have to measure it differently. I wanna share with you a little bit on how I sort out my never-ending to-do list, and everything goes into one of four buckets. So number one, what truly has to happen? These are things that have real deadlines or [00:07:00] real consequences, like prepping for this weekend's show, or fulfilling an order that someone already paid for, or ordering your supplies from MWFC for an upcoming launch, obviously.

These go into your hours first. Number two, what would be helpful but could wait? Maybe you don't need to right now update your entire website, or maybe you don't need to make five social media posts this week. Maybe one might be more than okay in this season. Basically, if it can be pushed to next week without actually hurting the business, give it a date and let it go for now.

Number three: What am I doing because I feel like I should? Oh, this question is gold. But hold that thought, 'cause we're gonna come back to it in just a second. Number four: What's making me the most money right now? This is gonna be the thing that actually moves your business forward, and should therefore be a priority for you.

If shows are your biggest opportunity this season, they get more of your attention right now. If your wholesale accounts are constantly bringing more revenue, protect those first. And if you're ever stuck on which bucket something belongs in, I want you to ask yourself this question: What actually happens if this doesn't get done this week?

Who's affected? [00:08:00] That one question will sort most of this for you. And if you wanna save these buckets and come back to them later, I've got a post on Instagram for you to check out.

I'll link it in the description

Let's head back to that should bucket, because I think this is a sneaky little thought that can get really twisted around, and I think it's something that we really need to be talking about more. If you start sorting your list like this, I think that you're gonna find what I found. So much of my list is shoulds.

You see other makers doing something and you think that you need to do it too. But why? Is it because it's actually gonna move your business forward, or is it just a distraction? I wanted to look at these three examples that I heard the most and just kind of break them down a little bit. So the first one is, should I be posting more?

I feel like that's such a typical one. I see that so often, and what I really have to tell you is maybe, but I think you should first look at where your sales are actually coming from. Personally, when I did this and I looked at our data, social media wasn't necessarily the thing that was driving conversions, and it's gonna be different for everyone, but I really believe that social media is where we build community and trust, and that matters so [00:09:00] much.

But I had to start asking, if I put five hours into social media, what are those five hours actually producing for me? Am I spending all this time editing down this reel or making everything look, perfect or whatever I'm thinking it needs to look like, Is it actually moving the needle forward?

But then I started to think about what if I put those same five hours into trying to get a new wholesale account or writing an email or writing a series of emails if it's five hours? I think that that is probably going to, for me, move the business actually forward a little bit more than social media.

And your answer might be different, but I think it's still some questions that you could really ask yourself

Another one is, should I be launching more? And so I just wanna say that and give you permission, maybe this season you don't have to do a 12-scent collection. Maybe you just do your top three bestsellers because that's what you have capacity for. I think as entrepreneurs, we always have these great ideas, but timing can really make or break a great idea, and not right now doesn't mean never.

I love to do this, and I would really recommend you consider it, too. Start a not this season list. Instead of a [00:10:00] to-do list, it's almost like the opposite. Every great idea that you have that is so good and you wanna capture it, but it's not a right now thing, it goes here. It's safe, and you won't lose it.

Should I be doing more markets? Or fill in whatever your markets are. I feel like here's what's so important. You need to start looking at what is actually making you money. After the booth fee, after the gas, after your whole weekend, whatever it is for you, what are really the things that are moving the needle forward, and what's really making you money?

That's what you wanna focus on If you're doing it because everyone else is, I think that that maybe is more of a not this season. that means that saying no is a skill. It's not something that you're either born good at or not. You have to practice it and get better. So start practicing with those three little words, not this season

When you're doing everything and you're stretched that thin it's really hard to do anything truly well. Saying no to the distractions is how you say yes to the important things that are really gonna move your business forward.

Now just pick your top three tasks each day and get started. You can sit there and analyze forever, but the person who just goes for it will beat you every time. The right action will always [00:11:00] get you further than the perfect plan. Imaginary you would try to do all of it, but real you gets to choose. And you probably don't need me to help you figure out what to do more of right now.

Maybe you just need someone to give you permission to decide what you're not doing this season. So consider this your permission

Okay, so you've cut your list down. You've said not this season to some things, and if you're like me, the second you do that, this little voice shows up and says, "It must be nice. Everyone else is doing it all, and you're falling behind." And maybe on top of that, you're thinking, "I'm so grateful because these are the things I prayed for, but I'm also so exhausted."

Let's start with the grateful part because I heard this from every single one of these women. They'd tell me what was hard, and then right away they'd say, " But don't get me wrong, I'm so thankful." Like they weren't allowed to struggle because business was going well. So I just wanna tell you what I said to one of the ladies after she told me about her launch that sold like crazy.

I said, " Oh my gosh, congratulations. This is incredible. What a blessing to be this busy, and also, oh my gosh, I'm exhausted for you." Because it's true. Both can be true. You can be blessed and busy and [00:12:00] burnt out. Blessed, busy, and burnt out, which honestly feels like the tagline for my life, and I think honestly it should be the title of this episode because I feel that in my soul, and I bet so many of you will as well

And honestly, I've been feeling like that for seven years now, if not longer. I'm so thankful, and I'm still so flipping tired, and it's such a weird thing to carry both. But you don't have to turn your exhaustion into proof that you're ungrateful. You can pray for something and receive it and be so thankful and be tired.

All of that's allowed, and I just think that we don't talk about that enough And if you're listening to this and you're thinking, " Oh, Kenna, I wish I had that problem," I just want you to know that I see you too, because there has been a season where I was in those exact shoes, and I bet all these women were as well.

Maybe you're still working towards the blessed and busy part. None of these women I spoke to had success overnight, and neither did we. Every single one of us got here by keeping going, by learning, growing, and not giving up when it got hard. Because there are plenty of seasons in business that are really hard, and nobody is exempt from that.

Sometimes the [00:13:00] hard looks like too many orders, and sometimes it looks like not enough, but both are hard. So whatever season you're in right now, keep building that resilience because that's what's gonna carry you through to the next one I also wanna talk just a moment about the behind part, because I hear makers say, "I'm behind," all the time, and I've said it more times than I can count.

Honestly, just before coming on and recording this podcast, I had a team meeting, and I started to say, "Oh my gosh, I'm feeling behind..." And then I had to stop myself in my tracks and say, " Kenna, you are literally about to record a podcast on this. What are you behind? Behind according to what?" And that's really the question that I want you to start to stop and ask.

Behind according to what? This list that you made for yourself? Another maker's Instagram? Or some imaginary timeline that you decided your business was supposed to be on? Or something that imaginary you decided? I think that's part of why we always feel behind, is that we're measuring ourselves against these impossible, imaginary standards, where everything should be done, and done exceptionally, and perfectly, all at the same time.

And nobody can meet that, not you, not [00:14:00] me, not even imaginary you. So I think we should start to change what we're measuring against. I talked to one of the makers, and she said something that I absolutely loved. She said she's exactly where she wanted to be a year ago. And I was like, "Oh my gosh, that's the comparison that matters.

Not where someone else is, but where you were." So think back to last year. What were you hoping for? How many orders? Which stores? What markets? I bet that you're further than you think. And sometimes, if it's a hard season, you might have to dig deep to find that, but there's always something. I really want you to hear that.

Maybe you're not behind at all. Maybe your business has just outgrown the way that you've been running it. I used to think that growing would be pretty. I don't know why, but that's just what I thought. And then I realized that it's not. It's not pretty ever, pretty much. I think a lot of the times it just feels, like, super uncomfortable and hard. And so now I've come to learn that when I feel that discomfort, I try to reframe that and say, " Oh, cool.

I'm growing. That's what this means." Maybe that's a little nugget that you can take, too. So if it feels hard right now, it might not mean that you're failing or that you're behind. [00:15:00] It might mean that you've grown, because you're not behind, you're building

And that's the thing about building something that you love. You care about it so much, and you wanna see it succeed so badly that it's always on your mind. You have a new scent idea that pops into your head while you're cooking dinner, or you are planning your next launch while you're folding the laundry.

That's the passion, and honestly, it's one of the best things about you, my friend, but it's also exactly why it's super hard to turn off. If you've ever felt like that, and maybe you've said, " I feel like I need to be on all the time. I love what I do, and I'm so passionate, but it's always on my mind," you are so not alone.

I know how hard this is. I struggle with the feeling of always needing to be on, too. Even if your business isn't physically at your house, your phone brings it everywhere. If your business is at your house... I had one of our makers that I was talking to, she shared that she runs her business out of her basement, and so she has a studio door that she can close, but she still feels like her mind goes down there.

if that's you, and you have no separation between your life and your business, [00:16:00] that work-life balance is really hard There's no natural clock out when you're the business owner, and that's what I had to tell her. That's just reality. Nobody is going to tap you on the shoulder at 5:00 and say, " You can go home now."

That would be amazing. But that doesn't exist, so you have to create one. Because if you never step away, the thing that you love can start to feel like the thing that you can't escape, and I don't want that for you. So how do you relax when there's still so much to do and it's always on your mind? I think that the answer is that you have to get comfortable with the fact that the work will never be done.

There's always gonna be another order, another email, another idea, and those are good things. It's learning to work with this instead of against it. In our minds, our minds tell us, " Just keep going, and eventually you'll get it all done, and then you can rest." But that day doesn't come, and there's always more. So you're never going to feel relaxed because you finished. You have to choose to stop, and choosing to stop doesn't mean that you care less.

It's actually how you protect the thing that you do love. Which means instead of waiting until you're exhausted to decide [00:17:00] whether you're allowed to stop, you have to decide ahead of time what done for today means. Maybe that's when your top three things are done, or maybe it's 6:00 PM. The work isn't done, but you're done for today, and that's where the difference is.

I have a little ritual that I wanna share with you, and yes, I'm a total weirdo about it, but it's really been helpful. And I wanna share it because I think maybe it would help you too. At the end of every single day, I try to slow down and physically close the door or do some kind of something that is really in my brain understanding that I'm done with work today.

And I say, " I'm choosing to close this door. I'm done for today, and I did enough," because I'm a human being too. I don't know if there's something in there for someone, but having some kind of ritual where you actually physically tell yourself, " I did enough. I'm done for today." Maybe that means you start to pick your work hours and you stick to them.

Maybe if you are doing this full-time, maybe you pick 10 to 6, and outside of that, you're choosing not to work. That means maybe you put your phone in personal mode and you don't look at work after that, and you are done, and you go and live your life It's hard, but it really, I think, would [00:18:00] help you. And maybe you start to take some actual real days off, not off where you're answering DMs from the couch, actually off.

And one of the makers that I talked to said that she recently took a full day off after a market, and she said that she couldn't even believe how much it refreshed her. And then she said, " It's silly because I forget that every single time." And I was like, "That is so relatable. Same, girl." So put a day off on the calendar like it's an actual launch date, because you wouldn't skip a launch, so don't skip this either.

And I really wanna be honest with you, because the mental noise of being a business owner is real, and it's going to show up. And you're not trying to make it go away, you're just practicing not following it. And some seasons I'm really good at this, and some it flops back and I'm struggling again, and that's okay.

And I think, honestly, I'm preaching to myself right now because I really need to hear it just as much as you do. I don't want you to feel like you have to pick all these things. Pick one to try this week. Start experimenting, and remember that this isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. And you wanna build something that does last, and you still wanna love it when you get there.

And if you're thinking, "Okay, Kenna, I can close the door, [00:19:00] but I feel guilty when I rest," I hear you, and that's exactly what we're gonna talk about next

When you keep pushing through rest and all the guilt that comes with it season after season, you will probably end up right here thinking, " I'm so burnt out. I've lost my motivation, and honestly, I've lost some of my joy, too." If that's you right now, I just want you to know that burnout isn't a sign that you're weak or that you're not cut out for this.

It's probably a sign that you've been running on empty for way too long. And after all these conversations that I had with these makers, I really believe that that's what's at the center of everything that we talked about today. It's rest. I just need to go on this, like, little tangent, but I just was thinking about this, and I think that when we are so burnt out, we do not make good decisions.

I know that's so counterintuitive to the hustle culture that tells you that you just have to push harder and do more, but it really is the truth. I believe that the guilt that we feel when we rest comes from believing that rest is something that you have to earn, that you'll get rest once the orders are packed or the restock is done or the launch is out.

But [00:20:00] like we already talked about, the work is never done. So if rest has to be earned, you're never gonna get it. And I've been really learning that rest isn't a reward at all. It's something that we get to receive. And honestly, this idea has changed so much for me. And I've been going through this devotional, it's actually called Rest, and it's all about this.

And I, I wanna link it to you down in the description. But really, you can't pour from a empty cup. And it's so cliché, and everyone says it, but it's so true. If you don't take care of yourself, you can't take care of your business, your family, or anyone else. When you're burnt out, low motivation and joy usually go together.

And I think it's so easy to think, "What's wrong with me? Why don't I feel excited about this business anymore?" But bestie, nothing is wrong with you. You are a human being, and you're not a robot. Every business owner goes through seasons where they're in a funk or they're just plain tired, and that doesn't mean that you've lost it.

It just means you're tired. For years, I fell into this same trap, and maybe you're in it right now. I thought that I had to feel motivated before I could do anything, so I'd try to push through and think my way into it, and the harder I pushed, the more it [00:21:00] paralyzed me. What actually helped was, again, so counterintuitive.

It was giving myself permission to pause and, again, actually rest. Which, by the way, from that devotional, I've been learning that there are so many different forms of rest. It doesn't mean just sitting, doing nothing, or sleeping. So maybe you need some creative rest or mental rest. Does anyone else have an extremely busy brain?

Just me? No?

But maybe you need a day where you just don't touch the business. Maybe you have time with your people, or for me, a walk on a crispy fall day and a hot shower cures so much. But whatever it is for you, sometimes the most productive thing you can do is just take the freaking break. I just need to say that to someone.

Someone needs to hear that. Motivation doesn't usually come back from pushing harder. It comes back when you remember why you're doing this in the first place. One of the fastest ways to lose that why is living in that next, next, next cycle, and I am so guilty of this, and maybe you are too. But I finish something big, and before I even had a second to enjoy it, my brain's already asking, "Okay, but what's next?"

It's been one of the hardest [00:22:00] habits for me to break, but when you never stop to celebrate, it can just really feel like you're on this constant treadmill just running and all this effort, and you never actually get anywhere. So that's my challenge to you. Stop and celebrate how far you have come. That amazing new scent that you created or a launch that you crushed or a new account that you got, or just maybe how far you've come since this time last year.

I want you to just let it all count. Go get some fancy coffee or some flowers for yourself because your brain really needs proof that the work is actually going somewhere. Maybe you need that creative rest that I talked about Maybe you should let yourself play again. We talked about the passion earlier and how you love this so much that you can't turn it off, but burnout is what happens when that passion runs on empty for too long.

The love is still there, it's just buried under the to-do list. One of the makers I talked to told me where her joy comes from, and I wanted to share that with you in case it inspired you a little bit. She said it was from new projects, and not necessarily things that she was going to sell, but just things she wants to play with and explore and have fun with.

She started to play with, [00:23:00] uh, the foaming hand soap base from Midwest Fragrance Company. Hee-hee, little, little Midwest promo there. But she just started making some foaming hand soaps for fun. She told me that it ended up being one of her favorite things that she's made, and now she's planning to launch one for every single season.

And I actually think she told me that she just did launch them for her fall scents, and they sold out, and she was like, "Oh, by the way, reminder to myself, I need to actually order more." I was like, "Oh my gosh, that's literally amazing." But that's the thing about joy. When you let yourself play, it usually leads somewhere good.

Sometimes it just can't start with the pressure of needing to. So make room for that on purpose. Give yourself a dreaming day once a month with no orders or no to-do list, just you and your scents or whatever else sounds fun, and just start dreaming. I think a lot of us started our business because we wanted to be able to dream or, or have freedom.

And don't forget that you still can do all of that. You still have that freedom. You get to decide how this business works, which means that you have the freedom to decide to build it in a way that actually works for you. And one of the makers I talked to, she realized that she gets completely [00:24:00] wiped out after every single launch, and she just has no motivation left.

So after sharing with her all of those different things, she had the... She realized that she really had the complete freedom to change how she runs her business to fit her life. And she decided right then that she was gonna start planning a few slower weeks after each launch from now on. And you can do that too.

Put a slow week in your calendar right now for after the busy season, or even, heck, before it. Extend your shipping times. You're not Amazon. You get to build this business however you want. And it's really true, Doug and I say this all the time, that building a business is hard no matter what, so build one that you can actually enjoy, because I want you to still love it five years from now.

Okay. Woofta. Our coffee cups are empty, and I've totally talked your entire ear off. So classic of me. But before you go, I just wanted to tell you another one moment from these conversations that I just haven't been able to stop thinking about. I was listening to one of the makers, and she was sharing with me how hard that she was working and how much she cared, and it hit me.

She's me a few [00:25:00] years ago. And I felt like I was talking to this younger version of myself, and I just had this crystal clear moment that I was getting to share with her things that I wish someone would've told me back then. Because back then, I didn't have anyone to talk to, and I thought I was crazy, and I thought I was doing it all wrong.

And I, I just kept going, and I kept trying to figure it out on my own. And so if nobody has told you this, let me be the one. Oh, honey, sweetie baby, cutie honey baby... I always say that all the time. But you're doing it. You're working so hard. You care so much, and someday, you're gonna get to a place that you never believed that you'd reach.

And you don't have to do it all alone. Every single one of these five women thought that she was truly the only one feeling this way, and she wasn't, and neither are you. And also, please don't turn this episode off and make a 47-step action plan. Just pick one thing, one thing that you can do a little bit differently, that you can experiment with.

And then close the studio door tonight. Even if there's still orders, they're gonna be there tomorrow. Go eat something. Hug your people. This business is not for the faint of heart, [00:26:00] and you are doing it. And I see you, and I'm so proud of you. That's it for today, besties. If anything in this episode resonated with you, I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

And again, if it didn't apply, just let it fly. You're not behind. You're building. Thanks for spending this time with me, and we are cheering you on every single step of your maker journey. Okay? Love you. Bye.