The economy might be recovering, but burnout can linger

An online retailer shares her experience with pandemic burnout and how it's changed the way she thinks about her business.

It’s not just employees feeling burnout, employers can feel it too. According to a poll from Indeed, more than two-thirds of workers say burnout has worsened over the course of the pandemic, and even large companies like Bumble are temporarily shutting down to force employees to take a break.

But for owners, coping with burnout can be especially complicated. Patty Delgado, founder of the online retailer Hija de tu Madre in Los Angeles, tells her story.

I’ve had a really tough 2021. If I could swear, I would say the swear version of “poop.” I’ve been feeling really burnt out. And I think the effects of the pandemic have, like, finally caught up to me.

I think the pandemic really invited me to just go all in to my business. And I think I started realizing just how, you know, making time for myself was so hard. And that started to feel not normal anymore. Like me taking a day off or me wanting to go home and rest just didn’t seem like a good option, or an option that felt risky. Probably also part of the unhealthy relationship with work is, you know, really defining myself through the success of my company. I’m not my business. I’m still a good person if I have a bad sales day.

This is the first year where I actually pay myself something reasonable. I definitely operated from the scarcity mindset of, you know, the business deserves this money more than I do. Which now in hindsight, that just feels so backward.

My relationship with all the aspects of the business has changed. I love the flexibility of e-commerce, but I really want to bring this more offline. And if that means temporary pop-ups, or maybe eventually, one flagship brick-and-mortar, I would love that. We’re planning a pop-up tour. And our first pop-up is going to be here at our warehouse this summer. We have a very short window of time to get it done, but it’s happening and I’m really looking forward to hugging people again and just talking to our customers [in real life].