When Your Body Forces You to Stop: A Burnout Story - 053
From Lunch with Leaders: Influence Extraordinary Authentic Women in STEM Careers for Empowerment by Adaeze Iloeje-Udeogalanya | Authentic Influencer for Women Empowerment Experts
June 9, 2026 · 25 min · Season 2 · Episode 2
About this episode
Adaeze Iloeje-Udeogalanya shares her personal burnout story to highlight the challenges faced by women in STEM and leadership.
Burnout in women, women in STEM wellness, high-achieving women, chronic illness, self-care for leaders, Tree of Life methodology, Restore Workshop, African Women in STEM. In this deeply personal solo episode of Launch with Leaders , Adaeze Iloeje-Udeogalanya shares her own two-year burnout and health crisis to open a critical conversation about the silent epidemic affecting women in STEM and leadership. She explains how the body keeps score — absorbing years of overwork and microaggressions — until it breaks. Who is this for? This episode is for high-achieving women in STEM, women leaders, and professional women of color who are silently running on empty. It is for those who have normalized burnout, chronic illness, and overextension — and are ready to reclaim their health, energy, and wholeness before reaching the point of no return. Key Moments Adaeze opens with a raw, personal account of waking up unable to balance, ending up in the ER, and sleeping for four days straight — the moment her body forced her to stop (00:55). She draws on the law of elasticity to explain that high achievers keep stretching until they pass their elastic limit, and there is no going back…
People in this episode
Host: Adaeze Iloeje-Udeogalanya
Topics covered
- burnout
- women in STEM
- self-care
- chronic illness
- leadership
- wellness
Keywords
- burnout
- women in STEM
- self-care
- chronic illness
- high-achieving women
- wellness
- leadership
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: African Women in STEM
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