From Boardroom Rock Star To Burnout Patient (And Why It Happens To The Best)

Posted on September 17, 2025 by Anastasia Paruntseva, One of Thousands of Entrepreneurship Coaches on Noomii.

During my 15-year career in top management, I led international companies, scaled businesses across 50+ countries and headed global expansion strategies. I managed teams of 100+ people, closed complex deals and built innovation pipelines across continents.

I was seen as sharp, unstoppable and always in control. And yet—as only a few people know—I was also quietly surviving professional burnouts and mental health breakdowns. Now, it’s time to talk about it.

One of the most surreal moments came during what was supposed to be a vacation. I found myself floating down a river in the jungle, laptop open, writing a productivity report while dodging humidity and curious monkeys. This wasn’t a one-off, just one highlight from a career built around being “always on.”

For nearly a decade, I answered employee messages at 2 a.m., prided myself on never taking days off and treated rest like weakness. I was moving fast, achieving a lot—and quietly wasting my health, my peace of mind and my life.

It took years, and more than one crash, to understand the difference between ambition and self-destruction.

The Invisible Price Of High Performance
Burnout rarely looks dramatic. Rather, it slowly builds over time behind praise, promotions and packed calendars.

It hides behind lines like:

• “It’s just a busy season.”

• “Once I finish this project, I’ll rest.”

• “I’m fine. Just tired.”

High performers are often the last to notice it. They normalize stress and push through everything—until something breaks.

I’ve seen brilliant professionals lose years trying to recover. One of the most capable managers I worked with was out of the industry for two years due to migraines, anxiety and mental fatigue. This didn’t happen because she wasn’t good; it happened because she never stopped.

When Hustle Culture Becomes A Health Risk
In some cultures, burnout isn’t a red flag; it’s a resume line.

We’ve all heard the horror stories: executives in Asia dying at their desks. Tech founders in the U.S. glorifying 100-hour weeks. I can say from firsthand experience that in post-Soviet business culture, staying late at the office is still seen as dedication rather than poor time management. But this isn’t the global norm.

In much of Western Europe, work-life balance is non-negotiable. I still remember my shock when I first worked in that environment, watching colleagues close their laptops and walk out at 5:00 p.m. sharp. No guilt. No overexplaining. Just boundaries.

At the time, I couldn’t process it. I’d been wired to equate overwork with leadership. Suddenly, I saw a different model, one built on sustainability rather than sacrifice.

Overworking isn’t universally expected. But in the cultures where it is, the damage is real. This mindset leads to silent burnout, broken health and brilliant people quietly vanishing from the workforce.

The Burnout You Don’t See Coming
After launching a complex business in Warsaw, I hit a wall. What followed was a serious burnout that forced me to stop and reset, assisted by professional support, including prescription medications. It wasn’t a dramatic collapse. But it was real.

Looking back, I can trace some of it to a belief I picked up early in my career. One of my first managers, a company founder I deeply respected, once told me, “Top managers do not have days off.” At the time, I took this as truth. It became a personal credo, one I followed with discipline for years. Now I see it for what it was: one of the most damaging lies I ever believed.

Forget the stereotype. Burnout doesn’t always look like someone falling apart. It can creep in through chronic fatigue, emotional detachment and mental fog. High performers often miss the signs because they’re too used to running on adrenaline. They mistake overdrive for efficiency, and numbness for resilience.

Burnout can mean still performing, but feeling drained inside. It can show up as:

• overcommitting with no energy left.

• losing interest in work you used to love.

• constant fatigue, no matter how much sleep you get.

• headaches, tension or other physical issues with no clear cause.

• emotional flatlining—not sadness, just…nothing.

The scariest part? You can live like this for years without noticing.

Rest Is A Strategy, Not A Luxury
The idea that slowing down means falling behind is outdated. Recovery isn’t a break from performance; it’s what sustains it.

After my own burnout, I rebuilt more than my calendar. I rebuilt how I lead. Today, I still grow businesses. But I do it with structure. I protect weekends, carve out time for sports and learning and put my personal life on the agenda—not at the bottom, but near the top. And yes, my results improved. Clear thinking, consistent energy, better leadership; all rooted in balance.

Success without self-preservation isn’t success. It’s survival mode in a nice suit.

We still applaud overwork far too often. But applause fades when health fails, when relationships suffer or when leaders disappear completely.

You don’t need to answer every message. You don’t need to prove your worth by burning out. And you don’t need to wait for a breakdown to take yourself seriously. Your job matters, but it isn’t your identity.

So if you’re achieving everything but feel increasingly disconnected, take the sign. Pause. Reassess. Protect the person behind the performance.

Because your value isn’t how much you give; it’s how well you stay.