March 17, 2026: Bree Bacon doesn't just talk about burnout; she survived it. Author, Speaker, & Elite Energy™ Coach, Bree spent years giving 110% to everything until panic attacks and her miscarriage forced her to crash. What she discovered in the aftermath became a life-saving framework that challenges everything healthcare leaders think they know about performance, capacity, and sustainable success. Elite Energy isn't just a theory; it’s tested through fertility loss, chemotherapy, and the impossible choice between career and survival.

Key Points:

• 02:54 The Reality of Burnout
• 07:37 Bree's Personal Journey with Healthcare
• 10:52 The Elite Energy Framework
• 21:07 Overcoming Cancer and Embracing Life

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Flourish: Rewriting and Overcoming the Burnout Narrative with Bree Bacon

GMT20250714-172930_Recording: I'm Sarah Richardson, a principal here at this week Health where our mission is healthcare transformation powered by community. Welcome to Flourish, where we share the human stories behind healthcare leadership because thriving people build thriving systems.

Let's begin

Sarah Richardson: Welcome back to Flourish. I'm your host, Sarah Richardson, and today's guest is someone who embodies resilience, clarity, and intentional leadership in a way that feels both grounded and transformational.

It is the foundation for elite performance. Bree, welcome to Flourish. I'm so grateful you're here.

Bree Bacon: Thank you so much for having me, Sarah.

Sarah Richardson: Well, and before we talk about the framework in the book, I wanna start with you. You've had a career that many would describe as traditionally successful, high performing, ambitious, always moving forward. When did you first realize that the way that we define success and the way we live, it might actually be unsustainable?

So when she arrived in 2021, I wanted to give her my everything. At the same time, I wanted to give my business team my everything. I've always been that achiever, the straight A go get it personality. And while I was on maternity leave, I got recruited to a new company to lead a large sales and marketing organization.

And they had recently just put together a whole bunch of m and a. And so there was a ton of work in front of us in terms of new culture, new vision. And there were some really anxious teams. And so there I was giving 110% to my Miracle daughter and 110% to my team. And I like to say for a while it worked.

And I'm like, first of all, I don't have time for any of that stuff, but also how does this all connect and interact with each other and how is this helping me have my best capacity for my daughter and my team? meanwhile, fast forward to the summer of 2022 and my husband and I found out we were unexpectedly pregnant, and I was thrilled thinking, okay, now my body knows how to do this.

We'll be able to add to our family. But we miscarried again, our six child loss, and that loss sent me over the edge. I stepped down from my role so I could ho, uh, just ho, uh, just focus on myself and my family. I like to say I didn't just burn out. I completely crashed and burned, and unfortunately, I'm not alone.

Sarah Richardson: Just this past week we did a summit and the overarching theme, Bree, was people feel like they've been shot out of a cannon this year, and it's only. Early in the year, and there's burnout to an extent where executives are like breaking down in meetings and just being like not knowing how to handle some of the overwhelming nature of things constantly coming at them, and yet as a work culture, we quietly reward burnout.

What

can people do? To mitigate some of the things that are coming at them that just overwhelming like expectation that they're supposed to be able to give everything to every aspect like you shared.

And if we don't safeguard our energy, we crash and burn, we burn out. Right? And there's some real significant impacts for organizations. It impacts productivity. So your bottom line, it impacts healthcare costs, rising healthcare costs, and it impacts turnover when people have to step down. And we know it costs more to replace talent than to retain talent.

And if you never shut down, they'll think they're never supposed to shut down.

Sarah Richardson: Even if you tell 'em it's okay to do that and then you don't show that behavior. To your point, that leadership shadow was such a big deal. very specifically, I'll be like, I'm on PTO and I'm not available.

Bree Bacon: Yeah.

Sarah Richardson: you run a 24 7 shop as an example, does not mean that you don't have people you can effectively delegate that responsibility to because they actually wanna perform well for you.

They want you to take time away 'cause you're gonna let them do the same thing.

Bree Bacon: Yeah.

Sarah Richardson: important it is that that cycle is a healthy one.

Forgotten or we feel guilty doing, and it's like, why do we feel guilty doing this when it's actually what produces our best? You know?

Sarah Richardson: There is the guilt factor. It is fascinating to be able to say, I'm choosing to only on a travel day versus cramming in a bunch of meetings. For the most part, and it's still a guilt dialogue

Bree Bacon: Yeah, yeah. I know. I, I, I think we're not alone in that.

Sarah Richardson: Well, one of the most powerful parts of your story is your fertility journey, multiple miscarriages, and how that changed your relationship with healthcare, especially as an executive who had spent years inside of the system. What was it like to move from being a healthcare leader to being a patient?

And when we started having miscarriages, that was our first experience really in the system. And going between OBGYNs and research hospitals and fertility clinics and different opinions and insurance claims, what's covered, what's not covered. Loss as we lost five of our babies and then a sixth, then even my postpartum and issues with postpartum anxiety.

You know, I had never really had to experience the system myself, and I will say it's given me deep empathy. First and foremost for patients going through it. It is complex and it's hard and it also gives me empathy for, you know, doctors and clinicians who have to deal with really hard issues. Like healthcare is hard and there's not always an answer, and a lot of times you're dealing with life and death.

Sarah Richardson: How did those experiences reshape how you advocate for yourself, because it becomes a space where you don't mean to be aggressive in your approach to getting what you need, and yet. You have to be like, your voice has to be stronger than ever, and sometimes your voice doesn't feel like it can be strong because of the things that are happening to you.

How has that changed your perspective on efficacy?

Bree Bacon: Yeah, you know, I had so much confidence for advocating for myself before all of my miscarriages. Going through a fertility journey and becoming a mom was the first time that I really doubted myself and started to have doubt of. All these experts telling me things and just wanting to do the best so that we could have a child and do the best.

And so really needing to advocate for how you're feeling, um, and take charge, you know, you can't sit back in that journey because if you don't take charge, it's similar to the framework with my book, right? If you don't take charge of your pendulum, your energy, your healthcare story, no one's gonna do it for you.

Sarah Richardson: In your book, elite Energy gives language and structure to something many of us feel, but we don't know how to articulate it well. you walk us through the two of your three Ps of Elite Energy and why this framework matters so much right now?

So energy and physics is simply defined as the capacity to do work, and we all have a capacity to do work. Elite as an adjective, stands for the best or most effective. So all together, when I say your elite energy, it stands for your personal best capacity. Now Newton's pendulum what this little device is called, which, um, you know, sometimes sits on people's desk, clicks back and forth as like a toy or decoration and physics that actually teaches about the conservation of energy.

Finally, the two end balls that go back and forth is what are you doing to rest and recharge? And what do you do to reach and challenge yourself? And the key between those two ends of the pendulum is balance. Too much reach without enough rest, you burn out. Too much rest. Without enough reach, you stall out.

Your system needs both. And at the top of your pendulum is your unique purpose. What are you gonna take your elite energy, your best capacity, and put it towards? So that's the first P of Elite Energy is just processing, what is this framework? What is elite energy? But the second thing I talk about in my book is not just a science behind why all of those things are needed in your system.

And I was like, all right. Great idea. Great advice. The very next ad said, don't make your bed in the morning. That's hustle culture. That's part of our problem. And I just remembered at the time being like, oh my gosh, I can't even get making my bed. Right. the reason I tell that story is.

What I do for my system is probably gonna be different than yours. It's gonna be different than my husband's. It's gonna be different than your coworkers. The framework is universal, but how you reflect and think about what you're doing for each one of those components and how you unlock your best is incredibly personal.

Sarah Richardson: And you emphasize knowing your personal best

Bree Bacon: Mm-hmm.

Sarah Richardson: why is it so hard for high achievers to embrace that?

But you get to that point and you think about the pendulum and how it needs that back and forth, and how it needs the balance of rest and reach to work effectively. And I think for high achievers, it's like you're chasing that high or that need to just, your identity isn't achieving right, but you can't keep reaching without resting or it doesn't work.

Sarah Richardson: It's fascinating because, I mean, I could all my to-do lists, all my check marks, the fact that every day is somehow validated by how much did I do

Bree Bacon: Mm-hmm.

Bree Bacon: I love that question because. When I walk people through my one-on-one coaching or team workshops, we start small, right? I actually break down the system and we go through one by one to make small changes. You can't just change everything overnight, right? But you need to reflect on your personal system, what brings you to your best.

And so that's exactly what my book walks you through. It walks you through the science and the research of why all this is important, first and foremost. 'cause I think. There's a lot of us out there that it's like, okay, great wellbeing was the, the phase five years ago. Now it's return to office and work and do all the things.

What am I doing for my mental health? Is it silence? Is it breaks? Is it investing in joy? What am I doing for my physical health? For me? Do I enjoy running or do I enjoy swimming or do I enjoy yoga? Or, you know, what makes my body feel good when I eat or sleep or? So really walking through and thinking through for your personal system, what puts you at your best, and then making small choices.

Sarah Richardson: I love about all the framework philosophy you've shared is it doesn't ask people to do more. It asks 'em to do what matters,

Bree Bacon: Yeah.

Sarah Richardson: is where that alignment with your, I think real capacity starts to come into play.

Bree Bacon: Hmm. Yeah, I love that. I mean, sometimes it's doing less, right? It's like, okay, what meetings can you cut? Or, you know, I'm saying no to all things on this day. So it's definitely not about doing more, it's about doing the right things for you and your system.

Sarah Richardson: I have a, one of my girlfriends has been on the podcast with me before. She was recently at a summit with us, and she says, when you don't even know. How to do something different. Start with five minutes per day. Five minutes at a time will allow you to do these different changes. I thought about that while I was reading your book as well.

I'm like, even if you didn't know what to do, you can do one thing different. You can do it at five minutes and you take these fantastic nuggets of wisdom from the people that you speak with, and it is gonna be your own recipe.

Bree Bacon: Yeah.

It doesn't feel like one more thing. It's like giving yourself permission to be your best self, which we don't do that often as high achievers.

Bree Bacon: No, and it's funny because the science and the research would say actually doing those things, actually investing in your framework. Is what's gonna make you more productive. I include some case studies in my chapter three of just, uh, Wacovia Bank and Tony Swartz did a energy management project, uh, I don't know, 15 years ago or so now, but they actually measured metrics of productivity for wacovia.

Return on loan revenue and some of their top things. And they actually saw a really significant increase for those that had been through a wellbeing energy program versus, you know, a, uh, the rest of the organization. And so, it's so funny that as high achievers, we feel guilty about investing in these things when these things are actually what's gonna unlock your most productive self.

Bree Bacon: Yeah.

Sarah Richardson: Hey, maybe I do back off at 60 from the amount of productivity, but then the things I am producing are such high quality and value because of the wisdom that comes with investing in ourselves.

Bree Bacon: Yeah, I actually have a whiteboard version of my framework, um, that I have people put on their refrigerators or, you know, on their desks somewhere. And it's a, a whiteboard for a reason. First and foremost, it reminds you of the commitments that you're making as you're going through all the exercises and filling out your personal framework.

But also what you do for your system might need to change depending on your week, your day, your season of life. Like did you just come through a really heavy season and you need more rest? Did you need a little bit more sleep this week? And so you change your body commitment from working out to sleep.

Sarah Richardson: You're saying this to a person who gave, who allowed myself permission to go to bed at eight o'clock on a Sunday, because I had just come back from a long work trip and I was tired, and I was like, I'm tired at eight o'clock. I'm like, I guess that means I'm gonna go to bed and versus forcing myself to stay up till nine.

You know? So it's just those moments. Um, to change the conversation just a bit because. not just other aspects of what you've gone through at 38 years old with a 1-year-old daughter. You were diagnosed with stage three triple negative breast cancer an age when routine mammograms even part of the conversation. To walk us through a bit of that journey because. Most leaders don't understand grit, resilience, and what to do when life gets really hard, and

Bree Bacon: Hmm.

Sarah Richardson: that's an example of when it gets really hard.

My daughter was one years old at the time. I remember walking in to the room and the oncologist told me, you have a 50% chance of survival. To beat this, you need to undergo six months of chemotherapy. Starting immediately. You're gonna lose all your hair. You need to have surgery, radiation, immune therapy.

The whole treatment plan is gonna last a year. And I just remember going into complete. Shock. It was like my system, you know, the pendulum clicking back and forth nicely. It wasn't that it was like an earthquake was hitting the system and the bowels are all flying all over the place. In chaos of, what do you mean?

I have this fun fact that in a perfect environment, Newton's pendulum actually never stops swinging. It's a perfect back and forth that never loses its energy, never loses its capacity. But we don't live in a perfect world. I think we all know we don't live in a perfect world, and it's getting harder and harder.

And so when trauma and hard things come your way and you feel like the balls all are going all over the place, what do you do? And that's why the base of your pendulum is so important to me. You have to know and decide what are you going to stay grounded in? What do you want to represent in this world no matter what comes your way?

And that pushed my survival curve from 50% up to over 90%, which was amazing news. Now my pendulum was still right. It was like, okay, the chaos isn't happening anymore, but how do I reenter life? Like how do I start to feel like myself again? Something had to pull back one of the balls of the pendulum and get it going again.

And for those of us that are achievers, I think it's so easy to want to start with reach. But all the science and research when you go through traumatic things, really emphasizes the need for rest to start your system and starting your system again with from a place of energy giving and rejuvenation.

But it looked different than it did before cancer, and that's okay. It's still universal, but changing what worked for me at that season of my life. So I went back to work, but made sure to take plenty of breaks, which was my mental health commitment. I went back to moving my body, which is my physical, uh, health commitment.

But I started with yoga, not intense workouts that I had done pre-cancer. And then for my heart commitment of being present with my husband and daughter, I doubled down 'cause cancer had stolen so much of my time with my miracle girl that I even signed up for a parent and me dance class with her so that I could spend more time with her, which is fabulous.

I am not a runner, and the goal was not to win. I just wanted to do it and prove that I could still do hard things and go from the worst physical help in my life to doing my first ever race. And so that's what I did. I picked grandma's in Duluth, Minnesota, which is a lovely race all along Lake Superior.

It's gorgeous. And uh, June of 20 24, 1 year cancer free. I ran my first ever race.

Bree Bacon: Hmm. I love that. The first thing I would tell that person is like, make sure you're grounding every day in what you believe and value. I actually have a, a practice where I put, I have my framework on my fridge, and I tell some of my clients to do this too. Whatever you choose to put in that foundation that you value.

What is your rest practice? You know, what do you do? And it can't be scrolling on your phone 'cause the science and research is maybe not the best thing to really rest. But when you think about when you are at your best, what were you doing for your system? At what season of your life did you feel like you were at your peak capacity, your elite performance, your best capacity, and what were you doing to rest at that time?

What were you doing for your mind, body, heart. Do you have too much reach? Do you have too much challenge on your plate right now for you to be at your best?

Bree Bacon: Yeah. First and foremost, I would say you need to get your own elite energy in order. If you don't personally demonstrate it, there's no way your team is gonna demonstrate it. And so if you have direct reports, if you have an organization. I actually really encourage you to be transparent about taking care of your system.

It gives your team permission to take care of their systems when you're transparent. So my last corporate job, I was really clear with my team, like if you need to take a walking meeting to get outside and get some fresh air. Hey, I'm not gonna take this meeting tonight. Let's do it in a week because I'm gonna prioritize time with my daughter.

As our best. Um, so I would say that first as a leader, control what you can control by first getting your system in place and then also your teams. And then second, I know it's really hard to fight for wellbeing. I've talked to many HR professionals who are like. Uh, like how do we sell in that wellbeing?

We all want it, we all know, but like, how do we sell it in? That's why I put so much of the research and case studies and statistics in my book 'cause I know there's a culture where it's hard to sell it in. And so if you're looking for some of those stats, I'd point you to chapter two and three in my book.

Sarah Richardson: And leaders are essentially get rewarded for constant availability. What we, which is what we've touched on, Side of it though, Bri, that says we need to reward sustainable excellence. And I'm curious what resistance you encounter most often in these conversations from organizations. How do you get past what is expected versus what is actually better for you?

It's, if you don't like the culture, get out, it's, you know, a little bit more of the, the rigid. And what I find so fascinating about those con and I should say, while balancing that there's still a number of organizations that wanna prioritize the wellbeing. And quite a few leaders and HR professionals where, you know, medical leaves are just skyrocketing.

And so they know burnout is an issue that they need to solve. So I will say on the flip side of the coin, there are still many organizations interested in it. But what I find interesting about those that say it's the. Make it or break it if you don't like it, get out. Type culture. Be grateful you have a job.

I'm like, there's real impact to your bottom line here. So are we doing this just for fun or do we actually want the bottom line results? So, uh, I normally point them to the case studies and you know, the research and science behind how this actually is not just a human issue, it's a bottom line issue as well.

How do we give ourselves permission to choose a different path when often we're [00:33:00] hearing, oh, if you don't like it, then get out. And so they are getting out. But we need our voices to be in corporate America. We need ourselves to be on boards. What can women do? To prioritize their wellbeing and still be a mom, a wife, a daughter, an executive.

How do you do it all?

Bree Bacon: Yeah. First of all, I think you gotta give yourself grace, right? Like you are human. I think there's this pressure to, to get a's at everything, you know, is the best way that I tell people is like a lot of us are achievers, like are used to getting the A at everything. And I'm like, should you get the A at everything?

You know, maybe there's some places that you can get by with a B minus or like a D, or even flunk, you know, like you have to prioritize your life and realize that you're human and you can only do so much. And so. What are your priorities? What's most important to you in life? What do you want to be putting your energy towards?

And so I think tho those are the two things I would say to women in a world that we can't control everything. One, you do get to control what you're putting your energy towards. And second, give yourself some grace that you don't always have to get the a, you know?

Bree Bacon: Uh, victory for me now is just my, so my specific purpose, what I put at the top of my elite energy system is that my purpose is to be a catalyst to ignite the best energy in others. And so every time I get to do one-on-one coaching sessions or do a team workshop or be on stage speaking and I get to hear people's stories and see the light bulbs go off and see real change and real energy in people's lives, it is so fulfilling to me in a way that none of my other careers really have been because it's about giving energy to other people and it, it's just so joy filling for me.

Second, I'll just say like, you know, that half marathon moment, it was so funny. I started crying at mile one and just deep gratitude and I remember thinking like, oh my goodness. All these people around me are gonna think that I'm crying because like I'm not in shape enough to like run this marathon or something.

But just the deep gratitude that I get more time. You know, I'm so thankful for the oncologists and the doctors and the nurses and everyone that surrounded me, family, friends, colleagues, that kept me going during that cancer journey when I didn't have energy or capacity to keep going. I went into my oncologist when the book came out.

'cause when I had my very last cancer treatment, I had the two goals. One was to run the half marathon and the second was. I've been given a second chance of life. I feel like this is, this framework is meant to be in the world. It's meant to make an impact. And so the second goal I set for myself was finding a publisher and writing this book.

Sarah Richardson: Everything about what you represent is so. Important for people that are hearing this, they've met, have read my book review by this point because I, I read a lot and so many of the themes in here that you've shared stuck, and I'm grateful we get to talk about it even after people got to hear about it or read about it in the book review.

Thank you for just bringing that light and that energy and perspective forward. You didn't just go write a book, you wrote a book and you survived. All of the fertility issues and you beat cancer, and you're here to share this story with others. I am just so grateful that we had a chance to talk about it today.

Sarah Richardson: Oh, you're not done yet, Bri. We get to go to speed round.

Bree Bacon: All right, let's do it.

Sarah Richardson: Speed round one habit that protects your energy no matter what.

Bree Bacon: Every single morning I start my day by myself with coffee and I look at my pendulum, my framework on my fridge, and I remind myself of my commitments and what I'm gonna stay grounded in that day.

Sarah Richardson: A belief about success that you had to unlearn.

Bree Bacon: Hmm. My success is defined by other people's opinions of me.

Sarah Richardson: okay. I'm totally, I just got goosebumps when you said that, by the way. I can't make that up. Like, here's the fur for proof, like Totally. Um, and what is the fastest way leaders unknowingly drain their teams?

Bree Bacon: Hmm, their leadership shadow, their example that they're setting and how they approach work themselves.

Bree Bacon: You can email me at hello@Breebacon.com or you can learn more@www.Breebacon.com.

GMT20250714-172930_Recording: Thanks for joining Flourish. Remember that every healthcare leader needs a community to learn from and to lean on. Find your people at this week, health.com/subscribe. Share this episode with someone who needs encouragement today. Keep flourishing. That's all for now.