'I ended up with a really unhealthy life.' How one entrepreneur beat burnout to become a better leader

Ajay Kori’s startup, UrbanStems, grew quickly. But the company was left in a lurch and on the verge of being unable to make payroll when a key investor pulled out in the final hour. Kori thought he could keep his company afloat by working harder, but that only led to severe burnout. Soon after, he was asked to step aside.

“When you create something, you put everything of you, into it [...] and now the board was suggesting taking that away,” recalled Kori. “I didn’t handle it well.”

Kori launched his first business in high school. It's what he loves to do. So, when he was asked by the board to step down as CEO, he started two new companies the next day. “I thought, if I’m not running UrbanStems, I need to be running something,” said Kori. “My entire identity, my entire ego, was surrounded around being a successful startup founder.”

It wasn’t until he started investing in his self-care that he realized what his overzealous approach to work had cost him.?

?“You think you’re doing the right thing by constantly thinking about your business and cutting out the things that seem extraneous to your life,” said Kori. “[But] as I did those things, I realized, ‘Wow, I’m happier.’”

In this episode of Catalyst, Kori explains how he beat burnout and became a happier, and more effective leader.?

Tell us a story of when you were made aware of a fault, or struggled with burnout, and found a way to recover to be even stronger and more effective than you were before. Comment below!