We recently connected with Stephanie Darby and have shared our conversation below.
Stephanie , thrilled to have you on the platform as I think our readers can really benefit from your insights and experiences. In particular, we’d love to hear about how you think about burnout, avoiding or overcoming burnout, etc.
I was burned out and depleted before I even realized what was happening. After spending a decade on the road for a job plus going back to school for a second degree in the margins of my days, by the time I made a career change, started my own business, and then had kids, I found myself way past the burnout point.
My career pivot thankfully afforded me the awareness of what was happening in my body. Going from a fast paced marketing career to the field of nutrition opened my eyes to a new way of looking at symptoms and health. The body whispers to us when it needs support, but when we avoid those whispers, over time they turn into screams. Thyroid function slows to preserve life, which slows metabolic processes. Digestion slows. Toxins are harder to eliminate. Hormones, heavy metals, waste by products, and toxins get recycled into the body and stored in protective fat tissues.
Instead of pushing down these screams and symptoms, I got curious, using my nutrition education and resources to realize that while conventional medicine told me I was fine, I absolutely needed a pivot in how I ate, how I moved my body, how I rested, and how I connected with others.
I overcame burnout by listening to my body, slowing down, prioritizing nourishment that came from food, nature, community, fun, and having a sense of purpose in my life. I gave myself compassion for what I had been through and what I hadn’t known before that led me to this point.
And I turned that life lesson into a life mission, combining my professional experience with my personal story to help other women recover from burnout and grow to lead vibrant, thriving lives.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I help active women, mothers, and runners reach their fitness goals utilizing functional nutrition resources.
When I reached my burnout point, I was still trying to train for and race a half marathon, and could not figure out why it felt so hard. I see mother runners continuing to chase racing goals at all costs, turning to one fad diet after another in an effort to give them the boost they need to get to the finish line. My life’s mission is to help these focused women realize that by slowing down, giving their body the support it is desperately crying out for, they can actually reach those running and fitness goals with ease AND have fun doing so.
Endurance nutrition and functional nutrition are two opposing fields in terms of how eating, optimal intake, activity, and rest are coached. But I have found through personal and professional experience that many times we need functional support in order to get our bodies ready to handle endurance challenges. We have to eat and train one way to recover from pregnancy and childbirth before we can effectively chase our fitness goals. And then when we get to the point where our bodies can handle going after that endurance goal, we need to make sure we are eating enough, fueling enough, resting enough and not listening to what diet culture is screaming at us, telling us our bodies need to look a certain way or we need to follow a trendy diet in order to be able to reach those goals.
Any body can run or chase fitness if it is fueled properly. I want women to not just thrive in their every day lives but to realize that their fitness goals are actually attainable and to provide the support needed along the way to get there, without reaching that burnout point first.
The way I do this is primarily through one-on-one coaching that requires a six month commitment so we can give the body the time and attention it needs to revive, cultivate, flourish, and bloom. I also offer a variety of online programs and a la carte testing options for women who want the information and resources to navigate their healing journey on their own timeline. I am opening up a hybrid option in December called Fuel Your Best Life that allows women to have this self-paced education alongside personalized support from me as they get started on their journey. My goal is to have options for all women who want to recover from burnout, heal their bodies, and reach their fitness goals without cost or resources getting in the way.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three things that were most impactful for me were shifting my mindset, having self compassion, and setting boundaries.
Having a open mind toward new ways of doing things is important. Getting curious about what is happening and why, and then seeing that the way we’ve always done something isn’t working and we need to go find a new, possibly unconventional way is how we grow. When we get stuck in thinking that we know all the information, we just need to push through, and when we push aside anything that goes counter to that belief system, we can hinder progress and growth.
Along with having a growth mindset and curiosity, we need self-compassion. We need to forgive ourselves for what we did and how we acted when we didn’t know better. If I just kept beating myself up over how I got myself into the burnt out place I was in, I would never have been able to heal from it. Giving myself grace and compassion and moving forward with the tools I did discover and now have was the turning point to actually seeing healing and growth.
Lastly, I don’t think we can have that self-compassion if we don’t have clear boundaries for ourselves. What are we capable of? What are we willing to do? What do we need to heal, support our bodies and our goals, and be our best selves? Boundaries aren’t a rigid way of controlling others. They’re a protective way of giving us what we need to thrive in our own lives. And until we can see this, recognize where we need them, and implement them effectively, we cannot progress on our healing journey.
Tell us what your ideal client would be like?
I help women who are aware they are burned out or reaching that point of burnout and who are ready to take action to change the narrative for their lives.
I help tired mother runners who desperately want to reclaim some part of themselves or prove to themselves that they can still have an identity and purpose and goals through their running that hasn’t been lost to their motherhood.
I help exhausted moms who aren’t runners and drained active women who are nether moms or runners but who have this same drive and determination to set and reach goals that may seem too lofty or to scary but they have some piece of themselves that needs to see what they are capable of.
The common ground these women have is that they are aware of their current situation, they’re ready to make a change, and they just want someone to guide them through and give them the answers that they haven’t gotten from the conventional healthcare model.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://stephaniedarbyrd.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephaniedarbyrd/
Image Credits
Amanda Evans Photo
