Kerrie Phipps - Leadership Coach
“When my doctor told me that I would not be able to work for 5 to 10 years, I refused to accept it. I had a sense of purpose and I knew it wasn’t on the couch!”
Kerrie Phipps was introduced to me by a friend who knew she had an experience with burnout. Even though Kerrie alluded to her story in her first book, ”Create The Life Journal”, she never really opened up publicly about it. Yet after twenty years, five books, ten co-authored books and a successful career in leadership coaching, the time had come when I reached out to her. ”I didn’t want to sound dramatic, nor do I want people to put me on a pedestal with the assumption it was easy for me, to write books, travel and do public speaking. Life wasn’t easy and I’m happy to share more if my story can help others,” Kerrie candidly shares with me.
In 2003, Kerrie was diagnosed with severe burnout. It was the seventh year she worked for a Church for very long hours and a meagre salary. ”I earned an average of $150 dollars/ week for a full time job and I was on call 24/7.” The problem wasn’t just the money or the number of hours. It was the lack of support and growing responsibilities**. One question haunted Kerrie: ”Am I making a difference?” She cared deeply about the youth community she supported and the colleagues she helped but after months of pushing through symptoms of being physically sick everyday before work and intense fatigue, feeling isolated in the midst of busyness, she began collapsing, the symptoms becoming too strong to be ignored. A close friend and psychologist advised her to pay a visit to her GP, adding: ”You are not yourself anymore. You’re in burnout.” That’s when her doctor told her she had pushed herself so much she would not be able to work for 5 to 10 years, a statement that Kerrie categorically rejected, knowing she would find ways to move forward.
Her reality, however, was that she slept 20 hours a day to let her body heal, struggled to talk or read a paragraph and sometimes could hardly stand up. She spent months lying in her lounge room, navigating mothering a 3 ½ year old toddler while recovering. Despite the intensity of the physical struggles, the worst was the shame she felt. Shame of what she had become, shame of letting people down, shame of not making a difference.
When symptoms lessened, she took up simple jobs at retail shops. She sold jeans to start with and later luxury furniture. ”At times I was so tired that I would sit on the lounges as I showed them to customers,” Kerrie recalls. This turned out to be very useful as it enabled more authentic conversations with the customers when Kerrie sat with them. She quickly became a virtuoso at selling the right lounge for the right people, but this wasn’t as fulfilling for her.
Seeking a way to recovery and her purpose, an idea popped in her mind, energising her once more: ”I am a coach!” It came to her as something obvious, it felt right, but wasn’t a reality yet.
Subsequently, Kerrie registered for a coaching package as a client to get an insider’s perspective before enrolling in formal coach training. About the time she finished the final session as a coachee, she was well into the first course and loving it. She went to a water theme park with her family during the Christmas holidays. Kerrie recalled a specific moment when she happily climbed a long set of stairs to reach the starting point of a slide: ”I wouldn’t have been able to climb those stairs just a few months earlier and that moment I thought Yes, I made it! I’m back. I am myself again!”
Kerrie could have ended the conversation there with a happy ending, but she insisted that everyone should know we all remain at risk of burnout throughout life. Fast forward to 20 years later, Kerrie has learnt how to check in with herself to identify her needs. ”After an intense day of work, I always plan a relaxed day or at least a nap in the afternoon” she shares in order to inspire others that it is okay - and important to take care of themselves.
To conclude Kerrie insists on a simple message ”Listening to our body, reflecting and journaling help understand our needs and keep us from burnout.”
“What I thought was such a heartbreaking end, turned out to be the doorway to an amazing beginning.”
Book recommendations:
”Create The Life Journal” by Kerrie Phipps
”Do Talk To Strangers” by Kerrie Phipps
Kerrie is based in Dubbo, Australia where she offers leadership coaching services. (https://kerriephipps.com/)
** After reviewing this blog, Kerrie asked to add that the lack of feedback and weight of expectations were also part of what what triggered her burnout.
“What I thought was such a heartbreaking end, turned out to be the doorway to an amazing beginning.”