Breaking the Burnout Cycle for Women Leaders With Christiane Witt, Cerice Berndsen, and Leah Hielsberg
Christiane Witt is the Founder of Soul Soothing Co., a company that helps women entrepreneurs build AI-enhanced systems and self-managing teams that restore spaciousness, flow, and creative freedom. She focuses on the mental, emotional, and spiritual side of entrepreneurship — guiding clients to regulate their nervous systems, find peace, and redefine success beyond constant hustle.
Cerice Berndsen is the COO and Systems Architect at Soul Soothing Co. She helps clients design streamlined processes and implement automation so they can delegate effectively, reclaim their time, and lead their businesses with clarity and calm.
Leah Hielsberg is the Chief Implementation Officer and Co-founder at Soul Soothing Co. She teaches women entrepreneurs how to organize their operations, manage their tech stacks, and leverage automation to eliminate redundant tasks.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
[02:27] Cerice Berndsen explains why being witnessed in rest can relax your nervous system
[03:29] Christiane Witt highlights the impact of traditional roles on women’s ability to rest
[04:30] Leah Hielsberg discusses how luxurious rest boosts business performance and leadership
[05:47] Defining enoughness in the context of women's entrepreneurship
[07:52] Ways to practice enoughness with small, manageable steps every day
[09:14] How enoughness transforms leadership style and relationships
[10:59] What an empowered “enough” company culture truly looks like
[13:28] Actionable advice to break free from punishing self-expectations
[17:12] How real growth happens during moments of intentional rest
In this episode…
Women entrepreneurs often find themselves trapped in a cycle of overwork, self-doubt, and the belief that their value is tied to constant productivity. This mindset fuels burnout, erodes joy, and creates pressure to meet impossible standards. What happens when leaders finally pause long enough to ask whether relentless effort is truly the path to success?
Christiane Witt, Cerice Berndsen, and Leah Hielsberg, experts in transformational leadership, explain how rest, enoughness, and self-compassion help break this cycle. It’s about recognizing internalized pressure and redefining worth beyond usefulness. By practicing small moments of ease, expanding the capacity to rest, and understanding the root causes of overwhelm, leaders can calm their nervous system and return to their work with clarity. This shift replaces constant striving with grounded confidence, allowing women to lead with more intention, spaciousness, and self-trust.
In this episode of The Soul Soothing Podcast, Christiane Witt, Cerice Berndsen, and Leah Hielsberg of Soul Soothing Co. are interviewed by Chad Franzen of Rise25 to discuss breaking the burnout cycle for women leaders. They delve into the power of rest, redefining enoughness, and leading from emotional spaciousness. The conversation also demystifies nervous-system thresholds, cultivating safety in leadership, and building a supportive company culture.
Resources Mentioned in this episode
Quotable Moments
“It puts into question the assumption that we have to be useful in order to be loved.”
“It makes work feel safe because I think so many people out there in their jobs and in their businesses don't feel safe in the company culture.”
“We always talk about how when you let things go, how things just fall together, right?”
“There was this sense of relief of pressure, like, I don't have to go, go, go.”
“We have to give grace for the fact that your best changes from day to day.”
Action Steps
Build intentional rest into your weekly schedule: Creating space to reset your mind and nervous system helps you lead with clarity rather than reactivity.
Practice self-compassion daily: Treating yourself with kindness reduces the internal pressure that fuels overwork and strengthens emotional resilience.
Define what enoughness personally means to you: Knowing what “enough” looks and feels like prevents constant self-judgment and helps you make aligned decisions.
Delegate and systemize recurring tasks: Putting supportive structures in place frees your mental bandwidth and restores spaciousness in your business.
Check in with your nervous system before taking action: Responding from calm rather than urgency leads to better choices, healthier relationships, and more sustainable growth.
Sponsor for this episode…
This episode is brought to you by Soul Soothing Co., where we help women founders build AI-enhanced systems and self-managing teams that restore spaciousness, flow, and creative freedom.
One example of how we help our clients is Lynley. We helped her go from working 16 hours a day, seven days a week, to embracing systems, AI, and structure — allowing her to multiply her income, create time to enjoy her hobbies, and reconnect with her deeper self.
If you’re tired of being a woman entrepreneur who has built a business that works but feels like that business is running you, visit us at soulsoothingco.com to book a quick chat, or email us at [email protected].
