From Burnout to Spotlight: How I Changed My Life from the Ground Up

I turned my whole life upside down without knowing if it would work out. I left the science career I’d spent years building. I walked away from a stable paycheck, and stepped into the unknown with nothing but a dream and two small kids depending on me.

All I knew was that I couldn’t stay stuck in an uncreative 9–5, drained of all my energy, coming home too tired to be the mom I wanted to be. People told me to just 'be normal', to do what everyone else does, to stay safe.

They all meant well, but what they were really saying was "don’t risk it, don’t want too much.” And I knew if I listened, I’d spend my life wondering what if. But I had a dream, and I was determined to make it come true. Even if it meant burning the map and building the road as I walked it.

From scientist to stage: my journey from burnout to spotlight.

The Breaking Point

I worked my ass off in science, in jobs that didn’t appreciate me, that took all my time and energy and gave me nothing in return. I worked late almost every day, and when I came home, I had no energy left to be the mom I always wanted to be.

Picture this: fluorescent lights, endless data spreadsheets, my body in the lab but my mind somewhere else entirely — imagining a stage, music, movement. Then reality hitting me again: emails, deadlines, pressure.

I had two major burnouts — one during my master’s when expectations were sky-high and nothing was ever enough, and another when I was pregnant with my second child. That one nearly broke me. I was exhausted, mentally and physically, because no matter how hard I worked, I lost the game. When I went on maternity leave and started to heal, I knew I didn’t want to go back.

Then came my baby’s birth — traumatic, and I almost lost my life. Lying in that hospital bed, something in me snapped into focus: life is too short to live it for other people’s approval.

The Leap into the Unknown and Changing my Life

A few weeks later, I quit my job — leaving all security behind with nothing certain on the horizon. I started searching for musical theatre programs and realized that if I wanted to do this right, I had to be where it happened: London. It had always been my north star, the place that lit up my imagination and made the dream feel real.

So I auditioned. And then, one ordinary day, the email came that would change everything.

But that’s a story for another time — because what matters is what happened when I decided to go "all in"

Becoming Someone New

That decision cracked my life wide open. London became the place where I rebuilt myself, not just as a performer, but as a person. I trained every day, surrounded by people who lived and breathed the same passion I’d carried quietly for years. I learned to take up space, to push past perfectionism, to let myself be seen.

Some days, I soared. Other days, I cried in the bathroom between classes wondering if I’d made the biggest mistake of my life. But even on the hardest days, I felt more alive than in all those years playing it safe.

I came back not just with better technique and performance skills, but with a new kind of courage. The kind that says: I get to shape my life. I get to choose. And once you’ve tasted that kind of freedom, you can’t go back.

Your Turn

Maybe you’re standing where I once stood, stuck in a life that looks “fine” from the outside but leaves you drained, uninspired, and wondering if this is really it. If you’ve been wondering how to change your life but fear it’s too late, I promise it’s not.

I’m here to tell you: it’s not too late. You’re not too old. You’re not too behind. You’re not too anything.

The leap will look different for you, maybe it’s a career change, maybe it’s finally putting your art out into the world, maybe it’s simply making space for your own voice again. But the truth is the same: you get to choose a life that feels like yours.

And if your dream feels impossible right now, start with one thing: release the tension that’s been keeping you small. In your body. In your voice. In your mind. It’s the first step I took, and it changed everything.