EPISODE 26

“YOU’RE BURNT OUT — AND THERE’S A REASON YOU KEEP GETTING PISSED ABOUT IT”

Why women are leaving corporate — and what it means for your future

Hello hello my beautiful friends, and welcome back to Manifest + Chill podcast.
I’m Tracy Ftacek, and we’re in week three of our Sacred Slowdown series.

But today, we’re stepping out of seasonal energy for a moment—
because something has been burning in my chest all week.

Two research studies landed in my inbox within days of each other.
And they confirmed what I’ve been saying—loudly—for years.

Honestly?
I wanted to screenshot them and send them to every person who has ever rolled there eyes when I talked about the mentorship gap in corporate.

Because this is why you’re burnt out.
This is why you’re exhausted and angry.
And this is why 45% of businesses are now female-owned.

So grab your coffee and settle in—
because today we’re validating every frustration you’ve ever felt about being everyone’s mentor…
while having nobody mentor you.

Let me paint you a picture.

It’s a Friday morning.
I’m sitting in my kitchen in the suburbs of Chicago, coffee in hand, when two messages hit my inbox within an hour.

First, my friend Shaun sends me a LeanIn.org study on women and workplace mentorship.
Then later that morning, my daughter and I are talking about her friends are experiencing this currently in their own entry level roles.

Different sources.
Different organizations.
Same conclusion.

Women are burning out at unprecedented rates because they are giving massive amounts of mentorship—and receiving almost none in return.

And I just sat there thinking:
“I’ve been living this data for years.”

Not just experiencing it.
Watching it quietly dismantle brilliant women—one by one.

And here’s something the headlines don’t always say clearly enough:

This isn’t affecting all women equally.

Women of color—especially Black women in senior roles—are reporting even higher levels of burnout, job insecurity, and lack of sponsorship than women overall.

Meaning the women already carrying more pressure, more scrutiny, and fewer safety nets…
are also being asked to give more—with even less support.

And that context matters.

Because what these studies don’t fully capture is the lived experience.

What it feels like when you are the person everyone leans on—
but no one is holding you.

When you’re mentoring twelve people at work…
while your own manager barely knows your goals.

When you’re solving everyone else’s problems…
while your own career stalls.

When you’re holding emotional space for an entire team…
while burning out in silence.

I lived this.
It nearly broke me.

And now I see it mirrored in almost every woman I coach.

Today, I want to explain why your anger makes sense,
why this pattern is accelerating,
and what you can do before you become another burnout statistic.

Because here’s the truth most workplaces won’t say out loud:

The system isn’t broken.
It’s working exactly as designed.

And it’s designed to extract everything you have—
while giving you very little back.

Let’s start with the numbers—because numbers don’t lie.

According to LeanIn.org research, women receive significantly less mentorship and sponsorship than their male counterparts.

But here’s the part that matters:

They’re expected to provide more.

Women are:

• 50% more likely to be asked to mentor junior employees

• 70% more likely to be tasked with emotional labor, team dynamics, and office “glue work”

• Consistently assigned invisible work that keeps organizations functioning—but doesn’t lead to promotions

And when you layer race on top of that?

Women of color are less likely to receive sponsorship,
less likely to be advocated for,
and more likely to experience burnout and job insecurity—even at senior levels.

Meanwhile, men receive:

• More strategic mentorship

• More sponsorship

• More advocacy at senior levels

So let me reflect this back to you:

Women mentor more—and are mentored less.
Women carry more emotional labor—and receive less support.
Women solve more problems—while fewer people are invested in their growth.

And for women of color, this imbalance is often even sharper.

Of course you’re angry.

And here’s the part that makes this insidious:

When women express frustration, they’re labeled difficult.
When they ask for support, they’re told to lean in.
When they name the inequity, they’re accused of “playing the gender card.”

That’s not feedback.
That’s institutional gaslighting.

And it’s one of the reasons women are exiting corporate environments at record speed.

Another study showed that burnout among professional women has increased 38% in just three years.

Not because women can’t handle the work.

But because they’re doing everyone else’s emotional work on top of it—
often while navigating bias, invisibility, and limited access to advancement.

This is not a personal failure.
It’s a systemic one.

And the women who see that clearly?

They’re not trying to fix the system anymore.

They’re building their own.

Let me tell you what I hear from the women I coach—over and over again.

“I don’t understand why I’m drowning.
I’m good at my job.”

So we do something I call an Energy Audit—part of phase one of my Energy Aligned Business Strategy framework.

We map where her energy is going…
and where it’s coming from.

Here’s what always shows up:

She’s mentoring multiple people at work.
She’s the go-to for conflict resolution, emotional support, and career advice.
She’s essentially running an unpaid coaching practice inside her job.

And when I ask,
“Who’s mentoring you?”

Silence.

Her manager gives her a rushed quarterly review.
HR offers generic leadership workshops.
No one is advocating for her promotions.
No one is opening doors.

And I want to be clear here:

I see this across races—but for many women of color, the absence of sponsorship is even more pronounced.
They’re expected to be resilient, self-sufficient, and endlessly giving—
while receiving fewer opportunities for visibility and advancement.

She’s giving mentorship to twelve people—
and receiving it from zero.

And when she looks ahead?
All she sees is more of the same.

More responsibility.
More emotional labor.
More people relying on her.

This is the moment that breaks my heart:

She thinks this is normal.

She thinks this is just “how it is” for women in corporate.

That’s what systemic conditioning does.
It convinces the exploited that they’re the problem.

But corporate isn’t broken for women.
It’s optimized to use them.

And that’s why “work-life balance” isn’t the solution.

The real issue is energy imbalance.

I’ve been saying this for years:

Women are leaving corporate—not because they can’t handle it…
but because they’re done being drained.

And the data now confirms it.

• 45% of businesses are female-owned

• A decade ago, that number was 20%

• Women are starting businesses at twice the rate of men

And women of color, in particular, are increasingly choosing entrepreneurship
as a way to reclaim autonomy, safety, and growth that corporate structures failed to provide.

This isn’t about passion projects.

It’s about survival.

Women are tired of being everyone’s mentor—
with no one mentoring them.

And when they redirect that energy into their own businesses?

Everything changes.

The wisdom they gave away for free becomes income.
The emotional intelligence used to manage dysfunction becomes leadership.
The problem-solving becomes innovation.

But here’s the part no one tells you:

You don’t magically heal the over-giving pattern just because you leave.

That pattern has to be rewired.

And that is the work I do.

Let’s be clear about what the solution is not.

It’s not better boundaries inside a system designed to ignore them.
It’s not leaning in harder.
And it’s definitely not blaming yourself.

Your anger is data.
Your frustration is information.

And burnout is your nervous system waving a red flag.

The answer isn’t fixing yourself.

It’s building something that actually supports you.

That starts with three things:

1. Audit your energy
Where is it going—and where is it replenished?

2. Redirect your mentoring energy
That wisdom is your business model.

3. Build systems that support you
Instead of extracting from you.

This is Energy Aligned Business Strategy.

Not hustle.
Not burnout recovery alone.
But a complete reorientation of how you work, lead, and build.

If this episode felt like someone finally named what you’ve been living—

Do the Energy Audit I shared today.

And if you’re ready to turn your burnout into something sustainable, supported, and aligned…

Enrollment for my next Energy Aligned Business Strategy cohort opens soon.

Reply ENERGY to any of my emails, and I’ll make sure you get the details.

Because your anger isn’t a flaw.
It’s feedback.

And it’s pointing you toward something better.

If this episode made you feel seen, DM me and tell me:

What are you supporting at work—
and what’s supporting you?

I see you.
I believe you.
And I know exactly how to help you build something better.

Until next time—
remember: your anger is information.

Love you all