3 | YES

Trina DasGupta is an award winning producer, director, and entrepreneur. http://www.trinadasgupta.com/

The company she founded, Single Palm Tree Productions, creates content that changes culture for the better. In this episode, Trina tells us about 3 times she's been burnt out in the past 10 years worth of hard work. Most of her burn outs, but also successes, have resulted in her saying, "Yes."

"Yes" can sometimes mean taking a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but sometimes it can mean doing ALL the work yourself.

 

The Burnt Out Experience

For Trina, entrepreneurship is simultaneously amazing and harrowing at the same time, but she wouldn't have it any other way. She can't imagine having a desk job. She does offer the advice though, that if you're the kind of person who values a steady paycheck, "don't become an entrepreneur just because it's sexy. You have to figure out what's right for you."

Trina recalls three specific experiences of feeling burnt out in the last 10 years - one of which put her in the hospital.

Trina left corporate America because she was feeling over it. She felt like she was giving so much of herself to something that had nothing to do with her. She didn't feel incentivized or good about the work that she was pouring herself into... for what?? But Trina was raised to work hard, so she was giving 110% to a world that wasn't right for her - so she left.

Trina was in South Africa doing phenomenal work creating all sorts of digital media, television shows, magazines and so much more content that had awesome, diverse messages for young people. There were ENORMOUS challenges though, in that team she worked with didn't have access to proper training, so she was simultaneously training her team and the hard work.

Trina admits that her mistake in this role is that she took it all on herself. Rather than saying no to more and more work, she attempted to figure it all out herself. She also says that working in the realm of HIV/AIDS has it's own emotional challenges in seeing the tragedy surrounding that type of work.

After Trina got back from South Africa, she was asked come to DC to do more work. She tried to say no, but ultimately it felt like she could say no because it was a global initative. Trina was traveling to FOUR CONTINENTS A MONTH for two and a half years... while she was working on a project to close the gender gap in the field of technology. Can you imagine that much travel?

While she was in it, she knew it is was amazing and she felt like she was going to do it all. She felt on top of the world! It was an amazing experience, but at the same time, she wasn't really taking care of herself. She was so focused on doing and not being that it took a toll on her body and her adrenal system. She was hospitalized because of it.

Trina notes that she was right not to say no to working on this project because it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Since this experience though, she has truly learned when she should say yes or no.

 

How did she deal?

 

"A Slap In The Face"

 

Getting hospitalized was Trina's slap in the face that she said she needed in order to recognize that she needed to take a break and just sit still for a moment in time. She hopes that this isn't what would be required of most people when they encounter burnout though.

She offers the advice that, "whatever choice you make is going to be okay," INCLUDING taking time off for your own physical and mental well-being.

 

Life Sabbatical

Trina took 6 months to "turn off." She said no to everything and told people that she needed time to organize herself.

She meditated, practiced yoga, went on silent meditative retreats, and really just took some time for herself.

Trina acknowledges that not everyone has the opportunity to take a life sabbatical, but if you can, she highly recommends it. In those 6 months, Trina was able to "unpack" the idea behind her current company, Single Palm Tree Productions, and truly get her life back to a place she felt comfortable, motivated, driven, and just good.

 

What Makes a Good Leader?

Knowing what you're good
Knowing what you're not good at
Building teams that love what they do
Creating a sustainable work culture
Listening and actually hearing what people are saying

 

Notable Quotes

 

"The greatest gift I was given was the gift of awareness."

 

"Accomplishments have become a proxy for love in some sort of way. It's like if I reach X job or Y number of twitter followers... that it means people like me and people love me and people care about me, but that's very surface."