From Burnout to Bold: The Summer I Set Myself Free

By Elle Kay

After years of building a successful career, raising a child alone, and keeping everything running smoothly from the outside, I hit a wall that couldn’t be ignored.

Stress had been my background noise for so long, I thought it was normal…until it triggered a heart condition that landed me in an ambulance. That moment didn’t just shake me physically. It forced me to face the truth: I couldn’t keep living like this.

At the time, I owned my own house, had a respectable job, and everything that looked like “success” on paper. But I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t thriving. And most of all, I wasn’t being honest with myself.

I knew deep down I was meant for more, but I was so used to surviving that I couldn’t even picture what thriving would look like. I was constantly on edge, constantly doing, constantly performing. The idea of stopping felt scarier than burning out, until it became a choice between stopping...or being stopped.

So I did something most people wouldn’t dare.

I burned my life to the ground. I sold my house. I left my job. I moved myself and my daughter back in with family and started again with nothing but a vision and a microphone.

That decision, to walk away from the version of success that was slowly breaking me, became the most powerful move I’ve ever made. It wasn’t glamorous. It wasn’t easy. And it definitely wasn’t a straight line. But for the first time in my life, I was building something that actually felt like me. 

I created a brand built around what I needed most at the time: space to breathe, tools to reset, and permission to dream again. I had no big team, no investor, no safety net - just a deep trust in my voice, and the knowing that if I felt this way, others must too.

Fast forward to this summer, and my life looks completely different.

I’ve launched my own hypnotherapy brand, complete with a free app, a podcast, and a growing global audience. Even though I live in Scotland, my work now reaches people all over the world; with app downloads and podcast listeners from the US, Europe, and beyond. I’ve had such lovely feedback from people who have taken my hypnotherapy courses.

That’s what it’s all about.

My glow up wasn’t just physical (although let’s be real, there’s nothing wrong with better skin and stronger boundaries). The biggest transformation was internal. I stopped abandoning myself to make other people comfortable. I stopped performing and started owning my truth: fully, unapologetically, and loudly.

I no longer shrink myself to fit in rooms I’ve outgrown. I speak up. I take up space. I show my daughter that starting again isn’t failure; it’s freedom.

And I’m not here to pretend it was easy. Reinvention rarely is. It’s not always sunshine and vision boards. Sometimes it’s tears in the bath, awkward pivots, and wondering if you’ve completely lost the plot. But what I know for sure is this: you don’t need to wait for rock bottom to decide your life gets to feel better than this. You don’t need to tick more boxes, or be more perfect, or hold everything together one more day. You just need to choose you.

That’s what this summer is all about for me.

It’s the season I stop waiting. Stop hiding. Stop diluting my energy to make it more palatable. This is my summer of bold visibility, clear boundaries, and magnetic energy.

I’m showing up in my business, in my voice, in my truth. I’m speaking to the people who are ready to hear it. And I’m building the life I once only dreamed about - not because I got lucky, but because I got honest. 

And if there’s one message I want to share with anyone reading this, it’s this:

You can begin again at any moment. You don’t need permission, a plan, or perfect circumstances. You just need the courage to say, “I’m not available for this version of life anymore.”

The truth is, your glow up won’t come from fixing yourself because you were never broken. It comes from finally remembering who you are.

Connect With Elle

www.ellekay.co.uk 

@hey_elle_kay