Why Am I Exhausted Even Though My Business Looks Successful? Understanding Power Leaks for Women Entrepreneurs
Oct 07, 2025THE WAKE-UP CALL: My Leaky Business Year
On the outside, everything looked strong. Clients were happy. Revenue was steady. My calendar was full.
But underneath? I was drained.
When I finally took a closer look, I realized how much I was actually giving away:
The Client Overgiving Leak: "Quick chats" that spiraled into unpaid strategy sessions. When I added it up, it wasn't a couple of hours—it was dozens. Enough time to create an entirely new program.
The Underpricing Leak: I charged less than peers in my space, then overdelivered to make up for it. Each package was only a small gap, but multiplied across a year? A staggering amount of revenue I never saw.
The Emotional Labor Leak: I carried the feelings of team members and clients alike, spending hours managing emotions instead of leading strategy. That energy could have fueled big-picture growth, but instead it kept me stuck in the weeds.
The Admin Leak: Late nights formatting proposals and updating spreadsheets—work that technically needed to be done, but at the cost of the strategic CEO-level decisions only I could make.
By the end of the year, it hit me: Burnout wasn't coming from doing too much. It was coming from giving too much away.
And while I can't put an exact number on it, the cost was more than financial. It was the lost momentum. The projects that stayed on the shelf. The opportunities I never pursued because I was too busy patching leaks.
THE RESEARCH: Power Leaks Cost Businesses Millions
Power leaks aren't personal flaws—they're systematic patterns. And the data is undeniable:
Gallup's 2023 Study: Women leaders are 1.7 times more likely to carry invisible labor loads—managing emotions, relationships, and logistics beyond their actual role. That invisible work costs companies billions annually in lost productivity.
McKinsey's Women in the Workplace Report: Women spend an average of 200 extra hours per year on non-promotable tasks. For entrepreneurs, that's the difference between staying stuck and scaling.
Stanford Research: Entrepreneurs who don't address energy leaks experience slower growth, higher stress, and a higher likelihood of burnout or exit.
Harvard Business School: Calls this the "hidden tax of entrepreneurship"—the untracked cost of undercharging, overgiving, and overworking.
Dr. Gay Hendricks' Zone of Genius Research: Most leaders plateau because they stay stuck in their zone of excellence—competent but not energized. Power leaks keep them trapped there instead of moving into their true genius.
Here's the kicker: The leaks don't just drain your energy—they drain your profit, your innovation capacity, and your ability to think strategically about the future.
THE 7 MOST EXPENSIVE POWER LEAKS
1. The Client Overgiving Leak
Looks like: Extra calls, endless scope creep, "just one more thing" to keep them happy
Cost: Hours of unpaid labor that could have gone into creating or scaling
Cost: Hours of unpaid labor that could have gone into creating or scaling
2. The Underpricing Leak
Looks like: Charging less than your peers, then resenting the work
Cost: Steady erosion of both revenue and confidence
Cost: Steady erosion of both revenue and confidence
3. The Team Drama Leak
Looks like: Managing emotions, fixing mistakes, carrying the weight of misaligned roles
Cost: Hours of leadership energy wasted on management instead of strategy
Cost: Hours of leadership energy wasted on management instead of strategy
4. The Calendar Chaos Leak
Looks like: Back-to-back meetings, zero buffer time, no space for long-term planning
Cost: Keeps you reactive instead of innovative
Cost: Keeps you reactive instead of innovative
5. The Invisible Labor Leak
Looks like: Being the default organizer, mediator, emotional support system
Cost: Drains creative energy needed for business development
Cost: Drains creative energy needed for business development
6. The Perfectionism Leak
Looks like: Endless revisions, analysis paralysis, overdelivering on everything
Cost: Delayed launches and missed opportunities
Cost: Delayed launches and missed opportunities
7. The Boundary Violation Leak
Looks like: Constant availability, immediate responses, emergencies that aren't actually emergencies
Cost: Burnout and diminished authority
Cost: Burnout and diminished authority
Each leak may feel small in the moment. But compounded over a year? They create an invisible tax that quietly caps your growth.
YOUR POWER LEAK AUDIT (3 Steps)
Step 1: Energy Audit
- Where do you end the day feeling resentful?
- Which clients or projects drain you instead of energizing you?
- What tasks steal your focus, even though they only take 15 minutes?
Step 2: Hidden Yes Inventory
- Where are you saying yes out of guilt, fear, or obligation?
- What's one yes you gave this month that you already regret?
- How many hours weekly are you spending outside of your true zone of genius?
Step 3: Pattern Recognition
- Overgiving? Undercharging? Managing instead of leading?
- Delaying because of perfectionism?
- Write it down. Look for patterns.
Because once you see the leaks clearly, you cannot unsee them.
THE TRANSFORMATION: Plugging the Leaks Permanently
This is exactly why RISE Module 2: Reveal doesn't just stop at shadows. We map your complete power leak profile.
Inside Module 2, you'll complete:
- Your personal power leak inventory—exactly where energy and money are draining
- A hidden cost calculator—the real impact of leaks on your growth
- Leak prevention systems—boundaries, processes, and team structures that stop leaks for good
- Energy architecture—designing a business that feeds your energy instead of draining it
- Delegation frameworks—getting the right work off your plate without losing control
Here's what I've learned: You don't need more discipline. You don't need to work harder. You need to stop leaking power in the first place.
The women in RISE don't just patch leaks temporarily. They re-engineer their entire business models so the leaks never come back. They create systems that protect their energy like the valuable resource it is.
THE QUESTION YOU CAN'T IGNORE
Where is your business quietly bleeding energy right now?
What opportunities are you missing because you're too drained to think strategically?
What would be possible if you reclaimed those hours, that energy, that focus?
The longer you ignore the leaks, the more they compound.
And the moment you see them and plug them? You get your power back. You get your energy back. And you get your future back.
Ready for the structure, tools, and community that helps you not just see the leaks, but eliminate them permanently? Take the Identity Mask Quiz to discover which patterns are draining your power.
You’re not just here to listen. You’re here to rise.
This is your space to reconnect with the woman beneath the roles.
These companion notes aren’t fluff. They’re the fuel and the framework behind each episode—crafted to help you integrate the real talk, power prompts, and shifts you’re craving.
Because growth isn't a hack. It's a homecoming.
