PSST!  💌 YOU’RE INVITED! The Calm Business Mastermind is a one-day strategy intensive designed to simplify your outsourcing plan and tech.— and with code FOUNDER, you can lock in your seat at nearly $200 off for a limited time.

This is an adapted transcript from the Love To Lead Podcast. Listen to the full episode How to Refill Your Energy as a Woman Business Owner (When You’re Completely Burnt Out)

We hear it all the time:

“You can’t pour from an empty cup.”

It’s true.

But no one ever answers the real question:

If the cup is empty… how do you refill it?

Because most women entrepreneurs aren’t just tired.
They’re functioning from depletion.

And they think the solution is to push harder.

The Two Cups

Picture this.

Two cups sitting side by side. One is completely empty. Dry. Nothing left. And that’s the cup you’re trying to lead from.

It’s the cup you’re trying to:

• Scale from
• Delegate from
• Grow from
• Make confident decisions from

And you keep asking yourself:

Why am I tired all the time?
Why does delegation not work?
Why do I feel guilty handing things off?
Why do I still feel behind?
Why does it feel like my entire business lives in my head?

Because you’re trying to pour from something that has nothing to give.

But right next to it? There’s another cup. It’s full. Overflowing even.

And when you pour into it, it spills over effortlessly.

Here’s the truth women aren’t told enough:

Your goals are tied to the empty cup.
Your results come from the overflow.

And overflow cannot come from depletion.

The Business Model No One Questions

Most women aren’t failing.

They’re operating inside business systems built for men with wives at home.

Not for women carrying:

• The mental load of business
• The emotional weight of leadership
• The invisible labor of family
• The constant switching between roles

So what do we do?

We push.
We carry more.
We ignore exhaustion.
We tell ourselves it’ll make sense after the next milestone.

But it doesn’t.

Because the cup is still empty.

The Counterintuitive Truth

Here’s where most women get it wrong.

We assume the empty cup is the one that needs to be filled.

But the only cup that produces overflow…
is the one that is already full.

You refill your business by pouring into the cup that represents YOU.

Not your:

• Goals
• Team
• Strategy
• Checklist
• Productivity system
• CRM
• Mastermind

You. And I know that feels irresponsible.

Women are conditioned to believe:

• You rest after you earn it.
• You slow down when things fall apart.
• If you step back, everything will unravel.
• If the business isn’t working, work harder.

But that mindset is exactly why you stay stuck in decision fatigue and overwhelm.

Your energy — not your effort — is your most valuable business asset.

When you pour into yourself:

• Your thinking clears.
• Your decisions get faster.
• Delegation stops feeling personal.
• Your team steps up.
• You stop working at night.
• Joy comes back.
• Leadership gets lighter.

And the business finally grows without draining you.

Tools Don’t Replace Fullness

You can hire a team.
Install systems.
Buy templates.
Change CRMs.
Join masterminds.

And still feel behind. Because tools don’t create overflow. Fullness does. And overflow only comes from a full cup.

What I Want You to Hear

You don’t need to push harder. You need to stop trying to get overflow from an empty cup.

Pour into the part of you that is:

• Whole
• Capable
• Called
• Already equipped

That’s where sustainable leadership lives. That’s where peaceful, profitable business begins.

If you’re realizing you’ve been operating from depletion — you’re not alone. You were never taught a business model designed for women.

But you can rebuild one that honors you.

This is an adapted transcript from the Love To Lead Podcast. Listen to the full episode How to Refill Your Energy as a Woman Business Owner (When You’re Completely Burnt Out)