Successful on LinkedIn... from the hospital

Gretchen was at the top of her game

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Having spent years building a remarkable career at companies like Amazon and Lenovo, Gretchen was at the top of her game.

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But then, on a Friday, she received a call from the hospital. Her husband had been admitted for an emergency.

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That same day, her team had just been told to rebuild an important presentation for a vice president by Monday morning.

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She was facing a choice many high performers know too well: How much of your personal life are you willing to sacrifice for professional success?‍

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What followed forced her to rethink not only her priorities, but also the hidden costs of constantly performing at a high level.

👉 Keep reading to discover Gretchen's story.

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👤 Who

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Gretchen Nash is a designer and recovering workaholic. She currently leads design for Lenovo AI, building experiences across Lenovo and Motorola. She has spent most of her life deep in art and design, from early creative obsessions to startups and Amazon Alexa, where she was a UX Creative Director.

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She loves what she does for work but she has also had to learn the hard way how not to let it consume everything else.

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FuN: What is your personal definition of failure?

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Gretchen: Failure is only real if you don’t learn from a negative experience. I think it’s better to try and fail at something than to not try it out at all.

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Failure is proof you were willing to be vulnerable and take a risk. The real loss would be just repeating the same patterns without ever asking why or seeking change.

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FuN: What was your context before this story?

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Gretchen: II had just been promoted to Creative Director and was leading the biggest project of my career. I really wanted to impress my boss, who chose myself.

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I was the “most reliable one.” The constant overachiever. The person who could always be counted on, no matter what. I had built my identity around being dependable and hardworking, often putting myself last.

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On the outside and on LinkedIn, I looked successful, but on the inside I was constantly tired and running on high functioning anxiety, coffee, and pressure.

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That started to leak into every part of my life, including irritability, constant exhaustion, and recurring headaches that I kept pushing through.

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I’d wake up most mornings feeling physically unwell, sometimes stuck in the bathroom trying to pull myself together before the next presentation or meeting.

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It felt like my system was rejecting the pace I was forcing it to keep, and I hid these symptoms for as long as I could.

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💣 The Real Failure

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Gretchen: On a Friday, we were told to rebuild everything for a Monday morning VP presentation. That same day, my husband was admitted to the hospital for an emergency.

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Instead of stepping back from the project at work, I treated his hospital visits like focus calendar blocks, and worked the rest of the time and well into the mornings.

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At the time I told myself I had no choice but to do this, and that I could do it all.

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I was driven by a need to be the hardest-working person in the room, no matter the personal cost.

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Over time, it turned into anxiety, unhealthy perfectionism, and a complete lack of boundaries.

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It never occurred to me how bad it was to normalize not going home from work, because I once again was proving how dedicated I was to the work.

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FuN: When did you realize it was a failure?

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Gretchen: Not in the moment, but many months later I realized how toxic my addition to work was.

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I hadn’t even told my husband how much I worked during his hospital stay because I felt so guilty.

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The hardest part is that there are so many important conversations I don’t remember at all, because I wasn’t really there when they happened.

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I was so busy solving problems in my head that I was just nodding along, not really present.

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It started to seriously strain my relationships and nearly led to a divorce before I made meaningful changes in therapy.

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Good news though, we’re still married many years later.

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FuN: What changed?

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Gretchen: At the time, I felt pressure and responsibility. I respected my manager and believed the stakes were incredibly high for the team.

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I convinced myself the work and potential team outcomes justified my choices.

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But underneath that was a harder truth to admit, that I didn’t show up for someone I love.

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When it all finally caught up to me, it felt awful realizing and processing that I hadn’t shown up for my partner the way I should have.

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That realization led me into therapy, where I started unpacking these patterns and understanding how deeply wired they were.

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I am trying to build new habits, and it’s still something I actively work on.

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FuN: How was the situation solved?

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Gretchen: It started with small, intentional changes like learning to say no, taking actual lunch breaks, delegating more, and protecting more time for myself.

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I used to think that constant exhaustion was simply a permanent side effect of success.

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I’ve started to learn that’s not true.

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Rest and balance aren’t just rewards, they need to be integrated into your life as a practice.

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I stopped taking on extra projects and started sleeping in on weekends. Even simple things like breathing exercises before bed help me feel more grounded and present these days.

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I don’t take my work computer on vacations anymore.

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💡 In conclusion

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Gretchen: “Staying busy can sometimes be a coping mechanism rooted in anxiety and overachievement.”

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💡 FuN: Busyness is not always productivity. Encourage teams to focus on outcomes rather than activity, and create space to question workloads, priorities, and the motivations behind them.

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Gretchen: “Real success isn’t just what you accomplish at work, it’s how present and connected you are in your life outside of it to stay inspired.”

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💡 FuN: Sustainable performance depends on what happens beyond the workplace. Leaders who promote balance, connection, and recovery help teams maintain creativity, engagement, and long-term resilience.

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Gretchen: “If you're not investing in yourself, the rest of life starts to lose its meaning and time passes that you can’t ever get back.”

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💡 FuN: Personal growth is a leadership responsibility. Encouraging continuous learning, reflection, and well-being helps individuals stay engaged, adaptable, and prepared for future challenges.

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Connect with Gretchen!

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