November broke me. Not in the dramatic way you see in the movies. In that quiet, creeping way where you wake up one morning and realize you don’t recognize the woman staring back at you in the mirror. Exhausted. Running on fumes. Building an empire on an empty tank.
I teach women leaders how to lead softly. How to build without burning out. How to create space for rest, regulation, and sustainable growth. And there I was, preaching peace while my body was screaming for it.
So I did something that felt terrifying and necessary: I planned a soft reset. A real one. Not a long weekend where I’d still check Slack. Not a staycation where I’d reorganize my office and call it rest. An actual trip where the only agenda was to remember what it feels like to breathe without urgency.
And that’s when I discovered Gladly Travel.
Why Your Values Should Match Your Vacation Choices
Here’s what I know about myself: I can’t buy something without it meaning something. My spending has to align with who I am and what I’m building. As someone who talks about intentional leadership every single day, booking a trip through a platform that didn’t reflect my values wouldn’t work for me.
Gladly Travel offers a discount travel service with a purpose-driven model. When you book through Gladly Travel, 2% of what you spend goes back to schools, communities, and organizations that need support. The platform is free to join. I get to reset, and somebody’s classroom gets resources. I get to rest, and a community program gets funding.
That’s alignment. Real alignment between personal needs and community impact.
When you shop through Gladly’s main platform, 5% of your everyday purchases support fundraising efforts for schools and organizations. Whether I’m booking a flight or buying something I need anyway, my money moves with purpose.
Baby, that’s the kind of ripple effect I can get behind.
The Trip I Almost Canceled Three Times
I booked Hyatt Vivid Grand Island in Cancún through Gladly Travel. Adults-only. All-inclusive. Ocean views that don’t quit. A layout designed for slowing down, not rushing through.
But let me tell you—the old version of me almost canceled this trip three times.
“You don’t have time for this.”
“There’s too much work.”
“You’ll fall behind.”
That voice led me straight to a breakdown in November. That voice kept me grinding when my body was begging me to stop. That voice had to be unlearned.
So I went. Because rest isn’t a reward you earn after you’ve burned yourself out. Rest is a requirement for sustainable leadership.
What a Soft Reset Actually Looks Like in Practice
Day one at Hyatt Vivid Grand Island hit different. The views were stunning. The food was incredible. The drinks were perfectly crafted. But what really got me was the permission I gave myself to just be.
No laptop. No strategy sessions. No back-to-back calls. Just me, the ocean, and the uncomfortable realization that I had forgotten how to sit still without feeling guilty about it.
This was a soft reset—a chance to practice what I preach through The Soft Simple CEO™ framework:
Self-trust over self-betrayal. I wasn’t abandoning my business. I was choosing to trust that it could hold without me micromanaging every moment.
Regulation before strategy. My nervous system needed to calm down before my brain could think clearly again. No amount of planning would fix that. Only rest would.
Softness as a leadership skill. Allowing myself to slow down, to move without urgency, to prioritize peace over productivity. That’s wisdom, not weakness.
And honestly? It was uncomfortable sometimes. My brain kept trying to pull me back into hustle mode. But I stayed committed to this new way. Because the old way almost destroyed me.
How the Right Space Supports Your Reset
The Hyatt Vivid Grand Island was designed for the kind of experience I was craving. Flow. Ease. Spaces that invite you to slow down instead of speed up.
Pool spaces that felt relaxed and social, not rushed and crowded. Dining that didn’t require planning or reservations, just showing up when your body said it was hungry. A layout that made wandering feel natural, not exhausting.
I had a bay view where I could watch the yachts drift by. A golf course view that was peaceful and green. A patio that wrapped around so I could step outside from my bathroom and just breathe.
The space held me. And that’s exactly what I needed.
Why Rest Should Be Intentional, Not Transactional
This morning, before I even left for this trip, I was journaling. And I wrote something that’s been sitting with me ever since:
Rest should be intentional. We need to start teaching and talking more about rest as an intention, not just as a reward.
Because that’s the trap. We treat rest like something we have to earn. Like we only deserve it after we’ve worked ourselves into the ground. Like it’s a prize for good behavior instead of a basic human need.
But sustainable leadership doesn’t work that way. You can’t build an empire on burnout. You can’t lead others well when you’re barely holding yourself together. And you definitely can’t preach self-care while ignoring every signal your body sends you.
So I made rest an intention. Not something I’d get to eventually. Not something I’d fit in if I had time. An actual priority. A strategic decision for my business and my life.
And Gladly Travel made that easier. Not just because of the discounts, but because booking through a platform that gives back meant I wasn’t choosing between my values and my needs. I could honor both.
What Happens When Peace Becomes Your Priority
I’m not gonna lie and say everything is fixed now. One trip doesn’t undo months of pushing too hard. But it did something important: it reminded me what peace feels like. And more than that, it proved to me that choosing peace doesn’t mean my business falls apart.
My business is still there. My team is still thriving. My clients are still supported. The world didn’t end because I chose to rest.
And that’s the lesson I needed. Not just the theory of soft leadership, but the lived experience of it. The proof that rest isn’t selfish—it’s strategic.
You know that moment when you realize you can’t keep running on fumes? November was that moment for me. And this trip, this soft reset, was the moment I chose differently.
I’m not here to grind differently or come back harder. I’m here to remember what it feels like to move through my days without urgency, without guilt, without the constant need to prove something.
I’m practicing what I’ve been preaching: that rest isn’t a reward—it’s a requirement. That softness is a leadership skill. That you can build an empire without burning yourself down.
If You’ve Been Running on Empty Too
Maybe you’re reading this and thinking, “That sounds nice, but I don’t have time for a trip right now.”
I get it. I said the same thing. But here’s what I learned: you don’t have time NOT to rest. Because eventually, your body will make the decision for you. And a forced breakdown is a lot more disruptive than a planned reset.
If you’ve been feeling like you’re one bad day away from your own breakdown, maybe this is your permission. Maybe watching me do this differently will help you see that it’s possible for you too.
When you’re ready to plan your own soft reset, check out Gladly Travel. The platform is free to join, and 2% of what you spend on travel goes back to schools and communities. So you can rest well and do good at the same time.
Because the world will keep yelling hustle. But baby, hustle without peace will run you dry every single time.
Rest is wealth. Softness is strength. Peace is the plan.
So keep choosing the pace that lets you stay whole. Keep building the kind of life that doesn’t ask you to bleed to belong. I’m saying what I’m saying.
And when you’re ready to let your everyday spending carry purpose too, come to Gladly. You’ll find discounts on travel and brands that give back, and every purchase lets your values show up in real life. Not just in what you build, but in how you buy.
