Teesside entrepreneur shares burnout journey

A Teesside entrepreneur who walked away from a successful business career after developing a debilitating illness has written a memoir exploring the pressures of professional life and her journey towards recovery.

Redcar-born Carla Keegans, who now lives in Saltburn, has written Burnout: The Quiet Work Towards Being Well, reflecting on her experiences of chronic stress and living with ME/chronic fatigue syndrome.

Having risen from a working-class background to senior positions in social housing, Carla returned to Teesside to establish an ethical lettings social enterprise.

She secured an initial £5 million in social investment, followed by a further £7.5 million as the organisation expanded.

However, years of working under intense pressure took their toll, with Carla experiencing exhaustion, heart palpitations and recurring flu-like symptoms before receiving an ME diagnosis in March 2022.

Carla said: “I’d always been the person who could cope.

“People depended on me and I believed that if I stopped, everything might fall apart.

“I eventually had to ask a different question: what if continuing like this meant that I fell apart?”

By the end of 2022, she had left the organisation she had spent eight years building.

Carla subsequently began rebuilding her life through therapy, meditation, creativity and spending time in nature, describing Saltburn beach as her “sanctuary”.

Reflecting on her experiences, she added: “I spent years treating myself like a machine. 

“The biggest lesson has been learning that I’m actually a human being.”

Her memoir explores the personal impact of burnout and the challenges of balancing professional ambitions with health and wellbeing.

The book will launch at Saltburn Library on Thursday, October 15, ahead of its publication by Odyssey on October 22.

Carla hopes her story will resonate particularly with women juggling careers, family commitments and caring responsibilities.

She added: “Sometimes the more important question is: should I have to cope with all of this in the first place?

“I wanted to tell the truth about what happened to me because somewhere there will be another woman who is still pushing herself through every day and thinking she's the problem.

“The book is very much aimed at women who might be in, or heading for burnout. 

“My hope is it will inspire others to listen to their bodies, and take the action they need to break free and reclaim their lives. 

“We all have that power within us, even when it feels impossible.”

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