EP117: From Burnout to Bold: The Rebirth of Business Blasphemy

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WELCOME BACK, BLASPHEMERS!

I was ready to pull the plug. After 116 episodes of calling out the smoke and mirrors of online entrepreneurship, the spark dimmed and I nearly ended the show. That's when the truth smacked me in the face: I wasn’t tired of the mic. I was tired of orbiting the same problem. The mission had outgrown the format. What started as unapologetic myth-busting now asks for something bigger: building women’s power, leadership, and legacy without apology.

This episode is the turning point. I share the burnout that nudged me toward a sunset, the quiet that delivered clarity, and the TEDx moment that lit a fire I could no longer defer. I get honest about why manipulative tactics thrive online, not just because of bad actors, but because so many of us were conditioned to outsource authority and doubt our own data. Instead of chasing hype cycles, we return to the source: strengthening self-trust, sharpening discernment, and designing strategy that protects agency. I talk candidly about choosing low-hanging fruit (operations, because it’s safe and in-demand) versus answering the call I’ve felt for decades: women’s leadership and thought leadership that move power, not just metrics.

The show remains Business Blasphemy, but the center of gravity shifts. Expect bold truths, practical tools, and real stories from ambitious women building on their own terms. We’ll call out harm when needed, without making harm the headline. We’ll focus on identity, choice, negotiation, structural security, and the kind of operational clarity that lets you take smart risks. The question guiding every topic is simple: does this choice increase your agency?

If you’re ready to stop playing for scraps and start building a legacy that looks like you, hit follow, share this with a friend who needs it, and leave a quick review to help others find the show. Your leadership starts here — unapologetic, unfiltered, and fully yours.

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The Business Blasphemy Podcast is sponsored by Corporate Rehab® Strategic Consulting.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:02):
Welcome to the Business Last Free Podcast,
where we question the sacredtruths of the online business
space and the reverence withwhich they're held.
I'm your host, Sarah Cummins,speaker, strategic consultant,
and BS Westing Fadast.
Join me each week as wechallenge the norms, trends, and
overall bullshit status quo ofentrepreneurship to uncover what
it really takes to build thebusiness that you want to build

(00:23):
in a way that honors you, yourlife, and your vision for what's
possible, and maybe piss off afew gurus along the way.
So if you're ready to commitbusiness blasphemy, let's do it.
Hello, hello, blasphemers.
Welcome back.
Ah, it has been a minute.
There have been no new episodessince July.

(00:46):
And let me tell you, it has beena time.
Let me cut straight to itbecause honestly, like I stopped
recording episodes in Julybecause I was ready to sunset
the podcast.
Yeah.
I was ready to pack it all in.
Because if I'm completelyhonest, I wasn't enjoying it

(01:07):
anymore.
I thought maybe the podcastthing had run its course.
You know, after all, I'm like116 episodes in.
What more is there left to say?
And on top of that, if I'mbrutally honest, I was burnt
out.
I was burned out from the entireprocess.
I've been putting out weeklyepisodes for four seasons, and I

(01:28):
was tired.
So I began dreading my mic everyweek instead of like actually
feeling the excitement that Ihad started with and that I used
to have for a very long time.
And I know myself enough to knowthat when I stop enjoying
something, that is when it'stime to really just walk away.
So that was the plan.
Um I even I even shared thatthought out loud with some

(01:50):
friends.
I even hired a strategist tohelp me sunset the podcast
effectively so that, you know,it would retain its legacy and
like what does it look like uhfrom a technological perspective
and blah, blah, blah.
So that was the plan.
But for some reason, I justcould never bring myself to do
it.
There was something in my headthat kept saying, You're wrong,
you do still love this.

(02:11):
And I didn't know if I wasgaslighting myself or if it was
real.
So I decided, you know what,maybe I just need to take a
break and maybe I just need tolike step away for a little
while and not completely burn itdown.
And every single week I promisedmyself, like, I'm gonna come
back to it, I'm gonna come backto it.
And I didn't, and again, I knowmyself well enough to know that
whatever answer I was waitingfor, whatever answer I was

(02:33):
looking for, it was not going tocome through sheer force of
will, which is how I've oftendone things in the past, like
ruminate on them and plan onthem and strategize and like
really think and think and thinkand hope that you can force an
answer.
And I know that something likethis, something that is so
integral to how I operate, hellno.

(02:54):
I need to just let it go.
That is the hardest thing to dofor someone like me, someone who
is perpetually a control freak,to let it go and just kind of
let it arrive when it arrives.
That is really hard.
So the first thing I want toacknowledge is uh I did it.

(03:14):
I let it, I let it come to me.
Um, I I just let each week passby.
I didn't think about it.
I mean, I thought about it, butI didn't like obsess about it.
I just kind of let it go untilit got to the point where I was
like, maybe I'm actually coolwith not recording a podcast
every week.
But then one morning I woke upto the realization that it

(03:36):
wasn't, in fact, the podcast Iwas tired of at all.
It was what the podcast hadbecome.
Business blasphemy, my baby, wasborn out of frustration, to put
it nicely.
Frustration with the noise, thehustle, the smoke and mirrors
bullshit, the cult ofentrepreneurship, particularly

(03:59):
online entrepreneurship.
This this podcast has been myunfiltered space to say the
things that I always wanted tosay, but was never given the
space to, and that a lot ofpeople want to say but are
afraid to say out loud.
And for 116 episodes, it did itsjob.
The legacy of business blasphemyis established.

(04:19):
It's pure.
But that morning, I realizedit's what the podcast has become
that I am no longer comfortablecarrying.
And I realized I'm not here tocircle the drain of online
business indefinitely.
That is not what my mission is,and and it's not really what it
ever was.
You know, I I'm not here and Idon't want to keep poking holes

(04:44):
in a system that I walked awayfrom a long time ago.
Now, the experience of my TEDxin January, that really lit a
fire under my ass and in mysoul, really, to start doing
what I've always wanted to do.
But honestly, I've been tooafraid to do it because it just
felt too big.
It's a it's a purpose, it's acalling that I've had for as

(05:07):
long as I can remember.
And I've never pursued itbecause it just felt too big.
And when you have a big, bigpurpose, right, in your soul, in
your heart, that thing that justnever leaves your mind because
you know that this is what youwant to do.
It is so easy to keep deferringit and keep getting distracted
and keep doing other things likeside quests.

(05:28):
Because, well, what if youactually do it and it flops?
Like what if you finally takethe plunge and give it light and
you fall on your ass, you fail.
That is a really scary thing toadmit.
And so we never, we never try,right?
We just, it's okay.
One day, one day, one day.
We one day ourselves into neverliving our truth and never

(05:52):
living the thing that we are puthere to do.
And I think for a lot of us, wedefault to what is easy and what
comes sort of naturally as theresult of our training or our
experience, and and we getcomfortable because we
experience success, even if it'snot in doing what we want to do,

(06:13):
right?
It's not what we're called todo, because we've been told to
believe that any success is goodsuccess, right?
You don't look a gift horse inthe mouth.
But if you don't enjoy it, is itreally success?
Now the call on my heart forover 20 years has been vastly
different.
And my TEDx was born of thatcall, right?

(06:34):
That purpose.
And finally standing on a stageand speaking to truth, all the
things I'd wanted to say andshare and hopefully inspire
people with.
When I finally did it, it wasthe the catalyst to the most
painful unraveling of myself, ofmy business, uh, and of

(06:56):
everything in between.
And if you've been following thepodcast, you're you're probably
familiar with that because I'vetalked about like my uncertainty
over the last few months, andI've talked about the pivots and
the and the changes.
And I realized I've been I'vebeen operating in a space of
quote-unquote low-hanging fruit,right?
And what I mean by that is I'vebeen doing what I can do pretty

(07:19):
easily, right?
Operations was a big part of mycareer in project management,
and I and I took a formalcertification in it and at great
expense, right?
You know, when I became anentrepreneur, I kind of doubled
down on that.
Ops was never a big lift for me.
I enjoy it, I truly do, like,because it's it's easy for me.
It's something I've done most ofmy professional career, and I do
enjoy it.

(07:39):
And it's safe, right?
Everybody needs it, which ishonestly also totally hilarious
to say because I've talked onthe podcast before about all the
times, not only myself, but myoperations peers have had to
literally convince people howimportant operations are in a
business.
It's neither here nor there,really.
And so that was always somethingthat could be done and had to be

(08:00):
done.
So it was the safe route.
And operations, you know, isn'topinion, it's fact-based.
So again, low lift on my part,but also very low risk.
But my real passion has alwaysbeen empowerment and choice for
women, which does feel and soundvery mindset-y, right?

(08:22):
I acknowledge that.
And you all know how I feelabout the mindset industry as an
aside.
Obviously, my empowerment workis fully tactical and strategic,
but I digress.
So I have spent the last fewmonths really restructuring the
business and the brand to focuson women's leadership, women's
thought leadership inparticular, right?
The legacy so many of us want tobuild and leave to the world.

(08:46):
That doesn't mean I'm gonna stopdoing operations on the side
because that pays the bills, butnow I'm free to pursue my
passion because I've allowedmyself the opportunity to fail
because the need has becomegreater than my fear of failure.
Because with everything going onin the world right now, and I'm
I'm recording this in October of2025, with everything that's

(09:10):
happening, it feels morenecessary than ever.
It feels like there's a waragainst women, particularly
women of color.
And so it's absolutelyimperative that women build a
foundation of security forthemselves.
Like I can continue to call outthe bullshit in the business
space as I see it, but let's becompletely honest, after 116

(09:31):
episodes, if people don't seeit, they don't want to see it.
And honestly, the frame of mindit continually required of me to
carry this every week was makingit harder and harder for me to
really love this space.
And I do love this space.
I love my business, I love myclients, I love my work, and I

(09:52):
want my podcast and the work Ido to uplift me as much as the
people who come into contactwith it.
And it's really hard to feelthat way when you're constantly
looking out for what is wrong.
Now, have no fear, all right?
I'm not saying the podcast issuddenly going to become all
sunshine and fucking rainbowsbecause that's not me or my
personality.
I'm a sassy bitch and I'm alwaysgonna be one.

(10:13):
I'm someone who sees thebullshit and can't help but call
it out, but I don't want to seekit out anymore.
That's the difference.
And what I do feel is more inline with my own growth is
focusing on self-leadership,self-betterment for all of us.
Because at the end of the day,one of the biggest reasons why
so many people fall prey toscammy tactics and bullshit

(10:34):
business gurus is because theydon't have the level of
self-trust and self-leadershiprequired to immunize themselves
from it.
Now, that is not shade, that isnot blame.
That is literally how we are allconditioned, especially women,
to keep us compliant and keep usneeding whatever the fuck

(10:56):
they're selling.
Now, in May of this year, Istarted a job uh as a chief of
staff with a brilliant doctorwho I absolutely love working
with and admire the absolutefuck out of.
And one of the things she hasreframed for me through her own
thought leadership is too oftenbecause we focus on the like the

(11:17):
diagnosis, we don't take thetime to consider the why behind
it.
Now, if the online businessspace is full of more shit than
necessary, why?
Why is that?
Why is that the case?
And instead of trying tosingle-handedly remove the shit,
it's time to return to thesource, like the actual issue.

(11:38):
Because if there is so much ofthis crap in the space and
people are continually fallingprey to it, like women who are
incredibly brilliant and savvy,why are we falling prey to it?
So let's look at the actualissue.
It's how we're conditioned, andthat is but one small part,
right?
The other part is truly a desirein me to just lift women up.

(12:01):
All I have ever wanted is forwomen to have choice, to have
freedom, to have autonomy andagency.
And back in the early days,that's what so many of us
started our businesses for.
And when I kept seeing womenbeing drawn into the smoke and
mirrors BS, I could I could seeit robbing them, not only of

(12:24):
that agency and security, butalso robbing them of their own
self-trust and self-belief.
Because honestly, how manypeople do you know?
And hell, you might even be oneof them.
Goodness knows I am.
I was.
Right?
How many people do you knowwho've had their head turned by
a fantastic coach, aka fantasticmarketer, only to have that
coach gaslight the shit out ofthem because their tactics

(12:46):
didn't work or they weren'taligned and all they could do is
make the person feel bad.
Right?
Slowly chip away at theirconfidence.
My true purpose has always beenabout leadership, about
identity, power, and the choicesambitious women make when they
decide to put their ambitionfirst, their values first, their
goals and their truth first.

(13:08):
That is the conversation I wantto double down on now.
So from next week, the podcastwill remain business blasphemy,
but it's going to amplify boldtruths and highlight real
strategies for and stories fromambitious women who want power,
leadership, and legacy on theirown terms, in their own image,

(13:35):
unapologetically unfiltered.
Because in too many circles, theidea of a woman doing what she
wants, how she wants, andactually still winning the game
is still blasphemous as fuck.
So welcome to this new era ofblasphemy.

(13:55):
I hope you'll continue to joinme, and I hope you'll continue
to grow in your own leadershipwith me, because we cannot
continue to play for scraps.
We cannot continue to be thebackbone of other people's
legacies.
We cannot continue lettinganyone else take the lead in our

(14:15):
lives and our businesses.
So if you're here for that, ifyou're ready to talk about
power, ambition, and leadershipin ways that still feel
blasphemous as hell, then you'rein the right place.
This is the next chapter.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you for still listening,and thank you for choosing to

(14:36):
lead with me.
I will see you next week.
That's it for this week.
Thanks for listening to theBusiness Blasphemy Podcast.
We'll be back next week with anew episode, but in the
meantime, help us this her outby subscribing.
And if you're feeling extrasassy, rating this podcast.
And don't forget to share thepodcast with others.
Head over to Business BlasphemyPodcast.com to connect with us

(14:59):
and learn more.
Thanks for listening.
And remember, you can havesuccess without the BS.