Ep #214: Melinda Colon: Why Burnout Nearly Killed Me, And What My Body Was Trying to Tell Me All Along
episodePreviously titled “Ep #214: Melinda Colon: Why Burnout Nearly Killed Me — And What My Body Was Trying to Tell Me All Along” — renamed by the publisher on Aug 3, 2026
Business Growth Architect Show: Founders of the Future
29 min
1 speaker
8 chapters
transcribed 16 days ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What caused Melinda to pass out behind the wheel and end up in the ER?
My body just said enough. I was pushing myself sleepless nights and missing meals and just not really taking care of myself. And my body has just said no. I just said no. It was a feeling of a tingling from head to toe that my body was shutting down. I was driving home one day from work when I was in Corporate America and it just passed out behind the wheel. I had my foot still in the gas when it came to. I was going sixty five miles per hour in the far left lane in rush hour traffic and I was scared Later on that night I ended up in the ER and just laying there while they're coming and poking and prodding, thinking that I had a severe stroke. And I thought to myself, there's no way I can die like this.
I have to stop. It was an internal decision to stop playing small.
Today with me is Melinda Kulan from Melinda Kulan Consulting. And she has a very interesting story that I want to share with you. Which is when your body knows before you knows and the collapse leads you to a very harsh understanding. Melinda, welcome to the show. I'm so excited to have you here. Thank you so much for having me here. It's an honor to be here. The story goes, you are in the car driving, and next thing you wake up in the emergency room in the hospital. What happened?
My body just said enough. You have a long checklist items of things to do and you just want to be focused on getting that thing done. And and just having that relief, that peace of mind that things are getting done. Well, I was running that. Та систем фірс. And I just couldn't run it anymore. I couldn't run anymore. And I didn't know it. I was pushing myself sleepless nights and missing meals and just not really taking care of myself. And my body has just said no. I just said no. It was a feeling of A tingling from head to toe and that my body was shutting down later on I find out that that's exactly what my body did. in my brain just restarted. And I was driving home one day from work when I was in Corporate America and
It just passed out behind the wheel. I had my foot still on the gas when it came to I was going sixty five miles per hour in the far left lane. In rush hour traffic. And I was scared, I was shocked, I just didn't feel great. And I guess I think the scientist in me thought, well, let me just roll down the windows. It's forty degrees outside. Let me just shock my system so that I can keep moving. And that's exactly what I did. I rolled down the windows. I am just panicking, freaking out. And I'm all alone in the car and I'm thinking to myself, Oh my gosh, I have to have an angel above my car right now. There's no way, bumper to bumper traffic, that I'm making it through. And later on that night, like you said, I I ended up in the ER.
And just laying there while they're coming and poking and prodding, thinking that I had a severe stroke just due to the symptoms that I had. And I remember just out of the corner of my eye seeing my husband sitting in a chair trying to get out of the way. And he him and I just kinda walked you know, locked eyes for a moment and I could see that he was trying to hold his composure And I thought to myself, there's no way I can die like this. I have to stop. And it was
so take me th sort of through this moment. So what led up to this was the classic overwork, burnout, putting the corporate needs before your own. Just give me a couple of pointers on sort of what got you to this point.
Yes, I was in corporate America for nearly twenty years. In a very deadline driven environment. Where You didn't you weren't co in control of the deadline. The company's clients were. And there was no one else to do the work. It was my responsibility to get the work done on time and it had to be perfect.
How did years of corporate burnout and missed self‑care lead to a health crisis?
I remember my boss said that to me once. She said, You have to make sure that your work is perfect. Oh wow. Oh, you know, like that that type of try sound. Oh gosh, like just many deadlines flying, travelling, just Coast to coast for different interview and presentations. And working in first class with a laptop on my on my lap, getting back to my hotel room and to still working.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What caused Melinda to pass out behind the wheel and end up in the ER?
0:00–4:23
2
How did years of corporate burnout and missed self‑care lead to a health crisis?
4:23–7:51
3
What warning signs did Melinda ignore before her body forced a break?
7:51–11:23
4
How did the ‘veil lifting’ moment help her redefine her identity?
11:23–15:18
5
What changes did she make to her business model after leaving corporate America?
15:18–19:15
6
How can established businesses use government contracts to create predictable revenue?
19:15–24:20
7
What practical steps did Melinda recommend for building relationships with local government agencies?
24:20–28:31
8
Where can listeners connect with Melinda and learn more about her consulting services?
28:31–29:29