Leaving Corporate Won’t Fix Burnout: The Harsh Truth About Going Solo. Burnout, Money & Solopreneurs

Описание: Leaving your corporate job does not magically fix burnout. If you leave “wrong”, you can end up more exhausted, more broke, and feeling guilty for resting, even when you’re your own boss.

In this episode of Backstage Breakdown, Ricardo Brito shares how he went from 12 years in tech and an 8‑month burnout to building a sustainable one‑person business as a co‑pilot for first‑time solopreneurs. We dive into money, neurodivergence, corporate trauma, and why, if you don’t get real with your emotions and your numbers, your business won’t work.

◼️ What you’ll learn

How to spot early burnout signals before your body forces a full stop.

How to shift from employee → business owner without recreating corporate violence inside your own project.

How to design work weeks, routines, buffers and real OFF days that protect your energy instead of draining it.

How to deal with pricing, money and numbers without avoidance or financial trauma loops.

How to prioritize when “everything feels urgent” (ADHD, neurodivergence, festival and crew life on constant fire mode).

How to use your body as an alarm system to exit toxic environments in time.

How to test offers fast (MVP → validate → iterate) instead of hiding behind “I’ll perfect it later”.

◼️ This episode is for

Creative leaders and artists burned out from corporate or tech, thinking about going solo.

Festival producers, stage managers and cultural workers who don’t want to copy the same toxic patterns into their own crews.

Neurodivergent freelancers and solopreneurs (ADHD, autism, etc.) who are tired of endless to‑do lists, impossible deadlines and rest guilt.

Anyone who “should be grateful” for their job on paper, but whose body and mind are already at their limit.

◼️ Full timestamps
• 00:00 – Hook: why going solo doesn’t automatically fix burnout
• 01:00 – Who Ricardo Brito is & how he co-pilots solopreneurs
• 03:00 – Crisis, resilience & growing up “figuring it out”
• 05:30 – The 8-month burnout that broke the corporate spell
• 09:00 – What good leadership actually looks like
• 13:00 – Politics, bad leadership & quarter-driven decisions
• 17:00 – What culture really is (hint: not team events)
• 20:00 – Money, honesty & why numbers save people and companies
• 24:00 – Employee vs business owner: the identity shift
• 27:00 – Creatives, money & financial trauma
• 30:00 – “Everything is urgent”: neurodivergence & prioritization
• 34:00 – Mapping energy to design a sane work week
• 38:00 – Routines, Pomodoro & structure resistance
• 42:00 – Rest guilt & why action beats insight
• 46:00 – Coaching through ego, fear & resistance
• 49:00 – Why your first business model won’t be the last

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Guest:
Ricardo Brito
https://ricardobrito.me
  / ribrito  

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Is your team hitting its limits?

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About the show

Backstage Breakdown reveals the human side of creative leadership.
Hosted by Christ Burstein of The Friction Dept., the show explores what it really takes to scale cultural projects without burning out your crew — or yourself.

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Recorded at

◼️ @launchlabsberlin9852
◼️ Book your studio → https://launchlabs-spaces.de

Edition:
◼️   / ailencastelo  

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The Friction Dept Links

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