Beating Burnout: Deborah Pagani of Deborah Pagani Beauty On The 5 Things You Should Do To Heal Your Body, Mind and Spirit From Burnout During Midlife

Physical and emotional burnout has become an increasingly common experience in today’s world. Juggling a career, raising a family, caretaking aging parents and the emotional shift of an empty nest along with the ever-blurring line between work and personal life have led many women in midlife to the brink of physical and emotional exhaustion. The good news? Burnout can be addressed, and even prevented, with the right strategies. In this interview series called “Beating Burnout: 5 Things You Should Do To Heal Your Body, Mind and Spirit From Burnout During Midlife,” we are talking to successful business leaders, doctors, holistic practitioners, spiritual leaders and mental health leaders who can share insights from their experience about how we can “Beat Burnout.” As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Deborah Pagani

Deborah Pagani is a luxury beauty innovator who brings decades of expertise as a celebrity hairstylist to her namesake brand, Deborah Pagani Beauty. Recognizing the need for hair care that merges sophisticated and luxury design with clean, high-performance ingredients, she spent years formulating indulgent products that elevate everyday hair rituals. Her brand represents a new era of unapologetic luxury, defined by exceptional results, iconic fragrance, and a transformative experience.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?

I definitely didn’t have the picture-perfect childhood. My parents were divorced when I was a baby and I switched schools at least 6 different times from kindergarten throughout middle school. Which now, in retrospect, created an immense amount of anxiety and emotional instability in my adult life and still follows me to this day. Thankfully, I had one set of amazing grandparents who were always there for me and gave me some stability in my life. They came from Cuba to America after losing everything and started a new life from scratch. One of the things I always looked up to and learned from them was their strong work ethic, I really I owe to them. As a teen I was wild without much guidance. I just happened to fall into the NYC salon industry straight after high school and the rest is history.

What or who inspired you to pursue your career? We’d love to hear the story.

Hands down my husband. No one believed in me, not even my beauty school teacher. I was a slightly delinquent teenager, but moving out at 18 years old and working in NYC in the 90’s can make you wake up really quick. I became a workaholic, working 6 days a week, not taking my first vacation or time off until I was 25 years old — about 7 years into working in the hair industry. When I met my husband I was working nonstop, even throughout our first year of marriage. Within those years I was working as a colorist and hairstylist at top New York City salons, such as Oribe and John Sahag. I also fell in love with creating jewelry around that time so alongside my fulltime hair gig, I was also selling my jewelry pieces on the side and it was around that time that he pushed me to start my own company. With its success, I left my job as a hairstylist and started my jewelry brand, Deborah Pagani.

None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Was there a particular person who you feel gave you the most help or encouragement to be who you are today? Can you share a story about that?

I always hear stories, in all industries, about having an impactful mentor or someone who really gave you a real break within their industry. Yes, I’ve had a few people along the way make an introduction and help get a foot in the door but, honestly, that wasn’t really the case for me. The only one that stands out in my mind is when I was on a shoot a few years ago for my jewelry and accessories line with the incredible photographer, Gilles Bensimon, we were chatting about what I was working on next. I mentioned I wanted to get into the beauty industry and bring all of my careers and passions together to create something new and special and he immediately called his friend who just happened to be the director of Robertet, and that was the beginning of Deborah Pagani Beauty. The scent was the first part of the product, as that element was so important to me, and then everything came after that to create the perfect, multitasking luxury hair products. It was such an important connection for me and we have a wonderful working relationship, and I’m excited for what’s coming next (hint: we are currently working on something new that will launch next year!).

Can you share the most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your career? What lesson or takeaway did you learn from that?

Leaving the hair industry as a celebrity colorist and throwing away a career I built for 14 years. Don’t be afraid of outlandish ideas they may just put you where you need to be and once you do it follow through and don’t be afraid of a pivot.

Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why does that resonate with you so much?

“Follow your gut”, I know it’s cliche to say but if I took my own advice and followed my gut at various points throughout my career, I would have saved myself a lot of time. I knew some of my professional relationships along the way were not right but I kept making excuses for them. Looking back, I should have severed ties when my gut was trying to tell me to. Also, another one that sticks out for me is, “don’t take advice from anyone who never took any risks and who hasn’t failed or won at anything in their life”. Advice is cheap. Wisdom costs experience.

Ok, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview about beating burnout. Let’s begin with a basic definition of terms so that all of us are on the same page. How do you define “Burnout”? Can you explain?

Burnout for me is when I am blank, when I have no motivation or no creative vibrations. The little things that bring joy are just emotionless. There is no depth to my actions, I’m basically on cruise control. Everything is grey, even the tone in my voice.

How would you define or describe the opposite of burnout?

The opposite is when I wake up and I’m excited for everything. I’m creatively vibrating again, ideas are flowing, i’m no longer doubting every idea I come up with and I am confident about them, which then helps me communicate them to my team. I love to get people excited about what I’m feeling creatively. This is the way I strive to be as a founder but I’ve learned it’s not natural to never have the slumps, that’s life — it’s just going to happen sometimes. That’s why when I’m vibrating, I make sure to take advantage!

In your opinion, what are the root causes of burnout that specifically affect people in midlife, and how do they differ from burnout at other stages of life?

Oh, absolutely! There’s a definite shift that happens in midlife. When I hit my late 40s, I started realizing that burnout at this stage feels very different from what I experienced earlier in my career. To be completely transparent, if I didn’t mention perimenopause, I’d be leaving out a major factor. It plays a huge role physically, hormonally, and emotionally. The changes in energy levels, sleep patterns, and mood can make it much harder to keep up with the same intensity I once did, and it requires a level of self-awareness I didn’t prioritize before. I’ve learned that I must intentionally carve out time for self-care and mental health. If I don’t, I simply can’t show up fully for my team, or, more importantly, for my family. Another root cause I’ve identified is trying to take on too many roles and wearing every hat at once. For years, I operated under the mindset that I could just “add one more thing” to my plate, like another project, another opportunity, but I’ve realized that saying yes to everything comes at a cost. These days, I’m learning to say no more often and only commit to things that can be done with real intention and purpose. With three kids, a husband, and a newly launched brand, my hands are absolutely full. Add to that the fact that my family and I moved to a new state a year and a half ago (new schools, new friends, new routines) and the adjustment has been far more challenging than I anticipated. That transition alone was a lesson in patience and boundaries. Of course, there are also the universal contributors that amplify burnout at any age, lack of sleep, not eating properly, never slowing down, and losing sight of joy and fun. But in midlife, the effects of those habits seem to compound more quickly. Personally, I’ve noticed how small things, like my sugar intake (which, I’ll admit, I’d love to have a bag of gummies right now!), can drastically affect my mood and energy. Midlife burnout feels different because it’s not just professional exhaustion, it’s also physical change, emotional load, and the weight of years spent in “go” mode. It requires a new kind of balance.

This might be intuitive to you, but it will be instructive to expressly articulate this. Some skeptics may argue that burnout is a minor annoyance, and we should just “soldier on’’ and “grin and bear it.” Can you please share a few reasons why burnout can have long-term impacts on our physical health, as well as our mental health and our longevity?

I was diagnosed with Lupus a few years ago, so I have the bloodwork to prove it, and my rheumatologist will agree — it’s all connected, hormonal change, stress and burnout. I used to think all my biohacking rituals were luxuries, but they are necessities. My father has lupus as well and after being diagnosed he never changed his habits, which led to two kidney transplants. The other part is mental health and longevity, yes, they are all connected but when I feel the overload coming on, I know I need a time out. Time outs for me will start with making sure I’m hydrating a ton, fasting with bone broth (it’s really incredible how clear we can get with just fasting) 30-minute infrared sauna sessions and 3 minutes in cryotherapy, all of those together really helps make a huge difference. I have also found that microdosing a GLP1 + NAD infusions have helped with mood, energy, hormone regulation and inflammation.

Here is the main question of our discussion. What can an individual do if they are feeling burned out by work? How does one reverse it? How can you “get your mojo back?” Can you please share your “5 Things You Should Do To Heal Your Body, Mind and Spirit From Burnout During Midlife?”. (Please share a story or an example for each.)

Along with all of my habits mentioned above, knowing when to say NO and take time for yourself is huge. Also, make sure you get your nutrition and/or supplements in order.

Do something that brings you joy, for me I love flower arranging, going to the nursery and potting flowers. The feel and smell of the dirt is so grounding for me. Find what you love and make sure you keep it up, practice doing it weekly.

Enjoy little luxuries, even some retail therapy. Get a facial, do your hair, put on your favorite perfume. These are instant mood lifters for me.

Stay away from negative people, stop doom scrolling on social media, don’t compare yourself or your personal situation to people online — half the time it’s all a façade anyways.

Make sure you set boundaries — this is a huge one. You can implement all the little hacks here and there but if you don’t change the negative patterns that got you there in the first place, nothing will change, and it will keep happening.

What can concerned friends, colleagues, and life partners do to help someone they care about reverse burnout?

Take them out of their current setting. I find the best way is a short weekend away where they (or I) can get out, in a new place, and clear their head. If that’s not an option, take them out locally for something fun and don’t ever deny the power of karaoke. I know it sounds crazy but letting go and singing has really helped me in the past, let loose and have fun! Another one is taking things off their plate — help out whether at work or at home wherever you can to ease some of their pressure. Lastly, a relaxing, decompressing session of acupuncture works wonders.

What are some common myths or misconceptions about burnout and recovery that you’d like to dispel?

That having a good night’s rest will be the cure, that’s not the case. Burnout comes from all parts of our life. Work, taking care of our kids, and now as we get older, our parents. I always tell myself if I don’t take care of myself, I can’t be there fully for anyone else.

Ok, we are nearly done. You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest number of people, what would that be?

You never know what your idea can lead to. FEELING GOOD SHOULDN’T BE A LUXURY. We can slow down without compromising our style or edge. Everything I try to put out in the world is transforming everyday actions into a ritual. We are in a culture of overconsumption and dupes, in the end everyone is drained and still not satisfied. The movement is about moving through life with intention. Choosing carefully who we spend our time with. Buying things that bring us joy and last, not just pieces that end up in a landfill after one season. Taking the time out to fill your cup spiritually and creatively.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them :-)

Nicolas Hieronimus, the CEO of L’Oreal Group or Vasiliki Petrou, the Global EVP Prestige for Unilever. They are both so inspiring.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

On Instgram at @deborahpagani and @deborahpaganibeauty

About the Interviewer: Shawna Robins is an international best-selling author of two books — Powerful Sleep — Rest Deeply, Repair Your Brain and Restore Your Life, and Irresistibly Healthy — Simple Strategies to Feel Vibrant, Alive, Healthy and Full of Energy Again. Shawna is the founder and CEO of Third Spark, an online wellness hub for women over 40 who want to reignite their sleep, reset healthier habits and respark their lives. Shawna is a sleep expert, hormone health expert, and a National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBHWC). She has been featured on many podcasts including Dr. Mindy Pelz’s “The Resetter Podcast” and in Authority Magazine, Thrive Global, and The Huffington Post. You can follow her on Substack Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn