88. When You’ve Done Everything “Right” but Feel Like Something is Missing with Karen Bartholemew, Founder of the PAUSE Method
What if the permission you've been waiting for to slow down was yours to give all along?
Karen Bartholomew knows firsthand what burnout looks like — running from 6 AM to 9 PM, no time for a cup of coffee, no room to breathe. In 2010, as a single mom of three, she hit a wall and gave herself four months to figure out what she actually wanted. That pause didn't just change her life — it became the foundation of The Pause Method, a five-step framework she now uses to help high-achieving women strip away the conditioning, stories, and expectations that have been running the show, so they can design their next chapter with clarity and confidence. Karen and I talk about the fear of slowing down, the difference between scarcity and abundance, why we carry childhood stories into our fifties, and how courage isn't always about moving forward — sometimes it's about being still.
HIGHLIGHTS
- How Karen recognized her own breaking point in 2010 and gave herself permission to pause
- The difference between a scarcity mindset and an abundance mindset — and how childhood conditioning hides our natural abundance
- Why fear of the future is really our imagination running wild with stories that haven't happened
- The childhood story Karen told herself at age 12 — that she wasn't loved — and how she learned it wasn't truth
- A powerful moment in a classroom exercise that helped Karen discover her voice and step into leadership
- How Karen coaches her own daughter through childhood conditioning at age 26
- The five steps of The PAUSE Method: Perceive, Acknowledge, Unwind, Shift, and Embody
- Why slowing down feels so scary — and what we're really afraid of facing
- The courage to be still, ask "What do I need today?" and let that be enough
- Why you don't need a crisis to deserve a pause
CHAPTERS
1:51 — Why Women Seek Change
2:02 — Burnout And Overload
3:08 — Asking For Help
3:50 — Karen's 2010 Breaking Point
4:41 — Taking A Four Month Pause
8:26 — Fear Of The Future
11:17 — Scarcity Versus Abundance
12:06 — Childhood Stories And Conditioning
15:39 — Finding Your Voice
17:32 — Coaching Through The Past
18:23 — The PAUSE Method Steps
22:46 — Embodying The New Truth
24:49 — Designing The Next Six Months
25:33 — Courage To Be Still
27:18 — How To Work With Karen
27:56 — Rest Without A Crisis
28:22 — Retreats And Closing Thanks
RESOURCES
Karen Bartholomew's website: karenbartholomew.com
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