Winning in Public, Breaking in Private: Lacey Newman on Burnout, Boundaries, and Building a Business That Doesn't Break You

You built something successful. And it almost cost you everything. Lacey Newman spent 20 years building a luxury real estate team that crossed $1 billion in sales. She was the go-to agent in Nashville, had a team that ran like clockwork, and checked every box on paper. Then she walked away — on purpose, at the peak — because she realized being successful at something and being meant for it are two very different things. In this episode, Donald Thompson sits down with Lacey to unpack the real cost of building a business on availability, hustle, and the fear of disappointing other people — and what it actually takes to build one that doesn't break you in the process. **Inside this episode:** • Why the first time Lacey stepped away wasn't burnout — it was a failure to launch, and what that distinction means for high-achieving women • The mental load women carry that most leadership frameworks never account for • Why "I don't have enough time" is never really a time problem • The three-category priority framework: purposeful, personal, and professional — and why most leaders have them completely upside down • How Lacey trained her clients to respect her boundaries without ever sending a single announcement email • Why a beautiful place to start a business is an impossible place to scale one • What AI (and a lot of weekend Claude maxing) is doing for Lacey's business right now **Resources mentioned:** • Rise Higher coaching — laceynewman.com • AI for Ambitious Women workshop (free, Aug 25) — go.laceynewman.com/ai-for-ambitious-women-workshop • Follow Lacey on Instagram — @heylaceynewman **Donald Thompson LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/in/donaldthompsonjr **Donald's Newsletter & Substack:** https://substack.com/@donaldthompsonjr **Donald's Books:** https://donaldthompson.com/books-resources/ Stay connected with Donald: Get his newsletter packed with actionable insights and the kind of straight-talk leadership intelligence that helps build authority, drive performance, and stay ahead of what’s coming next: donaldthompson.com.