Create Your Zone of Genius: from restaurant burnout to founder boundaries
Justin Rowe crashed hard after working 18 hour days in the restaurant industry. He shares how saying no for the first time changed everything.
Justin Rowe’s breaking point came after a few 18 hour days back to back. As a restaurant general manager, he was also the training manager, so his own store was being used for spare parts, leaving him constantly short staffed. He was compensating by working from five in the morning until three a.m. the next day. He'd always said yes to his bosses, and it got him to that point.
His first big no was terrifying. His boss told him, not asked him, to take over a new store 45 minutes away. Justin said no. The boss was speechless. It fractured their relationship and killed his career at that company, but it taught him he had the power to protect his own team and his sanity. He realized they needed him more than he needed the job.
Now as a founder, he protects his time with what he calls time islands, blocking his calendar so he has space to think. His best content ideas come from just doing the work and writing about it, not from sitting in a dark room trying to be clever. When stress hits, he has to tell himself that losing sleep isn't productive. Walks in nature are his reset.
“You are not going to solve this problem right now. Spending another hour in the dark thinking about this will not solve it.”
Notes
- As a restaurant manager, he hit a breaking point after working three or four 18 hour days in a row.
- He said no to his boss for the first time when he was told to take over another store 45 minutes away.
- He uses 'time islands' on his calendar, taking no meetings on Wednesday afternoons and ending Fridays early.
- His content philosophy is to document the work he is already doing instead of forcing creativity.