6: Burnout Brands and the Burden of Potential

Unseen Unknown

The undercurrent of burnout in American society and has opened the doors to a whole new breed of D2C branding that promises to heal us from the ills of the modern world. From analyses to antidotes, our obsession with burnout is changing the way we consider products and consider ourselves.

In this episode, we speak with Emmett Shine, cofounder of Pattern Brands, and previous cofounder of the lauded branding agency Gin Lane. Emmett and his team have created some of the most powerful D2C brands of the past decade including Harry’s, Hims, Recess, Everlane and Warby Parker, and now his own sub-brands Equal Parts and Open Spaces… all, in some way or another, speaking to the larger burnout narrative.

We also speak with psychotherapist Abby Krom who has researched an emerging form of burnout among millennials called The Burden of Potential. She sees an even deeper shift in millennials and Gen Z who are negotiating the tension between wanting to achieve, and not wanting to be vulnerable. Her work explores how these conflicting needs are exhausting us emotionally and physically.

Links to interesting things mentioned in this episode:

• How Millennials Became The Burnout Generation (Buzzfeed)
• Releasing Yourself From the Burden of Potential (Medium)
• The Company That Branded Your Millennial Life Is Pivoting To Burnout (Buzzfeed)
• What Having A "Growth Mindset" Actually Means (HBR)
• Work as identity, burnout as lifestyle (Ezra Klein Show)
• What is burnout? (vlogbrothers)

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