Welcome to “She Pivots,” the podcast in partnership with Marie Claire about women, their stories, and how their pivot became their success.
Burnout. It’s something many people have experienced in recent years. Alongside the pandemic and the Black Lives Matters protests of 2020, Americans left the workforce in droves, some due to chronic workplace stress. And the Great Resignation—or the Great Burnout—continues: at least 4 million Americans have left their jobs every month since July 2021, according to a BLS report.
While the concept of burnout has become ubiquitous, Tai Beauchamp led the way for other women to identify when they are experiencing burnout—and how to protect themselves from the condition.
Beauchamp had the dream life, or “Sex and the City life” as she calls it, working as a beauty editor for Seventeen. She was on track to become one of the youngest Black women Editor-in-Chiefs in history. But after two years, she left it all behind and attributed her surprising exit to burnout.
In the early 2000s, burnout was hardly discussed. Now, role models and high-profile Black women like Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka are changing the narrative around burnout by doing what is best for them. They’ve famously turned down what may seem like once-in-a-lifetime career opportunities.
“I did feel very tied to my career title,” Beauchamp says. “I saw my identity and self-worth professionally. I didn't think there was value to the personal side of my identity.”
Women experience higher rates of burnout than men due to a lack of power in work settings. So it makes sense that this is exacerbated for Black women. Tai used her burnout as an example for other Black women and made sure to center humanness in her businesses moving forward.
“I don’t feel that overwhelming joy in saying ‘I’m doing all of the things' anymore,” Beauchamp says.
She now focuses on Brown Girl Jane, a beauty and wellness brand for Black and Brown women which she co-founded with her college friends from Spelman. She also founded Tai Life Media where she hosts her weekly Instagram Live, Morning Mindset, motivating and connecting with her incredible community of women.
Mindfulness has always led Beauchamp in her endeavors. In the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the protests that ensued, Beauchamp came up with the Brown Girl Swap which encouraged people to swap five beauty products for five Black- and Brown-owned beauty brands.
“We know the way we’re really going to close the racial and economic divide is through economic opportunity," Beauchamp says. "When you support Black women businesses, what you’re doing is actually building community and helping society to advance.”
With an endorsement from Halle Berry, the #BrownGirlSwap took off in 2020 and led to a $250,000 grant program which invested in Black-owned beauty brands and started an important conversation in the beauty industry around race and access to capital. The grant program is a critical investment as just 0.0006% of venture capital dollars goes to Black women-owned businesses. Or as Nia Batts was told in our premier episode, a “statistically insignificant amount.”
Beauchamp’s leap from beauty editor to philanthropist was just the first of many pivots. During her interview, she breaks down her journey. Listen to Tai’s episode below.
