Soul Loom with Michelle Wollaston
The High Cost of Hustle: A Stroke, a Forced Pause & Reclaiming Balance with Iris Isaacs
Sleeping five hours a night, seven days a week, while raising two young children and running an award winning business can look like commitment until your body decides otherwise, and in 2018 that is exactly what happened to Iris Isaacs, founder of Insync Design jewellery in Melbourne, when a stroke stopped a business exporting ten thousand handmade pieces a year to museums around the world. In this conversation Iris shares the story of her stroke, the months spent drawing eight hours a day to rebuild her brain, and the decision to leave wholesale behind and build a direct relationship with the women who collect her work. She speaks candidly about hustle culture, the warning signs she never noticed while living on adrenaline, why women in business so often put their own wellbeing last, and what changed once sleep, movement and time alone became non-negotiable. If you are a woman running a business, holding down a demanding job or juggling family and work, this episode offers a grounded look at work life balance, stroke recovery, and the example we set for our children by how we live. Iris's message is that the gentle nudge before the crisis is a gift, and that stopping to take stock is possible before your body makes the decision for you.
