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How Entrepreneurs Overcame Burnout, Rebuilt Globally, and Found Support in EO

How Entrepreneurs Overcame Burnout, Rebuilt Globally, and Found Support in EO

Catherine TylerCatherine Tyler is the Founder and CEO at Baer Reed Inc., a women‑owned business and legal process outsourcing firm that delivers secure, cost‑effective support to law firms, corporate legal departments, and regulated industries. A former litigation attorney at Gibson, Dunn & Cruncher and Winston & Strawn, she launched Baer Reed in 2010 after recognizing a need for high‑quality, scalable legal support. Under her leadership, the company has grown to serve Fortune 100 and Am Law 100 clients.

Uday BhasinUday Bhasin is the Managing Director at Tradeways, an emerging markets advisory firm specializing in financial and family office strategy in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe. He previously held senior finance roles at Sharjah Holding and Dubai Group and spent 11 years at PwC. Uday also serves on the boards of multiple regional banks and insurers, including Diamond Trust Bank in Kenya and Tanzania.

Lael SturmLael Sturm is the Founder of Ogmentor, a virtual assistant agency that connects executive, marketing, and sales assistants with growing businesses. He built Ogmentor as an extension of his marketing agency experience, helping place skilled assistants and providing strategic support to business leaders.

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Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

  • [1:58] Catherine Tyler talks about launching a legal outsourcing firm inspired by inefficiencies in international antitrust cases
  • [4:24] Finding community support during a period of entrepreneurial burnout
  • [16:43] Uday Bhasin’s transition from corporate finance to founding a cross-border advisory practice
  • [21:06] Navigating pandemic challenges in a relationship-driven consulting business
  • [22:46] How Lael Sturm pivoted from a traditional agency model to building a virtual staffing company
  • [25:27] Gaining leadership insights and deepening connections through EO board service

In this episode…

From legal outsourcing and cross-border financial advisory to virtual staffing and leadership development, the entrepreneurial journey is rarely linear. How can founders navigate burnout, pivot their models, and rebuild with intention?

After questioning the status quo of US legal practices, Catherine Tyler launched Baer Reed in the Philippines and joined EO to reshape her personal and professional future. Uday Bhasin reflects on launching Tradeways after a high-powered finance career, the challenge of starting from scratch, and the long game of earning trust across continents. For Lael Sturm, a pandemic-era pivot from agency work to virtual team support sparked rapid growth and deeper engagement in EO’s community. All three credit EO with sustaining their growth and helping them rediscover what matters most.

In this episode of the Rising Entrepreneurs Podcast, recorded live at the Entrepreneur’s Organization Global Leadership Conference in Honolulu, you’ll hear how Catherine Tyler, Uday Bhasin, and Lael Sturm overcame burnout, embraced reinvention, and found purpose through EO. You’ll also learn how mindset, delegation, and peer support fuel long-term success.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Quotable Moments:

  • “Why are we doing all the legal work in the world’s most expensive jurisdiction?”
  • “You can’t just sit there and have someone tell you what to do all day.”
  • “When you don’t have a name card or a calling card, people don’t take your phone call.”
  • “Accelerator is more practical, was more valuable, and frankly gave me the tools and the confidence.”
  • “Trust people to do things their way. Trust people to ask questions and access resources.”

Action Steps:

  1. Join a peer support community like EO: Connecting with fellow entrepreneurs provides emotional relief, shared wisdom, and actionable strategies.
  2. Delegate responsibilities to trusted team members: Freeing up your time allows you to focus on growth and innovation and avoid burnout.
  3. Reevaluate your business model during market shifts: Strategic pivots can uncover new revenue streams and create stronger alignment with evolving client needs.
  4. Reflect on personal goals beyond business: Gaining clarity on life aspirations can inspire more meaningful entrepreneurial decisions and fulfillment.
  5. Attend leadership conferences regularly: Immersive events foster learning, new relationships, and renewed motivation to improve both personally and professionally.

Sponsor for this episode…

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The relationships you form through podcasting run deep. Jeremy and John became business partners through podcasting. They have even gone on family vacations and attended weddings of guests who have been on the podcast.

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Episode Transcript:

Intro: 00:02

Welcome to the Rising Entrepreneurs Podcast, where we feature top founders and entrepreneurs and their journey. Now let’s get started with the show.

John Corcoran: 00:12

Hey everybody, this is John Corcoran with Dr. Jeremy Weisz, and this episode is a little bit different. This is a live interview that we recorded at the Global Leadership Conference from Entrepreneurs’ Organization, where some of the best entrepreneurs from around the globe share ideas and to learn about entrepreneurship. And of course, this episode is brought to you by Rise25, where we help B2B businesses to give to and to connect to their dream 100 relationships and partnerships, helping you to run a podcast so that it generates a referral pipeline and ROI.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 00:44

Yeah, I mean, John, after both of us have been podcasting for over a decade, the number one thing in our life is relationships, and we’re always looking at ways to give to our best relationships, and we found no better way to do that over the past decade than to profile the people and companies we admire and shout from the rooftops what they’re working on. And this interview is no different. So if you’ve thought about podcasting, you should go to rise25.com to learn more or email us at. Support@rise25.com.

John Corcoran: 01:11

Thanks everyone. Enjoy the interview.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 01:12

Enjoy.

John Corcoran: 01:27

Hey John Corcoran here. I’m at the Global Entrepreneurs’ Organization Global Leadership Conference in beautiful Honolulu, Hawaii. I’m from San Francisco chapter. I’m also the Co-founder of Rise25 B2B podcasting company. And I’m here with Catherine Tyler from Baer Reed.

She is our incoming president of the San Francisco chapter, which we’re really excited about. I’m going to be serving on her board. And Catherine, let’s start withBaer Reed. How did that get started? Where did that idea come from? 

 And I’d love to hear about kind of the early challenges of getting it off the ground?

Catherine Tyler: 01:58

Yeah, absolutely. So I was an antitrust lawyer at Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher in San Francisco. And they would talk about what it takes to make partner. And I would just think that is not for me. So I started to think about what else you could do.

And these antitrust cases involve major like international cartels. And the documents would be in China. And we’d be translating them and sending them to Germany. And I kind of had this light bulb moment, like, if the documents are not in the US, half the conduct is not in the US. Half the clients are not in the US. 

 Why are we doing all the legal work in the world’s most expensive jurisdiction? And so that’s.

John Corcoran: 02:36

And city, San Francisco.

Catherine Tyler: 02:37

Exactly, exactly. Why are we doing it all here? And so that’s when I started to look at what other places had similar legal systems. And actually, the Philippines legal system was set up by the U.S. following World War two. So everything in the Philippines is basically identical.

So like the SEC is still the SEC, the National Bureau of Investigation. All the same systems. So? So that was what gave me the idea. And then I told the law firm I was quitting and moving to the Philippines, and they said, give us six months. 

 And then I off I went.

John Corcoran: 03:10

So you moved to the Philippines to start it? I haven’t even heard this story. So. So that sounds dramatic.

Catherine Tyler: 03:17

Okay, so the first place I actually moved was back in with my parents and naturally. And I said, because if I have to stay here in San Francisco, I have too much fun. So I’m going to move in with them. And when I’ve raised the money that I need to seed money and put together my business plan, then I can move out and go to the Philippines to get this started. So it took me six weeks to raise all the money that I needed.

John Corcoran: 03:38

You were motivated.

Catherine Tyler: 03:39

I was motivated. And then I moved to Manila. And I think one of the biggest challenges we had is that the system there is very complicated. I would have done things very differently now. But I didn’t really know any better and I didn’t have many contacts or mentors, so.

So it took us about a year to open our doors. And we’ve now been in business since. That was 2011 actually April 4th yesterday, I guess.

John Corcoran: 04:07

So there must have been some people that thought you were crazy. You were leaving this high paid job at this, you know, impressive, reputable law firm. You move in with your parents and then move halfway around the world. There must have been a lot of people doubting you, asking, what the heck are you doing?

Catherine Tyler: 04:24

Yeah. I mean, I think it takes a lot to get to where I was before I decided to take entrepreneurship on. But, you know, the thing about being an entrepreneur, and you know, this too, is that if that fire is in you, there is like, no way to put it out. You can’t just sit there and have someone tell you what to do all day. When you have your own ideas and places you want to go.

So, so I just I always say, you know, leap before you look and build the, you know, build it on the way down. Build the parachute.

John Corcoran: 04:57

And I know that the time that you joined EO was a time when you were kind of burning the candle at both ends, working extremely hard. Talk a little bit about that.

Catherine Tyler: 05:07

Yeah. So I joined EO during the pandemic. It was actually someone reached out to me on LinkedIn in the summer of 2020. The restaurants had just opened again in San Francisco, and they had an expert witness company, and they’re like, I bet we could do some work together. So we’re like, great, we’ll go out to lunch.

And we got there and realized sort of right away that the fee sharing rules around attorneys meant that we probably weren’t going to actually be able to work together. And so he said to me, he said, but, you know, he said, you know, we’re here. Let’s enjoy this lunch. And he goes, Catherine, you’re an entrepreneur. It’s it’s been such a rough year. 

 How are you doing? And I just burst into tears with this complete stranger from LinkedIn. And I’m crying at lunch and I’m like, it has been so hard and I am all by myself. Off and he just said, we got to get you in EO. Wow. 

 Yeah. Wow. And that’s he set that up for me. And then I was actually got invited to an online test drive at that time. Because we were all still quarantining in that fall and and that joined the end of that year.

John Corcoran: 06:08

And I imagine when you came to that, you were probably thinking, as many do, how can I manage this? How can I do this? How can I afford it? Do I have the time for it? So talk a little bit about overcoming those hurdles.

Catherine Tyler: 06:20

Well, certainly. I mean, at the beginning when you’re when you’re looking at the, the. I think when at the beginning when you’re looking at the cost and the time involved, it seems like a lot because you have not yet had a true appreciation of all the value you’re going to get out of it. Now, I can’t believe how little we pay to be a part of this organization, because it is the most transformative thing I have ever done in my life. Personally.

professionally like this. It’s just the most transformative place and people.

John Corcoran: 06:56

And let’s talk about some of that transformation, because you have a big personal transformation, which is on the horizon right now. But also first, on the business side, you know, you went from working your butt off basically to I brag. I tell people, my friend Catherine, who I lose track of how many places she’s traveled to because you are all over the globe having these amazing adventures that I’m jealous of.

Catherine Tyler: 07:18

Yeah, and actually, I don’t know if you know this, but I’m going to Argentina on Friday.

John Corcoran: 07:22

Yeah, see, there’s another one, another one right there.

Catherine Tyler: 07:23

And then on to Patagonia. And then I’m going from Patagonia to Greece for the Regional Leadership Academy for you.

John Corcoran: 07:32

Well, the Catherine in 2019 was not doing any of that. So how did you get over the hurdle to get to the point where you have a business that allowed you to do that?

Catherine Tyler: 07:40

Yeah, I was in 2019, in like when I joined, I was still at the place where I would be awake at 11:00 at night doing stuff for the company myself. And I still felt really siloed. And most importantly, I felt really burnt out. And I have this notebook I use for you. And the very first page says it’s okay to just quit.

And that was not about EO. That was like my mantra to myself, like, you can walk away if you have to from your company. And I had this dream that my dream was, I’m going to quit my company and I’m going to go work at Starbucks in Elko, Nevada. That was the closest place, I thought, to where the Bay area where you could afford an apartment on your Starbucks salary. Okay, so that’s the level of burnout we were at. 

 And when I joined my forum, we were talking about this. And on one of our first meetings, my first meeting with them, and someone was like, would you be willing to do a deep dive on this at our upcoming retreat? And I said, I would love to. Like, I’m just I’m I’m so burned out. And so Pascal Zuda was my coach. 

 I still remember our first call. And so he coached me through talking to my forum about the problem. And then they all experience shared like the places. I mean, it just makes me emotional even thinking about it, because at that moment I was so burned out and I thought I was the only entrepreneur who ever felt like that. And these were ten amazing individuals who have really impressive careers and companies who are telling me that they all felt that same way, too. 

 And then they shared with me the things that they did and the mantras that they have to get themselves out of that place. And one of the strategies, we kind of call it the chocolate cake plan. And it’s about how to delegate more in your business and how to get to the mindset of delegating more in your business. And I’ve been able to now use that. So I would say on my, my actual business that I joined with, I spend maybe an hour or two a day tops.

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