We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dawn Lorentz a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Dawn, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Before starting Self Reboot, I worked at one of the premier commercial real estate consulting firms where the motto was “work hard and play hard.” And’s that exactly what I did for 10+ years until I physically and mentally burnt out from the stress of chasing back-to-back deadlines on little sleep and poor nutrition.
Over time, my stress and unhealthy lifestyle manifested into severe migraine headaches, Trigeminal Neuralgia, TMG, Insomnia, Depression, losing my hair…and the list goes on. I visited at least 10 different specialists in a little over two years and not a single one was able to determine the cause of my declining health. At times, the pain was so unbearable I had thoughts of giving up and committing suicide but, instead, I found the power from within and committed my life to not only surviving, but thriving despite the debilitating pain.

Thankfully there was Google when I had my burnout in 2006 because wellness, mindfulness, meditation, or holistic practices had the stigma of being woo-woo. My first corporate job was in 1992, when employee wellness meant you get health benefits and 1 week vacation for the first 3 years. There were no mental health days, and I was proud to say “I will sleep when I die” and totally believed in that culture. I truly had no clue how unhealthy it was until it was almost too late!

I ultimately healed myself by practicing holistic techniques through yoga, meditation, mindfulness, nutrition and fitness. I turned my pain into passion, and was inspired to become a certified Yoga instructor, Group Fitness Instructor, Personal Trainer and Wellness Coach. In 2014, I quit my job and founded Self Reboot. Self Reboot is a boutique wellness company offering IN-PERSON and VIRTUAL wellness workshops and classes. Specializing in stress management, fitness, mental health, healthy eating, and financial health.

My mission is to help teach employees attainable self-care practices & tools to help them live a happy & healthier lifestyle and to avoid burnout.

Dawn, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Before starting Self Reboot, I worked at one of the premier commercial real estate consulting firms where the motto was “work hard and play hard.” And’s that exactly what I did for 10+ years until I physically and mentally burnt out from the stress of chasing back-to-back deadlines on little sleep and poor nutrition.

Over time, my stress and unhealthy lifestyle manifested into severe migraine headaches, Trigeminal Neuralgia, TMG, Insomnia, Depression, losing my hair…and the list goes on. I visited at least 10 different specialists in a little over two years and not a single one was able to determine the cause of my declining health. At times, the pain was so unbearable I had thoughts of giving up and committing suicide but, instead, I found the power from within and committed my life to not only surviving, but thriving despite the debilitating pain.

Thankfully there was Google when I had my burnout in 2006 because wellness, mindfulness, meditation, or holistic practices had the stigma of being woo-woo. My first corporate job was in 1992, when employee wellness meant you get health benefits and 1 week vacation for the first 3 years. There were no mental health days, and I was proud to say “I will sleep when I die” and totally believed in that culture. I truly had no clue how unhealthy it was until it was almost too late!
I ultimately healed myself by practicing holistic techniques through yoga, meditation, mindfulness, nutrition and fitness. I turned my pain into passion, and was inspired to become a certified Yoga instructor, Group Fitness Instructor, Personal Trainer and Wellness Coach. In 2014, I quit my job and founded Self Reboot. Self Reboot is a boutique wellness company offering IN-PERSON and VIRTUAL wellness workshops and classes. Specializing in stress management, fitness, mental health, healthy eating, and financial health.

My mission is help teach employees attainable self-care practices & tools to help them live a happy & healthier lifestyle and to avoid burnout.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When the Pandemic hit, I had to quickly pivot the business to online. Not only did the world shut down, but my sister passed away from lung cancer on March 10, 2020. Morning the loss of my sister, the loss of business and not being able to comfort my elderly parents was challenging. To help with sadness and uncertainty, I offered free daily Yoga & Cardio classes from March 18, 2020 to May 1, 2020 online via Zoom. Diane Lang & I also hosted Mental Health webinars online via Zoom for my clients’ employees, friends, and family.

Prior to the Pandemic, I was working on transferring our business to 50%, today we are 90% online.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Same as the story above

Contact Info:

• Website: selfreboot.org
• Instagram: rebootwithdawn
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dawn.lorentz
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawn-lorentz-60801517/

Image Credits
The first photo was taken by William Reade The other 3 photos were taken at a client event.. no names to credit