After over 15 years climbing the corporate ladder—with roles that spanned from leading high-impact sales teams to navigating the pressures of fast-paced start-ups—Kristy Kilduff knows what it means to “have it all.” But she also knows the heavy price that ambitious, high-achieving women often pay in the process: burnout, disconnection, and the silent struggle of balancing motherhood, career, and personal wellness.
In the midst of what should have been a career-defining role, Kristy found herself at a breaking point—overwhelmed, stressed, and barely recognizing the version of herself that was showing up at home. Instead of pushing through, she hit pause, turned inward, and redefined success on her own terms. From this transformative journey came Awakened Achiever, a growing wellness community designed for driven women who are ready to prioritize themselves without sacrificing ambition.
Through retreats, workshops, and soon-to-launch virtual memberships, Awakened Achiever is creating a new narrative: one where personal growth, connection, and self-care are no longer “nice-to-haves,” but the foundation of thriving careers and fulfilled lives. In this interview, Kristy shares her personal awakening, the lessons she’s learned from the pressure cooker of corporate America, and how she’s building a movement that reimagines what it truly means to succeed.
What was the defining moment that made you realize you needed to prioritize your own well-being?
In late 2023, after over 15 years of continued corporate success, I decided to make a big career change and moved to a company for what I thought would be a lot of upside in my career – expanded scope, exposure to different parts of the business, high impact opportunity, etc. In reality, that first year at this company was the hardest of my career. There was a complete mess organizationally I unknowingly walked into, as well as an exorbitant amount of constant, high visibility pressure. The combination of this unhealthy work environment, with my strong desire to “prove myself” as the high achiever I had always been, led to the pressure cooker that ultimately put me over the edge. I was constantly in a state of anxiety, could not disconnect from work, was irritable with my family, and was losing sight of even remembering to spend time with my three young kids when I did have the opportunity. I saw myself responding to emails while I was trying to bathe the baby. Rushing through books at bedtime to get back to my computer. I had a constant feeling of dread in my chest. I felt myself being snippy with my kids and husband and frankly everyone around me. I knew I was, quite literally, turning into the worst version of myself. I wasn’t sleeping well, or feeling well physically, and I knew I was on the edge of breakdown at any given moment.
That was the defining moment for me. I knew there had to be a better way. I decided I was going to refuse to live like this. So, I started to calm my nervous system with breathing techniques, read and learned a lot about mindset shifts, listened to podcasts on how to evolve my perspective, and overall spent a lot of time really focusing on my mental, emotional and physical health. I got better, felt myself more present in my body and present in the moment with my loved ones. I had managed my ambitions with my health moderately well up until this point, but it wasn’t until this boil over experience that I knew I needed to do something different, and it changed everything for me.
How did your experience in high-pressure corporate roles shape your approach to self-care and mindfulness?
For the majority of my career I have been in sales. First as an individual contributor, then a front line manager, and then as a department head leading sales orgs. The truism in all of these roles, is that the only way to be consistently successful in a fast-paced environment such as sales, is by focusing on “controlling the controllables.” What this means is focusing on aspects of the sales process that are within my direct influence – repetitive actions, attitude, time management, etc. This understanding of needing to direct my attention toward what is within my sphere of control, has been foundational in my approach to mindfulness and self-care as well. I can focus on my breath. I can control practicing the pause, and not responding immediately when I am triggered. I can choose to change my habitual behavior by leaving my phone in a different room during dinner/bath/bedtime with the kids. I have also come to understand that my experience of the world is 100% a reflection of me and the meaning I give to it. This is in my control! It’s a very liberating feeling to realize that truism, and sets the tone for my approach to my own mental and emotional wellbeing.
How has your definition of success evolved from the start of your career to now?
When I was first starting my career, my first priority was always to “prove myself” to those around me. I wanted to be the best at my job, and I wanted to be recognized for it. This meant I was always pushing myself and doing everything possible to succeed in the role, including late nights and a commitment to learning and improving my craft outside of normal working hours. As the years went by, this showed up as my willingness to always be available for my job. I started to measure my success by how fast I was able to respond to an email or a message. Not surprisingly, this eventually became exhausting.
Now, I’m measuring success by how authentically I’m showing up in my day to day work. How aligned I am with my passion and purpose. By the quality of relationships I have and how I am able to positively impact and empower those around me. I am creating boundaries as it relates to my family and personal wellness, and success for me is now how well I adhere to those boundaries. No longer am I measuring my success based on the validation of others, but instead by own internal compass.
What inspired you to take the leap and launch Awakened Achiever?
After working through my own nervous system healing, learning to prioritize my own self-care so I could show up better in all areas of my life, I felt like I was making a ton of progress in my overall wellbeing. But even still, I knew that I couldn’t do it all alone. I leaned very deeply on my friends. The ambitious women and mothers who just got me – they experienced similar struggles, they understood how it felt, and ultimately shared the same desire and commitment to feel better and be better. In those late night conversations and moments of connection, we all felt seen, we felt heard, we felt validated. These were the moments when I breathed my deepest sigh of relief. And then I realized how universal this need for, and comfort in, connection really is. The women around me – friends, acquaintances, coworkers – were all communicating their desire for this community and validation. Like-minded women who can come together, talk through similar struggles and experiences, and who see and understand each other. All of the self care, all of the focus on mental/emotional/physical health, and add in the girls who just get it. I believed deeply in the need for this type of experience, but couldn’t find anything like it. So, I created it.
What challenges have you faced in creating a space specifically for ambitious women focused on well-being?
One of the cornerstones of the Awakened Achiever community is taking intentional time to come together in person, whether that be via local workshops, events or retreats. For the women who need these moments of self-care and connection the most, it is also the hardest for us to do. We have demanding careers. We have families with busy schedules and responsibilities. We are taking care of households and mental loads. We have sick kids and aging parents. Taking the time to focus
solely on ourselves, and away from work/family/commitments, is hard. I have found it challenging, at times, to get women to take that time for themselves outside of their home, in a consistent way. The intent is there, the desire is there, but the actualization of doing so consistently can be harder. Because of this, we continue to diversify our offerings, including offering online forums and events. The intent is that by offering a variety of mediums, we are affording more women the opportunity to show up consistently, as well as the benefit of connection and community.
What role do you believe mindfulness and self-care play in professional success?
The mantra I live by is “we do better when we feel better.” I truly believe that by focusing on our mind, body and spirit health, we are also enabling ourselves to show up better for our work. We have more mental clarity. We have more ability to be creative because our bodies aren’t in a constant state of stress response. By adhering to our boundaries, we aren’t exhausting our batteries, and so we are more refreshed and focused when we’re working.
I also think this focus on our own holistic wellness makes us better colleagues and leaders. We understand that our people need the same space and self-care we need, so we encourage them to do just that. It leads to better empathy, better support, and overall the proliferation of a better and more satisfied workforce.
What impact do you hope Awakened Achiever will have on future generations of working women?
A big motivator for me in my own wellnes journey is the fact that I know my daughters are watching me. They are learning from me. They are seeing how I respond during times of stress. They learn from me as I navigate household responsibilites and my career. I want them to see a happy mother who flourishes with my family and career, because I am also prioritizing my own self care and health. I want my daughters to learn this so that they know they deserve the same. They deserve to feel their best, to “have it all” in a way that is actually sustainable. To live a full and happy and healthy life.
My mission is to spread this to as many little girls as possible. For this generation of working women and mothers to set the standard for what good can really look like. What fulfillment and passion, intertwined with self care and boundaries, can achieve. When we feel better, we do better. And, wow, what magic will that be when a whole generation of women are doing better.
Visit Kristy’s website for retreats, workshops, and soon-to-launch virtual memberships, Awakened Achiever.
