When does throwing yourself into work become a risk?

Putting your heart and soul into your work,can it become dangerous?

That's interesting too.There's a book written by Nicolas Duhep, who was my former CEO and mentor to me, with whom I spent more than 10 years in the startup called Alchimie, which he set up for some time now.

And it's true that something rather unusual happened.in 2021, at Alchimie,Nicolas d'Hueppe, who was CEO at the time and the founder, we had just succeeded together a successful IPO.

The business was booming.We were talking about post-Covid video streaming, so it was really the height of these subjects.

We had just bought a company in the US, a big international ambition.

And then that year, in May, Nicolas d'Hueppe had a cardiac arrest that lasted 53 minutes. That's the title of the book.

It's quite an unusual accident.He survived and woke up after a few days.

He quickly got back to business because at least physically and mentally, there was no lasting effects after this exceptional accident.

It lasted for a while, a few months, going back to work.

To support him, too, during that period,He gave me more responsibilities, including becoming the deputy CEO.to take on more and more responsibility alongside him and to be able to replace him.

So, I also doubled my efforts to make sure everything went well,and that the company's new direction is progressing well.

But after a few months, we realized that it couldn't work.

It didn't work because he obviously couldn't go back to his old life.

To his life before, because after such an event, obviously,his life changed.

And then I also realized that it was actually too much.

A lot of stress to reassure external stakeholders, teams, and push the business forward when everything had come to a major halt.

And I think all the signs were telling me that I had to quit and leave this project.

What can happen when you give too much of yourself? The risks, ultimately it's dangerous for your personal health.

You also need to find the courage to say stop, to stop yourself,move on, close the chapter, close it properly,close it in your own way, but starting something else is also another way of doing things.

What's surprising is that at that time, I had two daughters.

My eldest daughter Margot was barely six years old when I decided that it was time for me to start working again.

I had to stop the Alchemy project.She wrote me a letter at almost six years old to say: Mom,stop working.

I want you to be with us.I know it's important to you.

I know you like it, but we want you to be there too, and we want to take care of you.

I remember being deeply moved when I read this message from my daughter:written with her frail little hands, even though she knew absolutely nothing about everything that was happening around me and all the emotional turmoil surrounding me.

About the accident, the return, and everything that had happened with Nicolas.

I thought to myself: That's very powerful.It's one more point, one more signal.

You have to remember to listen to your heart at times like these.

It was the perfect example of saying, "Listen to him, Blondina, really." So, I left at the end of the year, at the same time as Nicolas, actually.

We left our jobs at that time.And then, I think it was a good decision because it was to start a new wonderful adventures.