I was too afraid to tell my boss 'no.' My burnout was so bad that one day I left the office on a stretcher.

• When I was a VP at my company, I was too afraid to speak up or tell my boss "no."
• I reached burnout and collapsed during a meeting, forcing me to leave the office on a stretcher.
• Once I explored my childhood trauma in therapy, I was able to set boundaries at work.

"Teresa, you can plan the office party, right?"

My stomach tightened, and I felt lightheaded at the question. I went through a mental checklist of everything I was asked to lead. I tried to repeat the boundary script I read in a Forbes article the previous day.