Avoiding Burnout Bingo: Reclaiming Identity, Energy and Voice in Purpose-Driven Careers

Sharing our stories builds trust, leading to game-changing conversations

Blog
March 25, 2026
Leticia V. Garay

A woman in a light blazer stands indoors, smiling and pointing at a large printed conference schedule on an easel at a UC Davis event. — Leticia V. Garay, associate director of admissions at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, points to the conference schedule while serving as a session facilitator and speaker at the UC Davis Alumni Careers & Identity Conference at Aggie Square in Sacramento.

The goal was NOT to win at bingo. 🚫

At the recent UC Davis Alumni Careers & Identity Conference, I led a session about staying resilient in mission-centered professions: “Avoiding Burnout Bingo: Reclaiming Identity, Energy & Voice in Purpose-Driven Careers.”

The professional development conference was open to alumni from all UC campuses and featured a day-long schedule of interactive breakout sessions and meaningful networking. The UC Davis Graduate School of Management sponsored the event.

The venue was Aggie Square, the world-class innovation district on UC Davis’ Sacramento campus that is home to our UC Davis Sacramento Part-Time MBA program.

About two dozen people joined my session at the conference, and I had planned for a regular game of bingo in teams. But most groups ended up with blackout bingo, which says a lot about burnout in purpose-driven careers.

As a first-gen Latina who built a career in higher education, I know what it feels like to navigate spaces where passion and pressure blur together. The expectations (spoken and unspoken, internal and external) can look a lot like this:

Be the “grateful one” who doesn’t complain.

Tie your worth to your output.

Confuse exhaustion with purpose.

While we were sharing reflections out loud, someone paused and said: "This is exactly why I came to this conference."

That moment stuck with me.

Because the session wasn’t really about bingo. It was about naming the things many of us quietly carry in our careers, especially when burnout often hides behind passion and where it challenges our perception of self-worth.

The Power of Storytelling

Two women interact in a modern classroom; one stands and speaks while the other sits at a desk with a blue water bottle and notebook. — Leticia V. Garay, left, speaks with an attendee following her session, continuing conversations on burnout, identity and sustainable career paths.

Lately, I’ve also been thinking about the role storytelling plays in this work.

As I’ve been evolving my own personal brand, I’ve reaffirmed the moments that create the strongest connections aren’t the perfectly polished ones (thanks to GSM Lecturer and fellow UC Davis MBA alumna Vanessa Errecarte, for that lesson). They’re the honest moments: the ones where you risk your voice shaking a little while telling the truth (which may have happened in this session). Perfectionist 18-year-old Leticia would be aghast (in every meaning of the word!) at this new space I've created for ourself.

That kind of storytelling doesn’t just create connection. It builds trust. And trust is where real conversations (and real change) start.

Reframing Exhaustion into Clarity

By the end of the session, two attendees shared that the conversation helped them admit something they hadn’t said out loud before: they were burned out too, and it might be time to take action.

I’m grateful to everyone who showed up ready to face some realities, laugh at a few uncomfortable bingo squares, and have a real, reflection-based conversation about the kind of careers we actually want to build, especially when the morning coffee was still kicking in.

Here’s to protecting our energy, honoring our stories and redefining success in ways that are actually sustainable.