Local restaurateur shares story of resilience after career burnout, mini stroke, suicidal ideation

Mayra Richards, the CEO and founder of Remain Connected Counseling, and Georgia Wolfe-Samuels, a longtime CPA, now restaurateur and career burnout prevention specialist, were featured guests on “Closer Look.” (Courtesy of Mayra Richards and Georgia Wolfe-Samuel)

Georgia Wolfe-Samuels, the owner of Escovitchez, says she had to redefine her story, her world and her place in it.  The longtime Certified Public Accountant experienced career burnout in 2018 and suffered with suicidal ideation. After ignoring her stressors, she experienced a mini stroke. It forced her to address the root cause of her trauma and recover through faith and intentional healing.

Fast forward to now, Wolfe-Samuels is doing what she describes as harmonizing. While still juggling her career as a CPA, she finds joy in managing two restaurants and works as a specialist in career burnout prevention.

Wolfe-Samuels’ work as a career burnout prevention specialist is critical, as data from Moodle and Censuswide shows 66% of employees are experiencing burnout. For employees ages 18 to 34, that rate is as high as 83%. Additionally, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention details that workplace suicides have increased by 39% since the year 2000, and workers in manufacturing, oil, gas and minerals are among the occupation groups with the highest suicide rates.