Our Story
A small group of colleagues, then friends, we discussed the experiences of stress and burnout we were experiencing ourselves and seeing in those around us. We wondered why there wasn’t a place we could go, to share our experiences and feed our souls. Sometimes, when you look for something and don’t find it, it’s a sign that you need to create it yourself.
Our Values
We believe in the power of community where active listening, respect and empathy ensure the inclusion of everyone. Madame Papillon is a safe community of exchange using creativity and fun to overcome burnout.
Who We Are
Madame Papillon is an association (ASBL) and our Advisory Board has four members.
Rebecca Steel-Jasinska
Reflecting on my own burnout, I was surprised by two main things – the isolation I felt going through something that rocked my life so fundamentally and the knock to my confidence and identity I experienced as a result. I looked for a space to share my own experience and find other women who had been through similar, and didn’t find exactly what I needed. Speaking to other women from the international community in Brussels, I saw it was not just me who was missing this space, so we have been putting the building blocks in place to establish it. Burnout taught me about my own personal limits, but also highlighted again the importance of a supportive environment. The power lies in community and the possibilities are available to us all to create what we need in life.
Soledad Briones
The last 14 years I have been dedicated to managing teams. I have had a lot of fun and good moments but complicated moments too. As a manager you realise how fragile the well being of a team is. You realise how important it is to take care of each person not only as manager but also as colleagues. Burn out is not only about workload, there are many more factors that can contribute to it, work and personal. This is why holistic care of a team is so important to prevent burnout, to support your colleagues during the process and also important after it.
I myself also went through a burnout, which was the consequence of various factors work and in my personal life, but what was key for me to go through it and become more resilient was the support of my colleagues, my family and a number of different professionals.
Now it is up to me to give back what I received, and Madame Papillon is my way to give back and do it with some of my favorite people in the world, who supported me during my burn out.
Cecilia Rolland
In the past few years many of my colleagues and friends have gone through burnout. Each one had different experiences, but all were suffering from isolation. I believe that Madame Papillon’s approach of using the power of the community can help tackle the isolation of women going through burnout, but also strengthen the collective intelligence of the professionals who want to support these women and the employers who want to prevent burnout. By putting all our strength together we can better tackle this systemic problem. With my experience in governance of non profit organisation I hope to support Madame Papillon’s bold mission.
Helene Debaisieux
As the mother of two kids and working for a non-profit, it did not take me long to realise that women are unrealistically over-stretched.
They expect a lot from themselves, considering the world, the colleagues, the partners, the family… expect them to over-deliver on all matters. This results in a constant pressure and a feeling of guilt which cannot last longer. Having experienced this pressure and stress myself (still sometimes now), I also realised that sorority, care and mutual support are not very valued in this men’s world. Well, I am a feminist, you caught me 😉 Mme Papillon is the space to restore what was missing, rebuild what has been undernourished… It’s about time we have it as we need it!
Members of the association include professionals who work in wellbeing and creative professions.