From Burnout to Balance: Redefining Success in Business
A Letter From Our Founder, Shelby McPhail
When I launched Luxura, it wasn’t just about building a business, it was personal. I had just moved to a small country town where I didn’t know anyone. With no familiar faces around me except my husband’s family, everything felt new, foreign, and uncertain. So, I threw myself into what I knew I could control: creating something from the ground up. I poured everything into Luxura with a fire to prove I was capable of building something meaningful.
Before Luxura, I’d started businesses that didn’t quite take off. I carried those lessons with me, determined this time would be different. I didn’t just want to build a successful clinic.. I needed to. I leaned into what I knew best: hard work. My days were long, nights spent on social media, admin, and backend tasks. I wore my exhaustion like a badge of honour. If I wasn’t burning out, I questioned if I was trying hard enough.
But over time, that definition of success started to feel misaligned.
Luxura was growing. Our clients were loyal. Our treatments were delivering real results. From the outside, things looked amazing, and in so many ways, they were. But on the inside, I was depleted. I was coming home to my husband with nothing left to give. I was building a beautiful business I was proud of, but I wasn’t building a life I could sustain.
That’s when I realised: Luxura wasn’t the problem, I just hadn’t yet learned how to grow it in a way that didn’t cost me my peace.
As we approached our wedding in 2024, I started thinking about my future, not just as a founder, but as a wife, and hopefully one day, a mother. That forced me to ask myself a bigger question: What does success look like now?
It was confronting to realise I wasn’t happy. My identity had become wrapped up in how hard I worked and how much I could handle. Stepping back felt uncomfortable, almost shameful. But I knew something had to change.
Not long after, I came across an opportunity to attend Cosmoprof Hong Kong, one of the world’s largest and most advanced beauty expos. It felt like a wild idea. I had just spent most of my savings on our wedding, and here I was considering an international business trip with no guarantee it would lead anywhere. But something in me said: Go.
So I did. I pulled together every cent I had, booked the flights, and brought my mum along. It was a leap of faith, and it paid off.
Among more than 2,500 exhibitors, I discovered Idenel Professional, a Korean clinical skincare brand backed by patented technology and clinical results. It was like nothing I’d seen before, science-forward, results-driven, and powered by the only delivery system of its kind in the world. I felt the spark instantly. This wasn’t just another skincare line, this was aligned, elevated, and purpose-driven. I knew it was something I had to bring home to Australia.
Fast forward to now: Luxura is thriving with an incredible team, and Idenel QLD is officially launching.
What’s changed most is how I lead.
I’ve learned that real leadership isn’t about being the last one to leave the clinic. It’s about building strong systems, empowering your team, and working on your business, not drowning in it. The more I focus on structure, clarity, and aligned growth, the more everything thrives, even when I’m not physically in the room.
Now, I still work hard, but no longer at the expense of my health, my marriage, or my peace. I eat dinner with my husband every night. I’ve removed the pressure to do everything myself. And I’ve redefined success: calm, clarity, alignment, and sustainable growth.
To our clients, community, and clinics stocking Idenel, thank you. You are part of this new chapter. And if you’re in the thick of building something, please know this:
You don’t have to burn yourself out to succeed.
You just have to lead with purpose.
Here’s to working smarter, growing stronger, and building with heart.
Shelby x