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Published by Ideapress Publishing
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
Table of Contents
About The Book
In a world that rewards speed, output, and constant motion, most leaders know how to push. The harder question is whether success is sustainable once you’ve built it.
In Built to Breathe, founder, CEO, and leadership advisor Paige McPheely challenges the idea that efficiency, endurance, and doing it all alone are the price of ambition for modern leaders. Drawing on more than a decade building remote-first companies, raising venture capital, and advising high-performing executives, she explores a quieter truth: lasting success depends not on how much you can carry, but on what you’re willing to release.
Structured around the rhythm of a breath—inhale, hold, exhale—this book examines what modern leaders take on, what they wrestle with, and what ultimately wears them down. Through personal narrative, field-tested insight, and stories from founders, operators, and people reflecting on lives well lived, McPheely reframes leadership as something human, supported, and spacious—rather than relentless.
This is not a call to want less. It’s an invitation to build ambition that doesn’t require recovery. To create space to think clearly, lead calmly, and fully inhabit the life you’ve already worked so hard to build. If you’ve been the strong one for too long, carrying responsibility others rely on but rarely see, this book offers a different kind of momentum—one you don’t have to outrun.
In Built to Breathe, founder, CEO, and leadership advisor Paige McPheely challenges the idea that efficiency, endurance, and doing it all alone are the price of ambition for modern leaders. Drawing on more than a decade building remote-first companies, raising venture capital, and advising high-performing executives, she explores a quieter truth: lasting success depends not on how much you can carry, but on what you’re willing to release.
Structured around the rhythm of a breath—inhale, hold, exhale—this book examines what modern leaders take on, what they wrestle with, and what ultimately wears them down. Through personal narrative, field-tested insight, and stories from founders, operators, and people reflecting on lives well lived, McPheely reframes leadership as something human, supported, and spacious—rather than relentless.
This is not a call to want less. It’s an invitation to build ambition that doesn’t require recovery. To create space to think clearly, lead calmly, and fully inhabit the life you’ve already worked so hard to build. If you’ve been the strong one for too long, carrying responsibility others rely on but rarely see, this book offers a different kind of momentum—one you don’t have to outrun.
Product Details
- Publisher: Ideapress Publishing (October 27, 2026)
- Length: 260 pages
- ISBN13: 9781646873104
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Raves and Reviews
"You can't work your way through burnout, but you can learn to make new choices in how you come to work. Paige McPheely's book is insightful, generous and practical, precisely what's needed to help you make an impact without losing everything.” ––SETH GODIN, Author of The Knot
"Built to Breathe identifies the silent crisis of modern leadership: a professional exhaustion that better tools will never solve. Paige McPheely challenges the illusion that success must hurt to count, offering permission to lead with clarity instead of frenetic motion. Built to Breathe is an invaluable guide for those who want to live more fully without wanting less out of life." ––TODD HENRY, Author of Die Empty
“Paige McPheely has written a wise and deeply important book for driven people who have learned to endure more than they should. Built to Breathe challenges the false choice between ambition and wellbeing, showing that we do not need to want less in order to live more fully. Through personal insight and practical wisdom, Paige reminds us that sustainable leadership is not about holding everything together; it is about creating the conditions that allow us, and those around us, to breathe, grow, and flourish.” ––TAL BEN-SHAHAR, Founder, Happiness Studies Academy
"Do more" is the standard leadership book advice. And the hustle more, be more, know more, do more advice is exhausting leaders. Built to Breathe reminds us how to become more. Paige McPheely invites leaders to trade exhaustion for intentional living. With clarity and simplicity, she shows that the strongest leaders aren't the ones carrying the most—they're the ones creating space for themselves and everyone around them to thrive. Our workplaces need this breath of fresh air. ––JENN WHITMER, Keynote Speaker and Author of Award-Winning Joyosity
“Built to Breathe is a much-needed antidote to the grind culture that has become so deeply embedded in the way we live and work. Paige courageously shares her own journey while offering practical tools that help readers break free from the belief that more doing is the path to a meaningful life. She powerfully challenges the always-on culture and, through her work, teaches us how to lead lives full of vitality.” ––JAMIE SHAPIRO, CEO, Connected Executive Coaching and Author of Connected Culture
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Hardcover 9781646873104
