Even the Industry Pros Deal with Imposter Syndrome & Burnout
What Cristela Rodriguez (Manager, Saba) taught us about self-doubt and exhaustion.
If you've ever pursued a career or been in a room and wondered what you're doing there, you're not alone. Not even close.
Cristela Rodriguez manages Saba, one of the most celebrated independent artists. She's navigated through last-minute tour routing and high-stakes album rollouts.
She received a job offer from Dave Free, the co-founder of pgLang with Kendrick Lamar. And when she got it, her first thought was: "That's not actually going to happen. Me? A girl that grew up on a farm?"
Cristela led a workshop with us about her experience as a manager and talked through the mental and emotional cost of a career in the music industry.
Here's what she shared.
The doubt doesn't stop. But you can quiet it.
Cristela is clear that imposter syndrome isn't something she's solved. She still deals with it all the time. What she's found instead is a way to quiet it long enough to keep moving.
Her approach: go back to your track record.
"I have not stopped working at all. So why wouldn't all of this [success] actually exist for me? If at no point have I ever given up, why wouldn't all of this be real?"
In practice, that means actually listing what you've done. The late nights, the emails, the shows, the skills you've built, the moments you showed up when it would have been easier not to.
That consistency is evidence. Use it against the voice that says you don't belong. It won't silence the doubt permanently, but it'll quiet it long enough to do what's in front of you.
Here’s the thing, the receipts don't stop accumulating. Every time you push through, you're adding to the case for yourself. The goal isn't to feel confident. It's to keep building the record until the evidence outweighs the doubt.
The flip side: the same drive can cause burnout
That same relentlessness is exactly what leads to burnout if you're not careful.
After working on the rollout of Kendrick’s GNX album in 2024 while simultaneously managing Saba, Cristela admitted she eventually hit a wall. The pace became unsustainable, leading her to take an extended break over the holidays to recover from burnout.
"Burnout and imposter syndrome are two things that are really hard to overcome. You just have to be honest with people about it," Cristela said.
She told Saba directly when she’d hit a wall. Instead of pressuring her to push through, he reassured her and told her to take the time she needed before coming back ready.
The lesson: don't wait until you're running on empty to tell people where you are.
What this means for you
The self-doubt, the exhaustion, the pressure to always be on, those are universal to anyone building a career in this industry.
The move isn't to push through in silence. It's to know your receipts, be honest with your people, and take the breaks when you can.
Those in the industry feel it too. The difference is they've learned to say it out loud.