Fearless, Not Frazzled: How to Survive the Food Industry's Busiest Season

Amy Wilkinson, Founder Coach & Podcast Host gives it to us straight - Q4 is a pressured time in the food industry. So, we asked her to share her take on how to stay calm, collected and msot importantly, set boundaries that actually help. 

Let's be honest – Q4 in the food industry is chaos...

Christmas orders are piling up. Your 2026 budget needs finalising. There's products launching left, right and centre. Someone's chasing you about stock levels. And your customer just rang with "a slight issue" that's going to take three calls and four emails to sort out.

By mid-December, most of us are running on adrenaline, caffeine, and the faint hope of a few days off over New Year.

I get it. I've been there. That's exactly why I wanted to tackle this on The Fearless Foodie podcast – because if we don't talk about how to actually get through this season without burning out, we just keep repeating the same exhausting pattern every year.

In my latest episode of the podcast, I dig into what resilience really looks like during the busiest time of year. Not the "power through at all costs" version, but the kind that actually sustains you.

Here are some of the things that came up.

Fearless doesn't mean saying yes to everything

When everything feels urgent, we default to just keeping going. Head down, push through, deal with it.

But here's what I've learned: being fearless isn't about doing more. It's about making braver choices, like saying:

"I don't have capacity for that right now."

"This can wait until January."

"I need to leave at 5pm today."

One of my previous podcast guests Nyree put it perfectly: "One of the bravest things we can do is put those boundaries in place – like saying, 'I'm leaving now to do the school run and you won't see me again today.'"

That takes guts. Especially in an industry where there's always this unspoken expectation that you'll just find a way to fit it all in.

What actually helps when you're drowning

Theory is great, but what do you actually do when your to-do list is longer than your arm and your inbox won't stop pinging?

Here's what works for me – and the people I coach:

• Protect your non-negotiables. Lunch. A proper break. That slot in your diary where you don't take meetings. Guard them like you would a customer deadline, because without them, you'll crash.
• Get comfortable saying "to do that well, I'd need to delay  X – what's the priority?" It shifts the conversation from you scrambling to fit everything in, to actually deciding what matters most.
• Define what 'done' looks like. Not perfect. Done. What genuinely needs to be wrapped up by Christmas, and what can you park until January without the world ending?
• Be honest about what's realistic. With your boss, your team, your suppliers. Under-promise and over-deliver beats the alternative every time.

This isn't just about you

It's tempting to think resilience is all on you – that if you were just better organised, more efficient, less stressed, you'd cope fine.

But that's rubbish. The pressure is real, and it's systemic.

And the reality is, we can't fix the whole system overnight. But we can change how we show up in it.

That means cutting a colleague some slack when they're clearly struggling. Acknowledging someone's effort. Being the person who says "right, I'm switching off at 6pm tonight" and actually does it.

Culture shifts when individuals start modelling what sustainable looks like.

A reminder for December

You are not the problem.

The relentless pace, the impossible expectations, the feeling that you're constantly firefighting – that's not a “you” problem. That's an industry problem.

Being fearless doesn't mean doing it all. It means choosing where you spend your energy. And rest isn't selfish – it's how you stay in the game long-term.

So if no one else says this to you before Christmas: you're doing a great job. You really are.

If you want more on this – and other honest conversations about what it's really like working in food – tune into The Fearless Foodie on all podcast platforms or via my LinkedIn.

This season, be bold enough to say no. Brave enough to rest. And kind enough to yourself to let good enough be enough.