MNZ Interview: Cross Section S03 / E05 – Elleana Dumper

Aiming to dissect the cross section between the creative process and the industry side, Cross Section is an exciting interview series hosted by Shannon Coulomb.

Elleana Dumper is a certified health coach, performance strategist, and the founder of Sync Wellness – a creative health and performance consultancy dedicated to helping high-performing musicians and artists build sustainable, health-first careers. With a Bachelor of Commercial Music from Massey University and over seven years of experience working hands-on with touring artists, creative entrepreneurs, and industry professionals across Aotearoa and internationally, Elleana brings a deep understanding of both the creative process and the pressures of the industry.

Her work focuses on optimising energy, wellbeing, and leadership through a holistic approach to nutrition, mindset, and performance. At the core of her philosophy is the belief that creativity is cyclical, not linear – and that artists are not machines. Through Sync Wellness, she offers practical tools and tailored support such as the Tour Support Suite and Seasonal Reset Events, designed to help artists sustain their energy, navigate life on the road, and reconnect with their creative vision. Currently completing advanced study in Holistic Performance Nutrition, Elleana is passionate about redefining success in the music and creative industries – making space for longevity, vitality, and meaningful impact.

You’re doing vital work supporting creatives behind the scenes – can you tell us what inspired the creation of Sync Wellness, and how your own experiences shaped its direction?

I started my career in events and touring, but after a few years, the hustle of late nights, high pressure, and lack of self-care started to take a toll. I didn’t enjoy the lifestyle I was building my career around. I asked myself “Is it possible to have a career in music without sacrificing my health?” I took a step back to reset and came to a clear answer – I didn’t want to leave the industry, I just wanted to find a way to thrive in it, and help others do the same. From healthy green room setups, online coaching, and studying Performance Nutrition, I launched Sync Wellness in December 2023 with a workshop series that helps creatives align their energy to the changing creative seasons – building skills of energy management, self-leadership, and sustainable performance. Because it’s not just about being able to endure the high-energy, external seasons, but the quiet, unseen ones too. I’m so grateful to support artists who want to do things differently, to lead from wellbeing and build careers that don’t burn them out.

The music industry often highlights the successes – chart positions, packed shows – but less so the personal toll. Why do you think burnout is so common among musicians and creatives?

It’s all very nuanced, but I believe burnout is so common in the music and creative industries largely because of the relentless hustle that artists are expected and often pressured to maintain. It keeps us in a constant state of high alert, disrupts healthy work-rest cycles, disconnects us from our values, and leads us to chase versions of success that may not be our own. There’s a lot of fear around stepping away from these ‘norms’ even when they’re harming us. But we’ve forgotten that we actually have the agency to decide how we want our careers to look – and that kind of self-direction is at the heart of our creative nature.

Your Seasonal Reset events and 1:1 coaching focus on helping artists manage energy and maintain creativity. What are some of the common signs that someone is approaching burnout, and how can they begin to reset?

Burnout is so normalised in the creative world that many don’t notice it creeping in until they’re deep in it. Some common signs include ongoing fatigue, creative blocks, irritability, emotional ups and downs, loss of passion or drive, and feeling disconnected. Resetting starts with having early awareness of these signs and a shift in mindset. One of the biggest things I work on with artists is redefining their relationship with rest – seeing it not as a reward or a sign of giving up, but as an essential part of creative performance that we can proactively build into the process. That’s often the root. From there we return to the basics: nutrition, hydration, sleep, emotional regulation, and curating energy-supporting environments. Ultimately, the goal isn’t to keep bouncing back from burnout. Instead it’s about being proactive and creating systems that support sustainable momentum. That’s exactly what I’ve built into the Seasonal Creative Resets – a space to intentionally disrupt the burnout cycle, create a new reference point for how good your body and creativity can feel, and be surrounded by a community where prioritising sustainable creativity is the norm.

Creativity thrives in cycles – but the industry often demands constant output. How can artists find a balance between productivity and sustainability in their work?

True balance in these areas begins with accepting that you can’t do everything at once. Each phase of the creative cycle serves a purpose – whether it’s creating, expanding, resting, or recharging. The key is recognising where you are in your process and letting yourself be fully there, rather than rushing onto the next thing. Regular stillness and reflection play an important role in that process too. Without it, we lose clarity, we spread ourselves too thin and tend to force momentum that isn’t aligned. Productivity isn’t about “busy work” – it’s about working on what actually matters. It’s hard to see what that is when you’re always “in” the work.

From your perspective, what practical tools or habits should be part of every artist’s wellness toolkit?

For me, the most essential part of any artist’s wellness toolkit is the ability to self-regulate as you navigate the inevitable highs and lows of the creative process. Real wellness isn’t about becoming so protective of your energy that you avoid healthy challenges. But expanding your capacity to handle uncertainty, discomfort, pressure, and the constant change that comes with the creative path. Other key tools include daily energy check-ins, clear creative boundaries, weekly self-leadership practices like intention-setting or honest self-auditing. Anything that helps you make decisions based on your values and long-term wellbeing, rather than reacting from a place of urgency, pressure or scarcity.

Your upcoming Winter Creative Reset follows NZ Music Month – what can people expect from this experience, and why is winter a powerful time to pause and realign?

NZ Music Month is always an inspiring time for many artists – but the challenge often isn’t coming up with ideas, it’s figuring out what to do with them. It’s learning how to begin again, move through the doubt and distraction, and create vulnerability while staying detached from the outcome. Winter naturally calls us inward into our creative ‘cocoons’. This season marks the start of a new cycle, where artists often step into a new writing or ideation phase. The Winter Creative Reset is designed to meet you in that space. It’s a grounding, transformative day to clear the noise, reflect, and set solid foundations for your next creative era. Every detail is intentionally curated and you’ll be guided by facilitators (alongside me) who understand the rhythm of a creative life.

In your work with touring artists, what have you noticed about the specific pressures of life on the road, and how do you support musicians in maintaining their wellbeing while touring?

Touring is exciting, but it’s also an intense and unnatural lifestyle that puts artists at risk of burnout. The constant travel, changing environments, irregular schedules, high stimulation, and back-to-back shows is enough to wear anyone down. One of the first things I do with artists is help them get really clear on what success feels like for them at each stage of the tour – before, during, and after. Not just in terms of career milestones, but also in their energy, mindset, and overall wellbeing. Then we create a plan that supports those human needs, which are often overlooked but they have a huge impact on performance. I find so much joy in this work – whether it’s helping an emerging artist prepare for their first festival run with confidence, guiding a seasoned artist through nutrition strategies to maintain their energy and voice across back-to-back shows, or helping someone return from tour with enough fuel to dive back into their work.

What qualities do you most admire in the artists and creatives you work with?

The Sync community is made up of the most incredibly hungry yet humble creatives. They are ambitious, purpose-driven, committed to their growth, and have deep self-awareness. The magic is best seen when we gather together every three months – the room is always so electric and full of meaningful conversations. I love that there is a culture of presence, open-mindedness, and compassion for one another, no matter what stage of their career and life they are at.

Many artists are looking to create with intention and longevity – how can understanding the highs and lows of the creative journey help them avoid emotional or creative burnout?

One part is to understand, the other is to accept. When we relate to the ebbs and flows as natural and neutral parts of the process, without judging or making them wrong, we can find more peace and see our next steps more clearly. And it’s cyclical, right,, we can anticipate it. Breakdown precedes breakthrough. Confusion precedes clarity. Stillness precedes momentum. Meet yourself where you are and stay focused on the version of yourself that each season is building.

There are some great industry resources in Aotearoa, like APRA/AMCOS, the Music Managers Forum, and Muzic NZ. Are there any support systems, local or international, that you believe could better integrate wellness into the creative career path?

For a long time, you would have never seen “music industry” and “wellness” in the same sentence. So the shift has been very gradual, there’s a lot of priming and rewiring to be done to understand that they actually go hand in hand. Artists are typically the ones we see speaking up and sparking real change. I’ve always focused on educating and empowering independent artists who are on that journey, not just ticking a box with a lunchtime workshop that people aren’t really invested in. In my experience, choosing to prioritise your health is ultimately a personal decision that not everyone is ready to make. But when they do, it has a positive ripple effect on their teams, collaborators, fans, and families. That said, we can’t ignore the responsibility that organisations have in taking care of their people. Backline in the US is doing incredible work, collaborating with artists and organisations to create new policies and improve access to basic healthcare in the music industry. We’re all working toward a thriving music ecosystem, just in different ways. Maybe it starts by simply checking in on your artists as humans first. None of this exists without them, so investing in their health is in the best interest of everyone involved.

For musicians navigating the business side of their careers, what wellness-focused or practical resources would you recommend to help keep them grounded and supported?

When you’re building, you won’t always have a team managing the business side. One of the most grounding things you can do is invest in support for the areas you want to grow. And I mean invest. That might look like working with a coach, finding a mentor, or up-skilling through a course. Beyond that, the issue often isn’t that we don’t have enough knowledge – it’s that we’re not applying it. Focus on strengthening your self-trust and self-leadership. Surround yourself with a like-minded community who are also building and taking action. Understand your accountability style with ‘The Four Tendencies’ and create systems that help you stay in momentum. And finally, schedule time in your calendar for you – rest, play, do something out of your comfort zone. The space around the work is still the work.

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Shannon Coulomb is the Head of Music at Birkenhead College (Auckland) and Curriculum Specialist for music education at AUT University. He is also a member of Experimental rock band Impostor Syndrome.

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