Entrepreneurship is often romanticized as the epitome of freedom and success. However, behind the glamour lies a stark reality: entrepreneurs grapple with higher rates of mental health issues than their counterparts in traditional 9-5 jobs.

Witnessing her child confront similar challenges motivated her to explore her family's history, uncovering a pattern of mental health struggles spanning generations. Recognizing mental health patterns within one's family can profoundly impact mothers, shifting them from isolation to proactive engagement and from silence to meaningful conversation.

Explore the first principle of our Bad Girl Fit Series, challenging the age-old expectation that mothers must constantly deplete themselves. Discover a balanced approach to motherhood that prioritizes personal well-being alongside family care.

But here's the unspoken truth: even when we've planned for the everyday drama, there's an element we rarely anticipate - the potential trauma that can accompany our pursuit of success.

The journey to accomplishing 'impossible' dreams is fraught with challenges, and one formidable obstacle women often face is envy. Envy has the power to disrupt businesses, hinder collaboration, impede personal growth, and strain day-to-day functioning.

“A black woman with a PhD is worse than a woman with HIV.” I didn’t respond. Instead, I looked over at his wife. I wondered about how she felt hearing him say that. She put her head down. I wondered what it meant for her to be married to a man who held that belief. How far could she rise and grow with a partner who felt that way? And then I wondered what it meant for me, a black woman who was, at the time, earning a PhD.

Through conducting dozens of interviews (formal and casual) with high-powered women, reading countless articles and books and reflecting on my own experiences, I learned a lot. And those lessons can be summed up as what I call the “dirty-girl effect.”