“To celebrate Women’s Equality Day on 26 August, I want girls to know what I know; that there’s beauty and strength in vulnerability. This will be the first time I’ve shared my story publicly.
Deep breath… At eighteen I was diagnosed with an eating disorder. I had to drop out of university for six months and focus on treatment. It was the hardest year; I went from being the top student with big ambitions to doing nothing at all while my peers continued on.
Every hardship has a silver lining though, even if they take time to reveal themselves. In recovery, I met women from all walks of life; some who are sadly no longer with us today. It pained me to see so many people returning for treatment year after year, but constantly struggling to get back out into the world. I kept wondering why. Surely there must be a better way to tackle this wicked problem? This yearning question led me to my revelation; the single most important thing I wanted to do before I die was help improve the mental health and wellbeing of others.
I started to pursue any avenue I could; I ran student wellbeing groups, I offered pro-bono consulting for mental health companies, and I worked as a Product Manager on initiatives which improve people’s mental health. Today I find myself at the epicentre of mental health as Senior Product Manager for Insight Timer’s free Enterprise platform (launching in October ;).
During my recovery I learned to be more open about my mental health. I realised it helps others when I open up too. When I was younger I was told that women needed to be strong headed or extra loud in the workforce to compete with male counterparts. But throughout my career I’ve met many women leading with gentleness, who’ve taught me being strong doesn’t mean you can’t also be vulnerable. In fact, I realise now that being vulnerable is bold. It’s what makes us human.
These are exactly the kind of women leaders I work with at Insight Timer, a company where openness and acceptance is deeply ingrained in the culture. They inspire me every day. And I love that my role lets me support other companies on their journey towards open, supportive workplaces too.”
