How I got here
The moments that made this work matter to me.
2008
The first time I sat in a room full of women and said out loud that I was struggling, the relief on the faces around me was something I had not expected. Nobody said a word. They just exhaled. That room taught me that most women are waiting for someone to go first. I decided that could be me.
2015
The year I burned out completely, I stepped back from every leadership role I had. I thought it would feel like failure. It felt, eventually, like the first honest thing I had done in years. I came back to the work differently. Slower. More certain about what actually mattered.
2021
Writing Held Together meant putting things on paper I had never said to anyone. I almost did not publish it. The women who have written to me since are the reason I am glad I did. When a woman tells me the book said what she had been afraid to admit, that is the whole point. That is why this is worth doing.
