I became The foster parent to my NIECE AND NEPHEW the same day as COVID-19 was declared a national emergency in the US.
I was a VP with a team of 40 people under me. I was a childfree single woman…
At 22 years old, I stood in front of my all male chain of command and told them I had to leave because I chose to keep my baby.
I found out I was 12 weeks pregnant after being deployed to Afghanistan for 10 weeks…
Because the f*cking bad a** part? It’s the part where I just keep showing up everyday because I know this is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing.
And then I think of the events that took place on that journey to get there…bringing my premie 5 week old to my very first kickoff meeting with my first employees…
my co-founder quit and I got a massive infection in my tooth…
In the meanwhile, I continued to have 5-6 fundraising meetings a day while running my startup alone…
No one knew this was the day my miscarriage began…
As a final year PhD student, delivered a presentation at our departmental retreat and won first place!
Went through 4 miscarriages in 4 years, had to resume normality each time.
Got laid off after becoming co chair of the women leadership team at my previous company.
I left the office for my weekly appointment, where I was told I was 6cm already…
Ate at my desk, turned on all of my OOO, informed my colleagues and my boss I was headed out on mat leave.
The hospitalist broke my water and I had my daughter in 45 minutes, unmedicated.
I spent three days managing my company, investor pitches, client pitches, while carrying bags of ice in my bra, as I waited to receive emergent care.
My first born decided to stop breastfeeding very suddenly. After 11 months of it, she literally stopped one bright day, refusing to feed from the breast after showing no precursor signs of being ready to transition.
I started a brand new job two weeks after delivering twins too prematurely to survive.
I never told anyone until after I was promoted from part time consultant to full time manager….
I submitted the grant while 8 months pregnant and got it funded on the first round.
After dealing with ridiculous comments about my pregnancy during my post doc (ex: “grant writing must be really stressful with all the hormones,” crude jokes from a male post doc to others in the office about how he “knocked me up”)…
Only in hindsight did I recognize how incredible I was to navigate physical and emotional grief while celebrating others joy and providing exceptional healthcare.
I am a nurse midwife, and was in the first trimester with my first and desperately wanted pregnancy. I came in to the birth center in the middle of the night for a laboring client. I started to have cramping but pushed it aside and continued providing hands on labor support.
Doing a phone screen for a MBB consulting firm 5 ft from where I watched my mom die. I got the job.
I came back to the States in my 20s to take care of my mother who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Completing my PhD…while coping with debilitating chronic pain.
Completing my PhD (including publishing a paper in a prestigious journal, winning multiple fellowship awards) while coping with debilitating chronic pain
Signed a wire from investors an hour before I got induced… and closed the round 4 weeks postpartum!
Signed a wire from investors an hour before I got induced with my first baby, and closed the fundraising round 4 weeks postpartum!
Looking back, I'm in awe of all that I was managing and all that I accomplished during an unprecedented time.
I prepped during the first challenging trimester of my rainbow pregnancy, and passed with flying colors 22 weeks pregnant…
Having a medical abortion… the next day traveling to staff a client at an event.
Having an medical abortion (D&C); and the next day traveling to New York from DC to staff a client at an event.
I started a company… then had a second trimester miscarriage.
I started a company last year, got pregnant, and then had a second trimester miscarriage in November.
My therapist has a 9 year old undergoing chemo, continues to provide psychotherapy to families in immigration crisis.
She is the reason I believe true inner work in behavioral health makes you capable of anything and everything.