Starting a business is hard for anyone, but building a business when you live with anxiety and depression can be brutal. I’ve always known I wanted to run my own business, but the decision to start it wasn’t planned out. It happened because life happened, and I had to make some decisions fast.

You are not your diagnosis.

When I talk about my experience [with a misdiagnosis early in life], people often want to know if I’m upset about the years of living with a misdiagnosed mental illness.

The misdiagnosis revelation brought me to a point where I could separate myself from all my diagnoses. Had none of this happened, I probably never would’ve told my story and fully accepted myself.

Today my anxiety and depression empower me. They are a part of me and make me a better person. It took a lifetime to get there, but I finally see that I am not my diagnoses. They are simply one more thing that makes me who I am.

6 Things I Know Are True: My Journey with Mental Illness