The Photo, the Diagnosis, and the Business I Built Anyway

This photo is from 2019. I was presenting for R U OK Day. Standing under yellow balloons, mid-sentence, about a topic that was already personal to me. Even then.

Since then: an ADHD diagnosis. Postnatal depression and postnatal anxiety after having my first child, and likely again in the past year since having my second. All my life I’ve experienced significant periods of depression, and/or anxiety. Yet somewhere amongst all of that, I found the strength to start my own business, anyway.

If you’d told 2019 me, the one standing in front of that R U OK slide, that within a few years I’d be running my own recruitment company while managing all of that, I’m not sure I would’ve believed you.

Somehow, across my whole life and career, even while undiagnosed and facing battles not even I could articulate, I’ve designed and run three day corporate inductions. Hired, trained, and built a department for a brand new retail store. I’ve led multiple large teams. I’ve designed and delivered group interview processes. I’ve sat on podcasts talking about hiring after no sleep with a 3-month-old newborn. So much of this I’ve done smiling, showing up, and not giving up, even though I’ve struggled through most of it.

Yet I’ve still accomplished so many things I’m proud of, and I’m still here, with the battle scars to share about it all. I’ve sat in too many uncomfortable chairs at gut-wrenching funerals, grieving the loss of those who weren’t so fortunate.

R U OK Day is this Thursday, 10th September. R U OK’s own research says nine in ten people who were asked “are you OK?” felt grateful, cared about, and supported, just from being asked. [1]

Their framework is simple. Four steps: ask, listen with an open mind, encourage action, check in.

That’s it.

Not fix, not diagnose.

Ask, and stay.

I can’t tell you how much it means to me when people I share with listen openly and compassionately, no matter how big or small the scenario.

So this week, ask someone. Not the version where you ask and immediately change the subject, or the quick “RUOK lol” message I’ve seen thrown around in jest. The version where you wait for the real answer, and check in again next week.

Why this isn’t just a headline for us

Shari and I take this seriously in how we actually run Centr. Talent Co, not just in what we post about it. Our business is built on authenticity, and that includes the days we’re just not feeling it. We lift each other up, help each other out, and give each other the grace and permission to switch off. To nap, to rest, to fill our cups back up before we’re running on empty.

Mental health awareness isn’t a corporate headline to us. It’s a way of living, because we’re the only two people running this thing, and neither of us is any good to our clients or our candidates if we’ve burnt ourselves out getting there.

Since my ADHD diagnosis, I’ve had to recognise the signs of burnout and emotional depletion in ways I never had to before. I’ve become far more mindful of emotional regulation and masking, and how much both quietly cost me. I’ve gone down more than a few rabbit holes of self-diagnostic tools trying to understand myself better, not for a label to hide behind, but so I can actually alleviate some of the battles that come with all of it.

We run this business professionally. But we will always prioritise our own wellbeing, and our families’, over looking like we’ve got it all together. Every single time.

To many people I look like I’m happy, confident, successful, and sometimes that couldn’t be further from the truth. Showing up is really hard some days, and strength may just be the mask someone wears to hide the grief inside.

Check in. Ask the question. Listen.

Sometimes all you need is someone to see your potential and remind you life is worth living.

PS. Nothing is more encouraging than a quick 45 second voice note from a friend with words of encouragement. If you haven’t left one for a friend lately, I highly recommend singing a few lines of your favourite song and telling someone they deserve to have a great day, even if they don’t feel it.

And yes, I’m OK. Are you? 💛

If this one hit close to home and you need to talk to someone, both free and available 24/7 across Australia:

Lifeline 13 11 14
Beyond Blue is 1300 22 4636
For more resources, visit: RUOK.org.au

[1] Source: R U OK, “Ask R U OK? Any Day” (ruok.org.au) and the R U OK Day 2026 Presentation Guide.