Ritika

31 | single | Currently MBA student, past social impact strategy consultant

I grew up in a family with chronic mental health issues. Through nature and nurture, this has rubbed off on me as well, and for the longest time, I have struggled with low self-esteem, anxiety, and depression. For the last decade, I have been in search of happiness, contentment, and meaning, and this has led me to therapy, medication, and also making difficult life choices, particularly in my career. I was very intentional about my career choices and built a career in the social impact space. However, despite the intentionality and actions to get better, there are still many days when my anxiety paralyzes me to self-sabotage and inaction, and getting out of bed to go to work/class becomes a struggle.

Through this journey, I have learned a lot about acceptance, reaching out, being vulnerable, setting healthy boundaries, recognizing my patterns, and creating my own coping mechanisms. This has also given me the ability to empathize with others and has strengthened my relationships. I am very happy to talk about family issues, mental health challenges, and career and life choices or to listen without judgment :)