My first addiction was work.

“The opposite of addiction isn’t sobriety, it’s connection.”

I was 13 years old in 1989, and from the moment I started working, I felt more connected than I ever did at home—even with nine siblings, I often felt lonely. It was work that gave me a sense of belonging, and managers like Carmilla Green who made me feel seen. Now, 35 years later, I’ve clocked over 65,000 hours—the first 10,000 before I was 20 years old. I’ve been addicted to working ever since.

By 13, I learned that being on time, working hard, saying yes to everything, staying social (thanks to being an extrovert), and staying organized (thank you, OCD) led to better shifts, promotions, and opportunities. 35 years later, those same traits have shaped my career—but they’ve also left me burnt out. I’ve been employed every single week for 1,820 weeks straight*.

*The only time I slowed down was in 2019, when I resigned from my VP of HR role to volunteer at Omega Institute, a yoga center where I worked 40 hours a week in exchange for room, board, and yoga classes. It didn’t pay a real check, but it lowered my stress enough that—after four years of infertility struggles—I got pregnant naturally. I took six months off (the first and only break in 35 years) to enjoy the last trimester of pregnancy and first few months of my son’s life. Then, I went right back to work.

This summer, I hope to take a break—but by break, I mean writing my book, taking two summer classes (Research Methods in Counseling and Intro to Psychopharmacology), clocking 200 internship hours, and working with my HR clients.

I’m currently in an Addictions Counseling class, learning how we use different addictions to numb. I use work to numb and to feel alive. Work has always given me purpose even since those early teenage years.

One day, I will take real time off—maybe a few weeks in a row, maybe even a month or two. But until then, I’ll keep working. Working hard. And working hard to help others not work so hard.