Attorney and former corporate legal leader Shannon Kobylarczyk has launched her Personal Mental Health & Resilience Pledge, an initiative that applies governance principles to personal wellness through practical daily behaviors. The pledge emerges as workplace stress reaches critical levels nationally, with 77% of employees reporting work-related stress and nearly 3 in 5 workers experiencing negative mental health impacts from their jobs according to the American Psychological Association.
"I spent years taking care of everyone except myself," Kobylarczyk stated, noting that her approach reflects professional values in governance and accountability alongside personal experience balancing career, family, and well-being. "Eventually, that catches up with you." The National Alliance on Mental Illness reports that 1 in 5 U.S. adults experiences mental illness each year, with over 60% of those with mental health conditions not receiving treatment.
The pledge centers on seven concrete commitments Kobylarczyk is adopting publicly, including taking daily uninterrupted breaks without screens, scheduling non-negotiable weekly wellness activities, speaking openly about mental health in appropriate settings, setting clear work boundaries, conducting weekly stress check-ins with trusted individuals, prioritizing sleep as leadership responsibility, and seeking support early rather than waiting for crisis points. "Mental health doesn't wait its turn," she emphasized. "You either address it early, or it demands your attention."
This initiative arrives as burnout among working parents has doubled in recent years, with chronic stress contributing to heart disease, anxiety disorders, and reduced workplace productivity. The World Health Organization estimates depression and anxiety cost the global economy $1 trillion annually in lost productivity at https://www.who.int. Kobylarczyk believes the solution begins at the individual level despite systemic challenges. "Big systems change slowly," she noted. "But personal habits can change today."
Accompanying the pledge is a do-it-yourself mental wellness toolkit featuring 10 free actions anyone can implement, including taking phone-free walks, identifying stress triggers with corresponding boundaries, setting daily work "hard stop" times, journaling, reducing notification interruptions, scheduling honest conversations, and practicing self-advocacy without apology. The toolkit also provides a 30-day progress tracker with weekly themes of awareness, boundaries, communication, and sustainability.
Kobylarczyk's approach emphasizes that resilience involves rebuilding rather than pretending everything is fine. "You can't lead effectively if you're running on empty," she explained, connecting personal wellness to professional performance. "Resilience isn't pretending everything is fine. It's rebuilding when it's not." She further noted that clarity and structure—values she applied in corporate governance—apply equally to personal wellness, stating, "When people understand expectations, they perform better. That includes the expectations we set for ourselves."
The initiative represents a practical response to what Kobylarczyk identifies as a widespread need for sustainable performance in demanding careers. By making personal commitments public and providing accessible tools, she aims to demonstrate that mental health maintenance requires consistent, deliberate action rather than occasional attention. "Your path won't look perfect," she acknowledged, "but if you keep showing up—for yourself too—you build something real."
