I know my next post is supposed to be Your Career, Your Move but I had a moment this morning I needed to share so consider this another In-Betweener, here goes!

Some days don’t just test you — they try to break you. They come at you sideways, out of nowhere, with frustration, judgment, guilt, or someone else’s insecurity disguised as your problem. And if you’re a woman in leadership, you know exactly the kind of day I’m talking about.

Thirteen years ago, I had one of those days. The kind that leaves you exhausted, irritated, and questioning why you bother giving 110% when the world seems determined to treat you like you’re giving half. Like, why did I even get out of bed this morning!  I remember sitting there thinking, I have boobs, not a penis — but that does not make me any less intelligent. It doesn’t make me less capable. It doesn’t make me less worthy. It certainly doesn’t make me less of a leader. 

If anything, it makes me more.

This is the memory that popped up in my Timehop this morning, smacked me right upside the head when I read it:

Because women don’t just do the job — we do the job and the invisible job behind the job. We engineer solutions. We raise families. We multitask like it’s a competitive sport. We carry emotional weight, professional expectations, and the unspoken pressure to be everything to everyone. And most days, we’re damn good at it.

But even the strongest women have days where someone’s comment, someone’s tone, someone’s assumption hits wrong. Days where you’re made to feel “less than,” or guilty for being human, or responsible for someone else’s discomfort. Days where you want to scream, or cry, or pour a beer and eat chicken helper because that’s all the energy you’ve got left.

And here’s the truth I want every woman reading this to hear:

You are allowed to have those days. You are allowed to feel frustrated. You are allowed to be human.

What you are not allowed to do is forget who you are.

You are strong. You are worthy. You are awesome. You are intelligent. You are capable. You are enough — even on your worst day.

This is the EXACT reason I started this blog, because I know I’m not the only woman who has felt this way. I’m not the only woman who has been dismissed, underestimated, or guilted for being bold, smart, assertive, or emotional. I’m not the only woman who has had to remind herself that she is more than someone else’s opinion.

So if today is one of those days for you, let me say this clearly:

You are not alone. You are not “too much.” You are not the problem.

You are a woman who shows up. You are a woman who leads. You are a woman who keeps going even when the day tries to knock you down.

And that makes you extraordinary.

Pour the beer. Eat the chicken helper. Take the breath. And tomorrow, rise again — because that’s what we do.