You can't believe your own hype, or your own worst moments. Neither is as important as knowing your "why." The harder the challenges are, the more this matters. It is a true gift that I'm so grateful for to my core when someone else sees and acknowledges my why. But you can't expect it or need it. Your ability to really see yourself can power you through.

The most important part of my mental self-care is knowing who to call for what kinds of help.

As a woman leader, I try to take every opportunity I can to do what my mentors did for me - engaging with young women and take them seriously.

I now look at the things I could have done better and instead of beating myself up about it, since I can't turn back time, I try to remember to ask myself, "what was this experience sent to me to teach me?" I think specifically about what I will do better next time, then I actively look for moments to practice for the next time.

I'm an Ivy League-educated lawyer, so you'd think the world wouldn't mess with me, right? But I've been paid $10,000 less than a less qualified man in the same role. I've had men I've worked with grab my leg or rub my back in ways that have made me feel uncomfortable. I've been taken off projects because I was pregnant, even though my pregnancies have been both been healthy and didn't impact my work at all.

I've always had amazing women in my life help me with my kids. First it was my mom, and then a series of nannies and day care providers who were incredibly patient, kind, and loving. There is no blueprint - I think we all feel our way through it and just do the best we can, and it turns out that children are open to love from many different places and are pretty resilient, too.

In my safe corporate job, I might have made one decision of real significance a year. As an entrepreneur, it feels like I'm making a decision every minute - I have lots of balls in the air, and so yes, sometimes I drop one or two. And for the most part, the balls are made of rubber and they bounce. So instead of carrying one ball very carefully, being worried that I might not be holding it at exactly the right angle, I am juggling hundreds, and I have to remind myself to appreciate all the balls I keep up in the air for every one that gets dropped.