Today is World Mental Health Day, a day to educate, spread awareness, and advocate against the stigma that many people have with mental health.

As many of you know, this is a topic that hits very close to home for me. And on World Mental Health Day, I think it’s important to share how mental health and business coincide, especially as a female founder.

Maxine's story

If I told you that 6 years ago I was suicidal, would you believe me? Would you believe that I was lying in my bed terrified to put the bins out?

Probably not.

But here I am today. I’ve founded (and am still currently running) a multi-million-pound business that is changing the beauty industry. I’m giving talks about my journey and female entrepreneurship, and I’m even seeing Absolute Collagen win awards that once were my benchmark. What changed?

Here’s the secret: I became the person I always needed to be. Myself.

All my life I thought I needed to be someone else. I thought that I wasn't good enough. I guess the truth for me was, I was too scared to put my faith in myself.

The day my life changed was the day I found the courage to do exactly that.

I took charge of my own destiny. I became self-reliant. I became Maxine Laceby, the person I was always supposed to be.

One day, I stood in my own spotlight, opened my arms and said ‘this is me and this is what I stand for’ and that was the day the world opened up to me.

The secret to balancing mental health and business

Mental health and business are tricky things to juggle, especially if you’re a woman and even more so if you’re older. It’s easy to fall into the trap, thinking that you’re not good enough or you don’t belong or you’re too old to be following your dreams.

But I say that’s not true. Nothing is more important than accepting and owning who you are, both in life and in business.

Now I’m not saying it was easy. This change in my behaviour didn’t happen overnight. I had to work towards self-acceptance. But it did happen, and that’s the important thing.

Some of you might not be interested in running a multi-million-pound business. Instead, you might just want to put the bins out. That’s ok.

All that matters is that you own who you are and trust yourself. Because I guarantee you are amazing.