Shannon Kobylarczyk, attorney and former corporate legal leader, today announced the launch of her Personal Mental Health & Resilience Pledge. The initiative reflects her professional values in governance and accountability, along with lessons from her own lived experience balancing career, family, and personal well-being.
The pledge centers on practical, daily behaviors that promote mental health awareness, boundary-setting, and sustainable performance in demanding careers. "I spent years taking care of everyone except myself," Shannon says. "Eventually, that catches up with you."
Her decision comes at a time when workplace stress remains high nationwide. According to the American Psychological Association, 77% of employees report experiencing work-related stress, and nearly 3 in 5 workers report negative mental health impacts from work. Additionally, 1 in 5 U.S. adults experiences mental illness each year, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and over 60% of adults with a mental health condition do not receive treatment.
"You can't lead effectively if you're running on empty," Shannon says. "Resilience isn't pretending everything is fine. It's rebuilding when it's not." She also believes clarity and structure — values she applied in corporate governance — apply to personal wellness. "When people understand expectations, they perform better," she says. "That includes the expectations we set for ourselves."
Shannon's pledge includes seven personal commitments she is adopting publicly: take at least one uninterrupted 10-minute break daily without screens; schedule one non-negotiable wellness activity per week; speak openly about mental health in appropriate professional and personal settings; set clear boundaries around work hours when possible; check in weekly with someone trusted about stress levels; prioritize sleep as a leadership responsibility; and seek support early instead of waiting for a crisis point.
"Mental health doesn't wait its turn," Shannon says. "You either address it early, or it demands your attention." Burnout among working parents has doubled in recent years, and chronic stress contributes 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.
Shannon believes the solution begins at the individual level. "Big systems change slowly," she says. "But personal habits can change today." Her DIY Mental Wellness Toolkit includes 10 free actions anyone can take, such as a 10-minute walk without a phone, writing down three stress triggers and one boundary for each, setting a daily "hard stop" time for work, journaling one page each morning, turning off notifications for one hour per day, scheduling an honest conversation weekly, drinking water before caffeine, replacing social media scrolling with reading, creating a simple Sunday plan, and practicing saying, "I need a moment," without apology.
A 30-day progress tracker guides users through weeks of awareness, boundaries, communication, and sustainability. Shannon invites individuals, professionals, and working parents to take the pledge alongside her. "Your path won't look perfect," she says. "But if you keep showing up — for yourself too — you build something real."
