PUSHING through

‘YOU WANT ALL THE FACTS AND TO BE IN COLTROL AND YOU’RE TOTALLY NOT IN CONTROL... I DID A LOT OF CRYING’

A healthy work-life balance is the eternal quest for many of us. That usually means trying to achieve equilibrium in a hyper-connected world; not getting too frazzled; not replying to emails at 10pm; taking time to exercise; to indulge your passions; to reclaim downtime (or bath time); to read; to step away from your desk and take a breather; to be whole; to be you.

But how about when the balance is less about struggling to make more time for the personal, and instead about trying not to let the personal consume you and your career? When strategy meetings, client pitches and sales targets churn on even as your life is imploding. It might be a divorce, a miscarriage, bereavement or crippling insomnia, but you still get up and show up – glueing your workplace veneer over a broken heart or a tortured mind.

In this story, the implosion was an incurable illness. But the difference was, there was no veneer. She told everybody.

Nicola Mendelsohn, 48, is Facebook’s vice president for Europe, Middle