MILWAUKEE, WI — Attorney and former corporate legal leader Shannon Kobylarczyk today announced the launch of her Personal Mental Health & Resilience Pledge, a set of seven personal commitments designed to promote mental health awareness, boundary-setting, and sustainable performance in demanding careers. The initiative draws from her professional values in governance and accountability, as well as lessons from her own experiences balancing career, family, and personal well-being.
Kobylarczyk's decision comes amid persistently high workplace stress 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. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) notes that 1 in 5 U.S. adults experiences mental illness each year, and over 60% of those with a mental health condition do not receive treatment.
"I spent years taking care of everyone except myself," Kobylarczyk said. "Eventually, that catches up with you." She emphasized that resilience is not about pretending everything is fine but rebuilding when it is not. "You can't lead effectively if you're running on empty."
The pledge includes seven concrete commitments: taking at least one uninterrupted 10-minute break daily without screens; scheduling one non-negotiable wellness activity per week; speaking openly about mental health in appropriate professional and personal settings; setting clear boundaries around work hours when possible; checking in weekly with someone trusted about stress levels; prioritizing sleep as a leadership responsibility; and seeking support early instead of waiting for a crisis point.
Kobylarczyk believes that clarity and structure—values she applied in corporate governance—apply to personal wellness. "When people understand expectations, they perform better," she said. "That includes the expectations we set for ourselves."
The importance of this initiative is underscored by research showing that burnout among working parents has doubled in recent years, and chronic stress contributes to heart disease, anxiety disorders, and reduced productivity. The World Health Organization estimates that depression and anxiety cost the global economy $1 trillion annually in lost productivity. Kobylarczyk argues that while big systems change slowly, personal habits can change today.
To support individuals in taking action, Kobylarczyk also released a DIY Mental Wellness Toolkit with 10 free actions anyone can take, such as taking 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 one honest conversation per week, drinking water before caffeine, replacing one social media scroll with reading, creating a simple Sunday plan for the week ahead, and practicing saying "I need a moment" without apology.
The toolkit also includes a 30-day progress tracker structured by week: Week 1 focuses on awareness by tracking stress triggers daily; Week 2 on implementing one new boundary; Week 3 on initiating one honest conversation; and Week 4 on evaluating what habits improved focus or mood. At the end of the 30 days, participants are encouraged to reflect on three changes they want to keep.
"Mental health doesn't wait its turn," Kobylarczyk said. "You either address it early, or it demands your attention." She invites individuals, professionals, and working parents to take the pledge alongside her, adopt the seven commitments, share the toolkit, and begin a 30-day reset focused on sustainable performance. "Your path won't look perfect," she added, "but if you keep showing up—for yourself too—you build something real."
For more information, visit the American Psychological Association and NAMI.
