Articles
Imagine running a power plant at full capacity, day after day, no time for maintenance, no pause to refuel. The lights might stay on for a while, but eventually, even the most resilient system begins to dim. The same is true for women today. Across industries and roles, women are often the central source of energy that keeps families, teams, and communities running. Yet the systems around them rarely replenish what they take.
Women of my generation, Xennials, a micro-generation typically defined by birth years from approximately 1977 to 1983, were lied to at a very young age when we were promised that we could “have it all.” However, the data and many of our lived experiences tell a more complicated story. In 2025, signs of strain are flashing red: Women’s labor-force gains have slowed or reversed in key pockets, Black women’s unemployment has jumped, and the rollback of flexible work is squeezing caregivers hardest (Carrazana, 2025; Popera, 2025).
Entrepreneurship has often been described as an extreme sport, a psychologically demanding pursuit requiring endurance, courage, and recovery much like that of elite athletes (Chamorro-Premuzic & Wade, 2020). Yet for women, the climb is often steeper. Beneath the familiar headlines about funding gaps lies a quieter story—one about the psychological and emotional cost of building a business in an ecosystem that wasn’t designed with women in mind.
A historic transfer of wealth is underway, positioning women in a larger role within the global financial system and expanding their influence. Within the next decade, women are expected to control $34 trillion in investable assets, up from roughly $18 trillion in 2023 (Catania & Zucker, 2025). This shift has profound implications that extend well beyond the balance sheet, creating an opportunity to reconsider how changing our view of financial well-being can empower women and enhance their overall well-being.
