I am Suvi Kainulainen. Born and raised in Finland, spent the last 15 years in the USA, and the last decade in the US corporate world.

Here’s my confession: I used to operate on auto-pilot so hard and I loved it. It gave me structure, it made me efficient, it made me productive. I slayed, and never had to question anything. I had figured it out. I just moved on to the next thing. And the next. And the next. Crushing goals. Crashing. Burning out. Figuring out how to fix it. Recovering (but never fully). I thought that this is just what it takes to be a high-achieving woman: it comes with a cost. 

Then I applied to Penn. I wanted to truly understand the science behind optimal human functioning, so that I could apply it to myself and others. And it changed everything for me. But not in a way I thought it would.

I thought I would just go through the program, fix myself, learn to fix others, and move on with another job, finally being happier and feeling well, achieving the next things in my life.

But Penn said, no bitch! While studying, I realized that even the science of psychology has gaps: women’s experiences are analyzed through frameworks that were not developed with women at the center. I thought that this was BS. I was originally supposed to do my master’s thesis on human agency, but it quickly shifted to women’s agency, and understanding women’s lived experiences and optimal human functioning. After I graduated, I took everything I learned and got to work.

If I had had these tools and resources in my 20s or 30s, I would have saved years of my life figuring things out. That is why I now want to work with high-achieving women. I want to help ambitious women be as successful as they want to be by giving them the right tools and skills they need so that they don’t have to wreck themselves, lose their edge, or lose themselves in the process. Or take years figuring shit out alone.

Every single person around us just tells us to do less, to be less, or become less ambitious when we hit a wall. And we question that. If our base level is someone else’s maximum effort, why does that make US the ones who have to slow down and not reach our potential? Walls are meant to be climbed over; sometimes, we just need a ladder.