The Oxygen Mask Rule: Why I Refuse to Call Self Sacrifice Love

Women are told to put themselves last. We are told to call it love. I call it stupidity.

We have normalized a culture where the value of a woman is measured by how thoroughly she exhausts herself for her family alongside her business. There is an unspoken expectation that if you are ambitious enough to run a company while raising children simultaneously, your default operating state should be running on fumes.
I completely reject that premise. Putting yourself first is not selfish. It is a tactical necessity. It is the only way you have anything left to give everyone else. If I am empty, the entire ecosystem around me eventually collapses. My sites, my team, my children all rely on a foundation of stability.

That is exactly why my workout, my aerial yoga, plus my time with my friends remain absolutely sacred. I do not negotiate this time away. I do not apologize for protecting it. When you normalize candid conversations about ambition, chores, plus family dynamics, you realize that martyrdom serves no one. My family does not starve for my attention because I take a few hours for myself. They get a much sharper, more present, highly effective version of me.

Remember, the oxygen mask goes on you first. Every single morning.