Hi guys! It's Chelsea, leaving a pinned comment here because the response has already been so overwhelming in just a few hours: 1) I'm doing much, much better now, so don't feel like you need to worry about me!

Going to the ER for chest pains and finding out it's just a panic attack is the truest Millennial experience. Love this for us. 🙃

You said, "So much of our mental health crisis in America is economic in nature." Thank you. THANK you! For stating the bleeding obvious. We are all struggling, trying to survive in what is essentially late-stage Capitalism. Edit: Sending you a big hug, Sweetie.

In the beginning when she said youth pastor turning the chair around to have a rap session, I was dead! hahaha

My mum has had a similarly terrible year. She is a partner in a small law firm that works mostly with immigrants, and had a ransomware attack that halted work for weeks, followed by targeted hate camppaign for supporting palestinian human rights. Also having to do a personal loan to the firm. She is so strong for getting through it and so are you, glad it didn't end either of your businesses, there is so much value on this channel!!

I'm just a spectator, but I really value your commitment to fair payment and working conditions for your employees, it goes much farther than just your company, it helps to know that people like you exist - and I know that there are many, many more, often doing the work unseen, and I am grateful for every one of them. People like you make the modern human world go round, literally.

i went to the ER for chest pain and was dismissed as having a panic attack when they saw that i was being treated for anxiety. later imaging showed shadows on my heart. medication mix ups and a congenital defect we didn't know i had caused me to have a heart attack at 19.

Chelsea you are such an inspiration, and TFD is still a beacon of sense and reason in an over-saturated space of personal finance bros. We've all seen certain voices get amplified on this here platform, through doing seemingly nothing but shout at people to get a side-hussle and work 20 hour days. You and the team have stayed true to your values, provide high-quality content, relevant to your audience, whom you have never exploited. I'm sorry you have such a difficult year, I can only imagine the pressure. I can empathise with so much of what you have experienced, and since I subscribed to the channel in 2018 you have been with me, and so many others, through all the pandemic drama! For me this has included two lay-offs, a house move, a masters degree and all the insomnia and anxiety that comes with it! I will for sure support where I can, and I really appreciate what you do x

This video was amazing. I hope you’re feeling better and moving into a more stable space. This is the conversation I try to have with my friends when they come to me with something LLC Twitter or TikTok told them about how easy it is to own a business. When you are a business owner, particularly an ethical one, the pressure can be insane. Everyone wants to be a boss to take glory, but have no interest in the responsibility. *Edit* Chelsea I screamed when you showed that meme at the end. Like audibly screamed. 😅😅😅

Did everyone just have a horrible 2023? I feel like I keep hearing people talk about how tough it was, myself included. Glad to hear you're feeling better, Chelsea!

holy moly i only just barely hit play and i am already cackling at the characterization of youth pastor chelsea sitting backwards in the chair for a casual heart to heart. how do you do fellow kids, hell yes, let's get this rap session going!!!

This is very similar to having an unexpected medical diagnosis. My son was diagnosed with a brain tumor and the costs of all the surgeries, appointments, therapies, food, medical equipment, medications and overall not knowing if anything unexpected pops-up is extremely stressful. I had to quit my job to care for my son so we only survive on one income. Life is really hard.

Hi Chelsea, I've been through this, the 'not paying myself' for months, the loss of my own value because I associated myself with being the business, the lending money to my business etc. I ended up closing the company in 2022 and life is a lot simpler now, although not easy financially. But it's a new chapter. I so know what it's like, the insomnia, sleep nights etc. All the best to you. I loved your open letter. Alll the best from London.

The transparency is so refreshing, to a therapeutic level. I needed this message. I had an incredibly difficult year also, which included having to wait several months (and CCing department heads/directors into emails) for a contract to be paid. I also took substantial time off to help provide caregiving, so my finances are in shambles. I definitely want to support the channel and will absolutely do so as soon as I get out of my current hole.

Thank you for sharing. We don't talk about mental health enough. We as a society don't support each other enough. ❤❤

Thank you for sharing this, Chelsea. In 2023 I left my stable, full-time job because I was chronically burn out to the point of triggering a spinal injury. I have numerous chronic and mental health conditions, and I realised that holding a conventional job while also managing them is just not possible for me. A big part of accepting that was tossing off any remnants of the hustle mindset and stopping constant comparisons to others. So I took the plunge and, after 6 months of physio and a reorientation to a "simpler" lifestyle, am infinitely happier, healthier, and better off for it. I hope you find that peace, too.

Thank you for bringing up an important point. - even some therapists (mostly Psy.D. MFTs) don’t see how life circumstances impact peoples mental health and don’t see that their job descriptions include help remove those barriers. Having a new perspective doesn’t change the fact that you are a month behind on rent and facing eviction for example. We need to contextualize peoples mental health struggles more and it has a lot to do with economic insecurities.

Thank you for your transparency and vulnerability. Unfortunately, hard years seem to happen more often as we get older. 😩 My tougher years have revolved around my parent's and my health issues.

Appreciate your transparency and hope you continue to feel better. I grew up with a parent who was a small business owner my entire childhood and watching that taught me that I could never hack it trying to do the same. I simply could not handle the constant uncertainty, demanding hours, and ups and downs of it all, especially when we're talking clients who take your work and time but don't pay you in the end. So I respect you and anyone doing what they can.

I work in a similar space, albeit in a corporate setting (media brand with digital and live events). 2023 was so. Hard. Digital events fell off a lot, event marketing needed more work, expectations were that we should be growing from 2019 levels. I can’t imagine having ownership of so much fluctuation. You’re a badass.

As a small business owner who has struggled for the last few years, this level of transparency is so helpful for me feeling like I'm not alone. This is why I appreciate you and TFD as a whole so much and why I've continued to follow and engagee over the years. Onwards and upwards in 2024!

I feel you girl. Our employees got paid but my husband missed so many paychecks--it is rough and in the meantime I was in a recliner recovering from ankle surgery. I beat myself up for putting medical bills on a credit card-ouch-but I remind myself if we hadn’t had such a big pay cut I would have paid them. We are pulling way back this year to recover. Lots of stress but thanks to frugal living we have been able to weather the storm.

I re-joined my membership yesterday. So happy to be able to do that again.

Grateful for the transparency from such a powerful voice - you rock CHelsea! Totally get the "it's all on me" feeling as an entrepreneur. I had a similar mental breakdown right before I shut down my company I've been growing fond of cooperative ownership structures for this reason. Share the mental load of building the business, share the burden of what happens behind the curtain, and share the profits in return. Very hard to transition to that after starting a business, but for any would-be founders in this comments section - seriously consider it.

Thanks for being honest about this. 6 years ago my husband and I started a small business in a risky industry. We became pretty "successful" tactically but I didn't expect how unprepared I'd be to deal with the amount of uncertainty and constant stress involved in making the day to day decisions for a business that supports your (and others) families. The mental game is its own skillset that's super resource intensive and not talked about enough. Keep up the good work we appreciate you.

Omg we had mental breakdowns at the exact same time. I was supposed to be leaving for the airport and my brain just entirely shutdown. And you are 100% correct that 85% of that breakdown was fueled by >8 months of constant financial insecurity and anxiety.

I own a small business also. I don't understand what is going on right now in the economy, but last year was hard for us as well. I'm the owner and I took on a second job so that I could maintain my employees wages and benefits, but in the end I just had to let one of my staff go. It was horrible, but I didn't have a choice. You're not the only one and the income you earn is not a reflection of your quality as a person and sometimes not even as a businesses owner. Keep up the good work and persevere.

Great point about economic stress impacting mental health! You’re awesome.

Chelsea, your vulnerability is so appreciated and shoutout to the entire TFD team, I have learned so much from this channel. Here's to a better 2024, you have my support.

Thank you for sharing and being transparent, hoping for a better 2024 for you and tfd!

Thank you for sharing this, I hope things go better this year. I still really enjoy TFD!

Thank you for the transparency!

7:45 to provide some clarity here, we very much are out of a pandemic. We are now in an endemic which means that life goes on and we learned how to live with the virus ---- we are no longer in a crisis mode...similarly to the flu which WAS once a pandemic and now is an endemic. Just because covid is still here, does not mean that it is still a pandemic. One is to contain or prevent the other one is to maintain or live with. This distinction is especially important to recognize because not only does terminology actually mean something, but it's important to understand the difference between the two. So you can properly prepare both your mental state and also your finances because it does create a false sense of precariousness if you still say that you were in a "pandemic".

Omg not getting salary for close to half a year AND loaning part of your personal funds to the company. You have such financial resilience, this is crazy! As a freelancer myself, I understand your choices deeply and I can only be impressed at the fact you made this work for all your employees, in such a dire situation. I also had ppl just not paying me for my services and I was lucky to get access to a direct debit service linked to the French state (SAP avance immédiate if you want to know), I am NEVER going back. The stress that comes with the uncertainty of getting paid is unbearable to me.

Thank you for this transparency. In my workplace, there seems to be a lot of normalization of the toll that work takes on our bodies, instead of trying to deal with root causes or demanding policy solutions. People look at me like I'm from space when I push back on this.

As a small business owner, my heart is with you.. it is so hard to serve your community, show up for your staff, begging contractors to pay on time and trying to be a human being.. girl, thank you for sharing this with all of us!

Thank you for the video, hope you are better and the business strives :D And taking meds should never be shameful :D

The Ativan elephant dart is so real 😂it’s like a big red industrial “stop” button for your brain

Thanks so much for sharing this and being so candid about mental struggles. I’m in a job that’s still fairly new, still learning, still feeling like everything in this huge organization is a complete mystery. I had very little in the way of formal training, just had to learn by doing, and I hate when people throw shade at me for not knowing some obscure procedure 100%. It’s been a constant strain, and I feel like I’m not quite good enough. It’s a good job, and my immediate supervisor is wonderful, but the stress is immense, and it’s taking a toll physically, which is impacting my mental health as well. I’m beginning to take strategic sick days to just give myself time to decompress. And I’m not even running the business! I can only imagine the added pressure of feeling like it’s all on your shoulders. Sending lots of good vibes and hoping 2024 treats you more kindly.

Love love love that you’re talking about this! Thank you for speaking to the environmental/uncontrollable factors that trigger/lead to anxiety. As a woman whose anxiety also went OFF in the second half of last year, it can only get better from here… right?! Lol hugs!

It sounds so stressful. I’m glad you’re doing better. As an aside, thank you for saying we are still in a pandemic. I’ve continued screaming it into the void , and that has been bad for my mental health.

we’re not in a recession (in the technical formal definition of what that is), and we weren’t last year either. i’m sorry to be nitpicky but you mentioned this multiple times and as a finance channel i feel like accuracy is important on this topic

Thank you for talking about this stuff. I'm currently 6 months into a OCD induced mental breakdown myself lol. I was doing fine when I graduated college last spring, but the combination of the state of the world rn, and not being able to find a job during the recession completely erased all the progress I've made on my mental health over the last few years. I always knew that stuff like that impacted people's mental health, but I feel like it's really hitting people my age hard. Like, we got through college and tried to do everything "right" so that we could get jobs, but once we graduated and got out into the "real" world everything just seemed so irreparably broken that we feel like giving up. All my dreams of having a family and a house just don't feel attainable anymore. And, social media is great, but constantly hearing about climate change and war crimes and late stage capitalism and how gen z won't be able to retire and how the US is turning into a facist state has just thrown me into a never ending existential crisis and made me scared to leave my house. And it's hard to get better because the horrific things that my OCD tells me will happen are an actual possibility. Like, I never imagined that I'd have to talk to my gf about potentially leaving the US if things for queer people keep getting worse. Millennials, you guys have been going through this for years already. Do you have any advice for me and my fellow gen z for how to keep going when the world is on fire?

I work for a tech startup, and thankfully I still have my job, but I ended 2023 with my first ever panic attack, which proceeded to trigger a shingles outbreak. Whoever needs to hear this, you're not alone!

My mentra lately has been one day at a time, one progress step at a time. I, too, was sick just before Christmas with covid, and in bed for 8 days, with about 6 weeks of recovery. Here is the text from a small plaquard on my desk. I hope it helps you / someone: "Progress, over perfection. Consistency, over perfection. Balance, over perfection."

Thank you, really appreciate your candor and courage. That shit is not easy to carry especially all at once. Your willingness to share your experience and the reality of flexing priorities and goals in a way that serves you better (while in true Chelsea fashion bringing in the realness of the finances) was stunning and so needed!! Proud to support the work y'all do!

Dude we had been planning a cross country move since last summer, and we got to our new state almost a month ago. and MAN has my body been taking it. I sprained my back, caught a terrible cold, and now I'm nursing my hormones back to health. We are so excited to be here and it was undoubtedly the best decision for us but even GOOD stress takes a TOLL. So same with having so much stress during the holidays haha. I feel like I'm in a place where I can really simplify my life now, but recovering from moving during the holiday season has been intense. Thank you for sharing Chelsea. ALSO the bit about economics and health is SO TRUE. I've been doing a lot of thinking about how public policy and the economy impacts individual health too. The year I had a steady big girl job (this past year), I was able to go to the doc and eventually lose some weight that was impacting my life. That job itself was so stressful, and now that we've traded in our suburban lives to live in a walkable city (hence the big move) now I'm straightening out what to do next. But even living somewhere walkable for the last month, my currently unemployed ass feels so much.. less directly stressed. And the state we moved to has much better Healthcare so I was able to get insured quickly, whereas in the red state we left it felt like pulling teeth to get any kind of coverage. So imagine how I'll feel when I get an income and can actualize my life even better! lol

Thanks so much for your transparency Chelsea. Sending love to you. I am so inspired by your leadership and have loved TFD for years. TFD’s video essays lately have been especially phenomenal, nuanced and well-done. I’m going to join the society to support TFD’s work for as long as I can, looking forward!

Hey, I'd really recommend following up with a psychiatrist (as in an MD or DO) about the medication you got. My knowledge of those kinds of online operations is that you likely didn't see an actual physician (I could be wrong though!), and it sounds like what you're describing would be best used with ongoing guidance from a physician, so you have someone on your side who truly understands the way medication works with our bodies (as best we can! It's always getting better). Preferably a psychiatrist, although your family medicine MD/DO could help with that as well. I'm just an internet stranger and not trying to poke my nose in something that's not my business, but I really want people to get good psychiatric care, and am quite dismayed by how difficult it can be.

Currently in the thick of something very similar (although I'm not the owner of the business) and I'm teetering on the brink of a menty b myself. Thankfully I'm already on meds

Thank you - proud member. Will continue to support. Love the transparency and glad you’re better.

I’m a small business financial analyst and this 2023 is the worst year I’ve ever seen for small businesses. Speaking of government loans, the SBA quoted emergency loan at 1%. Now they’re claiming it’s 3.5%. It’s actually over 6%. Inflation is terrible, average 40%. Your clients are having a terrible time too so it’s harder to get paid. And I believe that the government in bed with corporations has an agenda to eliminate small business. They’re dying like crazy. Be extremely conservative, cut corners wherever you are comfortable with the risk, aspire to less.

Chelsea, Barry McDonaghs DARE response helped me greatly with panic attacks. The app is great as well. Look after yourself, all the best!

I feel this so much. I had the same experience as the President of a Not for Profit. When things are tough, it's not just the clients you're letting down, people rely on you for their livelihood. There is no way around that stress. We feel that responsibility so keenly. It's tough to get through, but hopefully you come out the other side with more tools.

I work on a government-run financial counselling helpline line (in Australia, unfortunately!) for small business owners and I shared this with my colleagues - we speak to SO MANY SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS who are at that mental breakdown stage of their personal and financial struggle with regard to business. It's particularly acute right now. Thank you for speaking out about this because I'm sure there are many self-employed people for whom your story really resonates and helps them feel not alone.

I've experienced this kind of responsibility/dread in the past few years and I'm not trying to keep a brand, a business, employees, and simultaneous growth into other areas going. I can just imagine! Thanks for the honesty, it's one of your and TFD's strengths, but also for that honesty we can certainly agree your responses toward that horrendous year were VALID AF. Hope you make a killer mocktail and have a cuddle with Mona & hubs and get some relaxing on, between juggling figuring out boundaries, decoupling from Self, and what staying in the fight means. lol no big task right?

great that you put this out chelsea!! i talk to my friends with mental health struggles and they don't explicitly link their struggles to their financial situation but when I hear about their financial situation I think to myself 'oh god i would be depressed if that was my situation'. i think lots of times people's mental health issues are due to financial issues. i can't believe it's not discussed more.

Thank you for sharing your story and struggles. 2023 was horrible. Sending you love and prayers. 💜✨

And your brilliant book came out last year!

Thank you for always being there for me and my financial life. You probably don’t know how far your advice has gone, but I’ve been following you for like 6 years or more. Because of your work I’ve been able to be a successful career women (psychologist) and move myself to Australia from America. I’ve put money into investments & retirement before 30. I want to thank you for all your antics and humor. I haven’t always been in a place to join the TFD community but it’s time now. I appreciate you so much and thanks for being open to sharing the struggles of a small business owner, it’s real and it’s nice to hear all the ups and downs.

Ahhh yes, CEO has a job not an identity, I had a crisis like this awhile ago. I was going to school to become a nuclear engineer (long story). I was kicking butt in local community college for transfer credits with straight A (go me!). Then, transfer time came...I was not accepted. It was such a sickening feeling. To attach your identity to a thing and then watch it all go up in smoke. It is easy to let that overwhelm you. When you work so hard at something, are used to success when you apply yourself but it still coming up snakeeyes...it can really lose the foundation of your self-confidence. So for anyone going through a similar thing, you are not alone, just make sure to take care of yourself and watch how you speak to yourself. Things not working out doesn't make you a failure, it just means you have to move on.

i love the blurriness. it adds to the drama :)) loved the vid.

HOLY MOLY!! The PRESSURE!! I am so glad you got THROUGH that very HARD wave..cuz you even talking about it made my somatic sense feel woozy and wanna drop to the ground.

This sounds oddly specific, but I'm really glad to hear someone talking about the "clients not paying on time" issue. I work for a small, local business and this kind of behavior is weirdly common, even when our clients are large corporations. To anyone who hires contractors: please pay them in a timely manner. Our lives literally depend on it.

Love TFD and all your hard work! I work with a lot of small business owners. Most small businesses have only one employee (the owner) and they tend to only care about their income at the end of the month. Employing multiple people and paying them on time come hell or high water makes you leagues better than 90% of people out there. Keep up the good work!

Thanks for sharing this. I believe every time we share honestly about our mental health experiences we make the path a bit brighter for others to traverse.

Long time subscriber, just became a member. Thanks for all you do!

Thank you for sharing your experience and being so open about this topic.

Thank you for being so honest! Just became a member at Patreon. Loved your content for ages, so it was about time

Chelsea! Thank you for sharing this. Much respect for being honest and transparent. Glad you were able to get through it both financially and mentally. I loved the comment about a diagnosis we got 10 years ago, is that a subscription that auto renews every year? That was both hilarious and a brilliant question! Now I'd love to know. I was diagnosed with OCD in my teens and I didn't get it, didn't make sense to me. I may have OCPD, but not OCD.

I really admire your transparency and I’m glad you’ve made it to the other side, Chelsea. I love my TFD Membership and looking towards to taking even more advantage of all the perks in 2024 🎉

Going through my own horrendous year right now with my firm. I feel you. Thank you for this video! I'm cheering for y'all!

Thank you for sharing and mad respect

I think this is the video you made where you mentioned the inequality trauma you felt being raised around more privileged people, and how you have had to work on this with your therapist. Whichever video it was, THANK YOU. You saying this made me realize that this is the issue that causes so much friction for me in my relationships! I had a weird mix of millionaire aunts and uncles, a stable but lower middle class mom, and a dad on the weekends who was indigent - my brother and i slept on cots and ate the cheapest fast food. I have gravitated towards more privileged people as an adult, maybe because of my high level of education also. But i feel this constant rage at how oblivious the privileged are around me. Just realized that this is a thing, and i need to examine it. Thanks for opening my eyes

I cannot thank you enough for your transparency! I hope 2024 is less hard/intense for you and your company

Sorry for your troubles, glad you are better

Thank you for sharing Chelsea. I appreciate you & your team. Yes, I will be joining the society.

Thank you for being so honest.

Your transparency and honesty is so appreciated Chelsea. I don’t subscribe to anything that’s creator-specific, but I will be joining the TFD society. This video came at the perfect time because I’ve really been trying to be more conscious of how I spend my money and I keep thinking about what really adds value to my life and it always comes back to the KZfaq videos I watch in the mornings. I don’t know why it’s just now clicking, but $5/month is so worth everything I’ve learned and continue to learn from TFD.

Joined :) I'm three days into being a business owner (also in a media-related industry) and TFD has helped shape a lot of my beliefs around how I want my company to run.

Looooove the authenticity. That's one of the many reasons why I stay subscribed to this channel. Keep up the good work.

I can definitely relate to feeling shitty at the end of last year; my lack of accomplishments compared to my peers was seriously doing a detriment to my self worth and making me feel so depressed. I was trying to get into the Christmas spirit but I just didn’t feel like doing anything and nothing was bringing me joy

I am so grateful for the transparency you share.

I'm a small business financial counsellor, and I speak to at least 5 people every day on a government-run helpline I work on who are in your exact situation. Thank you for speaking up about this, it will assist other people in the same situation to speak up and ask for help.

Thank you so much for admitting that the pandemic is not over. Know that COVID infection is known to cause long term anxiety & even increased suicidality. I have long covid & I know I had a ROUGH time this winter. Good on you for prioritizing taking care of your people, but also please take care of yourself ❤

Chelsea: Your queen had herself a bit of a Menty-Be Me: Damn…she even slay’s mental breakdowns. 👑 🙌🙇‍♂️

I really love TFD content and the work that you do! Sadly, I'm also facing mayor financial setbacks for the past year, so at the moment, I can't support you guys' work as much as I'd like to. That being said, I fully understand that you have to move a big portion of content to members-only! And I really appreciate your honesty 💜 Here's to hoping and working 2024 will be lighter on all of us!

Thank you so much for sharing. Wishing you the best 🥺

Proud member right here!! Love yall ❤

Wow this is so healthy and honest thank you for sharing

Not going to pretend I know much about this because I learned about it in an undergrad prerequisite, but this is kind of why I find the stress-diathesis model of, like, disorder manifestation super compelling. It’s basically saying that an experience of a disorder (whether it happens or not or is more or less severe) is your predisposed vulnerability to that disorder and life stress running up against each other. It’s something that’s pretty obvious if you think about it for more than five seconds because, like, of course my depression is worse when my life is terrible but super self-manageable when I’m doing well. Anyway… thought it was relevant lol.

I’m sitting on the chair backwards to have a heart to heart, this is so real 😂😂😂

Thank you for all you do. However, what exactly should the government be doing to support small businesses? And how are we still in a pandemic? The current variants are not at all severe or life threatening the way the original virus was. I hope this year is great for you.

Thank you for sharing this!

Just broke my youtube membership/patreon virginity for Chelsea! :D In all seriousness, sorry that you had such a rough year! As a first gen, queer person, I really enjoy the contents that TFD provides and have been around for quite a few years! Keep doing what you are doing Chelsea and team TFD!

Thank you for being transparent, both regarding economic and emotional struggle. Just a few days ago, I also had my own share of mental breakdown. Not easy. I have joined the TFD society after watching this. I have been a follower since 2018 and you’ve helped me in so many ways! Looking forward to your future content and videos. :)

Well, flip my chair! Thanks for showing your hand and thanks for the reassurance. I enjoyed your message and your candor. 2👍 ZUP!

I love your channel and what you have been able to build. I have to say that I loved the previous format but I am getting used to the new format. Health come first, always. I will be rooting you on.

Thank you for being so vulnerable and sharing this. It's so relatable.

Appreciate the transparency and your great story telling abt the troubles 🙌🏾