What Happens After You Fall: A Conversation About Resilience, Reinvention & Leadership

A few years ago, I experienced something that changed the entire course of my life and leadership: a traumatic brain injury. What started as a concussion turned into a long and humbling recovery process that forced me to slow down, listen to my body, and rethink how I live and lead. 

As an entrepreneur, I’ve always been a worker. I grind and push forward. But concussion recovery is tricky. While the myth of resting a concussion is wrong, you also can’t power through a brain injury. You can’t outwork it. And you definitely can’t ignore it. Thankfully, after many years of struggle, I found true experts at the Inova Concussion Program, who taught me everything I had been doing wrong, and right, and helped lead me to full recovery. 

I recently had the opportunity to reflect on my journey with my lead doctor, Dr. Melissa Womble. You can watch our full conversation below.  

Dr. Womble’s insight, care, and leadership in the world of brain health and concussion recovery make an incredible impact. In this video, she talks about concussion treatment and the myths that many well-meaning doctors continue to prescribe. Together, we talk about my road to recovery, including bigger questions about leadership:  

• The realities of living with a brain injury as a business leader, and what happens when you’re forced to stop. 

• How I redefined my approach to success and productivity. 

• Learning to find clarity in discomfort.  

• Why slowing down can actually make you a stronger, more sustainable leader. 

• How mental health can be intricately connected to brain injury.  

If you're looking for my full concussion backstory (including the day I got injured, my symptoms, treatment, and how I manage life and work now), I’ve shared that all here. It’s a deeper dive into the physical, mental, and emotional impact of post-concussion life, especially for those of us who don’t naturally slow down. 

This experience changed me. I’m not the same leader I was before the injury... and that’s a good thing. 

Now, I try to lead with more awareness, deeper and more comprehensive empathy. More vision, more listening. More boundaries, for me and my team. I share this talk not because I have all the answers, but because I believe stories like this matter. And because the work INOVA is doing – from patient care to community education – deserves to be amplified.  

Please watch and share this video and the INOVA program if you or someone you know has experienced a concussion or brain injury.