BUSINESS WASN’T BUILT FOR WOMEN’S BIOLOGY, BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN WE DON’T BELONG HERE

Here’s the truth I avoided for most of my life:

Business is a man’s sport. Not because women can’t thrive in it… But because it was literally built on masculine defaults, linear output, 24/7 grind, constant assertion, and forward motion at all costs.

And for years, I thrived there. I ran on directness, aggression, logic, and “get-shit-done” energy like it was my native language. No softness. No pause. No vulnerability. If you asked 20-year-old me if femininity had any place in business, I would’ve laughed and gotten back to my third internship that summer.

But here’s what no mentorship program or “women in business” brunch ever prepared me for:

Biology eventually calls your bluff.

And when mine did, everything I believed about leadership, ambition, and identity cracked open.

The Moment Biology Interrupts Your Business Plan

Motherhood didn’t politely tap me on the shoulder. It bulldozed me.

There’s nothing like giving a keynote at eight months pregnant and knowing every person is staring at your belly instead of your ideas. Or hiding your pregnancy on Zoom because most of your clients are men who hold the purse strings and you’re afraid they’ll see you as “less committed.”

There’s nothing weak about any of that. It’s simply biology. And no one talks about it honestly.

We discuss the pay gap, bias, and barriers, all of which are valid concerns. But we avoid the very real truth that our culture evolved faster than our bodies, and women are still the primary caregivers… even when we’re also the breadwinners.

Leaders love to say “biology isn’t an excuse.” But I’ve learned something different:

Biology isn’t an excuse, it’s a strategy, if you actually understand it.

Why Women’s Leadership Often Feels “Wrong” in Business Spaces

For a long time, I thought there was something wrong with me.

Why did women-only events drain me? Why did every panel sound like a dramatic reading of obstacles instead of a strategy? Why did “empowerment” feel more like commiseration than elevation?

It finally hit me:

Men talk about pushing forward. Women talk about what’s holding them back.

And neither side is fully right.

What’s missing is the middle ground, the space where masculine drive and feminine instinct actually work together instead of competing.

That’s the edge most leaders never learn to sharpen.

The Real Leadership Shift: Androgyny as a Strategy

One of my team members recently sent me a post that said:

“If there’s a problem, I trust my team enough to solve it.”

And his message back to me was: “This is why you’re different from every boss I’ve ever had.”

That meant something to me, not because it was praise, but because it forced me to see what I’m building:

An androgynous leadership style. A blend of force and softness. Extreme ownership with actual humanity attached.

Masculine traits built my business. Feminine traits saved it.

I don’t need to choose one. I need to wield both intentionally.

So What Does That Look Like in Practice?

Here’s what I’m actively course-correcting in real time:

1. Leading with cycles, not sameness

Men operate on a 24-hour rhythm. Women operate on a 28-day rhythm. Neither is better, but pretending they’re identical is a fast track to burnout.

I track reflective phases vs. high-output phases and plan my work accordingly. Superpowers, not excuses.

2. Journaling to check my instincts

Not journaling to vent. Journaling to listen. Naming stress. Watching patterns. Not forcing output when my biology is screaming for recalibration.

3. Calling myself out when I apologize for being direct

Sometimes, leading “like a man” is exactly what the moment calls for. Force isn’t the villain. Misalignment is.

4. Allowing softness without confusing it for weakness

When my husband went through a family emergency, my instinct was to bake, clean, and nurture, and I felt guilty about it. Now I just call it what it is: Femininity as service. Femininity as strength.

The more honest I get with myself, the stronger I lead.

The Mic-Drop Truth

Business was not built for women’s biology.

But that doesn’t mean we don’t belong here. It means we’re the generation rewriting the playbook.

A playbook where:

Masculine drive isn’t demonized. Feminine rhythm isn’t minimized. And leadership isn’t one-dimensional; it’s intentionally integrated.

Growth over comfort. Extreme ownership. And the courage to build a business that honors the body, running it.

If this hit something in you, share it with another woman rewriting her own rules.

We’re not here to fit into the system. We’re here to upgrade it.

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