Many of us hit a moment when we can no longer avoid the work we’re meant to do in the world. My moment came in 2016 when my elder sister, an accomplished biological chemist at the top of her game, took her own life, and wasn’t found until weeks later.

My sister was a high performer who everyone saw as “fine” because she excelled in everything she did. But the reality was she hadn’t been “fine” since she was a teenager. She was queer and gender non-conforming in an era when there weren’t really words for that, and in a culture of academia where the personal was always stuffed into the suit of the “professional.”

I realized that unlike me, my sister never had a safe space to feel her feelings, or help navigate her experiences and inner world. And that’s what she had needed.

As a society we value performance above all, often at the cost of our emotional, relational and mental health. There are few outlets for teens to turn to for help exploring what they’re going through. My mission with Fly is to change that.