If you’re an entrepreneur, you know the truth. Starting and growing your own business is like strapping yourself to a never-ending roller coaster.

Saying entrepreneurship is stressful is often an understatement, especially for a surprisingly high proportion of entrepreneurs who have experienced trauma in their lives.  Yet entrepreneurship also offers a path to healing those traumas – and inspires many to create businesses that solve for others the challenges they themselves have faced.

Jeanne Retief built a human rights consultancy, working primarily with women who were experiencing significant adversity and stress. So was Jeanne, who developed a panic disorder, which she says she handled poorly by trying to ignore it and put on a brave face. Before long, her panic disorder also resulted in very dry and sensitive skin.

On a mission to help women find self-acceptance and prioritize their own self-care, Jeanne decided to draw on her certificate in cosmetic chemistry and launch a skin care brand Figgi Beauty and a growing community called Figgi Life.