Even-Keeled: Mental Health, Identity and the Culture of Business

Even-Keeled takes its name from the sea. It describes a ship that holds steady while the tides shift around it. This space holds that same intention: essays that question, reflect on, and challenge the stories we've been told about the mind, identity, and the culture of business we navigate daily. Balancing Mind, Life and Then Some.

All Essays

View the complete essay collection

Born in Champagne, Never Had a Drop: Lessons in Belonging
Life
10 min read

Born in Champagne, Never Had a Drop: Lessons in Belonging

I’ve spent 43 years navigating a world that treats “I don’t drink” as a problem to solve. I’m still trying to understand why that bothers people more than it bothers me.

Read More
Why Sharks—and Sales—Deserve Better Stories
Then Some
9 min read

Why Sharks—and Sales—Deserve Better Stories

Sharks have survived for 400 million years, but salespeople have managed to villainize themselves in far less time. Both deserve better than the one-dimensional stories we’ve given them, and it starts with understanding what ethical selling actually looks like.

Read More
Depression : a Taboo and a Trend
Mind
9 min read

Depression : a Taboo and a Trend

Depression may be a trending topic, but as the data shows, much of it remains taboo: invisible, misunderstood, and largely untreated.

Read More
To Be or Not to Be — Work is the Question
Life
12 min read

To Be or Not to Be — Work is the Question

What happens when you step away from work to find out who you are without it? A reflection on identity, capitalism, and the courage to pause.

Read More

Hello, I’m Nadya

Even-Keeled was born from a need to make sense of the contradictions we live with, the ones society insists aren’t contradictions at all. I write from lived experience across continents and contexts, grounding personal stories in research and data, not so much to prove a point as to question what’s often accepted as settled.

Read More

The Essay Drop

Be the first to know when a new essay is live. No fluff, no noise, just writing.