https://builtandunmasked.com/ A room in Austin where people believe you. A monthly gathering for business owners, founders, and executives living with an invisible difference. en https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/you-are-safe-now/ https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/you-are-safe-now/ Fri, 17 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT The danger that taught you to mask ended years ago. The mask never got the news. How accomplished professionals in Austin start turning it off, on purpose, in safe rooms first. https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/the-mask-was-a-strength/ https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/the-mask-was-a-strength/ Fri, 17 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Before you can take the mask off, give it credit. For accomplished professionals in Austin who grew up around a narcissist, masking was the skill that got them out and up. https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/learned-to-mask-before-math/ https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/learned-to-mask-before-math/ Fri, 17 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT For a lot of accomplished professionals in Austin, masking didn't start at work. It started at home, managing a narcissistic parent or sibling, decades before anyone called it a skill. https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/high-functioning-autistic-women-higher-bar/ https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/high-functioning-autistic-women-higher-bar/ Fri, 17 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Autistic women who mask well get diagnosed late or never, and the better we perform, the less help anyone thinks we need. Written from inside that pattern, for the women in Austin still carrying it alone. https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/autism-narcissistic-abuse-multiplies/ https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/autism-narcissistic-abuse-multiplies/ Fri, 17 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Narcissistic abuse attacks your reality from inside the house. A world not built for autism attacks it from outside. For accomplished professionals in Austin who lived both, the effect was exponential, and masking was the only tool left. https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/you-look-fine-black-women/ https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/you-look-fine-black-women/ Fri, 10 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT 'You look fine' is a heavy sentence for any accomplished woman managing an invisible difference. For Black women in Austin, there's an extra layer under it: strength gets mistaken for the absence of a problem. https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/successful-so-they-assume-youre-fine-austin/ https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/successful-so-they-assume-youre-fine-austin/ Fri, 10 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Telling a friend, a coworker, or a doctor in Austin what's actually going on doesn't mean they hear it. Looking successful often makes people believe you less, not more. https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/building-a-chronic-entrepreneur-network-in-austin/ https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/building-a-chronic-entrepreneur-network-in-austin/ Fri, 03 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT I couldn't find a room in Austin for accomplished professionals who also live with chronic illness. So I'm building one downtown. Here's the whole idea. https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/hidden-tax-chronic-illness-building-business-austin/ https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/hidden-tax-chronic-illness-building-business-austin/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Every founder pays a cost to build. When you're chronically ill in Austin, you pay a second, invisible tax on top. Naming it is the first way to stop overpaying. https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/where-chronically-ill-founders-meet-downtown-austin/ https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/where-chronically-ill-founders-meet-downtown-austin/ Wed, 01 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Standing happy hours are a trap when your body is unpredictable. Here's how to meet serious founders in downtown Austin without wrecking yourself to do it. https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/networking-in-austin-when-your-body-wont-cooperate/ https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/networking-in-austin-when-your-body-wont-cooperate/ Tue, 30 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT A practical playbook for building a serious network in Austin when you never know which version of your body will show up. Tactics, scripts, and permission to opt out. https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/corporate-to-founder-executive-rigor-chronic-illness-austin/ https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/corporate-to-founder-executive-rigor-chronic-illness-austin/ Mon, 29 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT The discipline you learned running a function at a major company is exactly what building a business through chronic illness in Austin requires. Here's how it transfers. https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/building-work-around-flares-austin-operators/ https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/building-work-around-flares-austin-operators/ Sun, 28 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT You can't schedule a flare. You can build a business that survives one. Here's how experienced founders in Austin design their companies to bend on the bad days. https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/austin-calendar-high-value-events/ https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/austin-calendar-high-value-events/ Sat, 27 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT How to get real value from Austin's business scene (SXSW, meetups, conferences) without paying for it in a week of recovery. A chronically ill founder's triage system. https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/why-hustle-culture-fails-chronically-ill-founders-austin/ https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/why-hustle-culture-fails-chronically-ill-founders-austin/ Fri, 26 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT Grind-till-you-drop advice isn't just unhelpful when you're chronically ill, it's actively dangerous. Here's the sustainable model Austin's best operators use instead. https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/peer-community-over-medical-advice-austin/ https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/peer-community-over-medical-advice-austin/ Thu, 25 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT When you've been failed by providers, the last thing you need is another medical website. What chronically ill founders in Austin actually need is each other. https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/energy-management-as-business-strategy-austin/ https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/energy-management-as-business-strategy-austin/ Wed, 24 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT For a chronically ill founder in Austin, energy isn't a wellness topic, it's your scarcest capital. Here's how to allocate it like the strategic resource it is. https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/fundraising-and-finance-chronic-illness-austin/ https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/fundraising-and-finance-chronic-illness-austin/ Tue, 23 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT How to think about capital, runway, and investors when your own capacity is the variable nobody's modeling. Straight talk for Austin founders from a finance background. https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/downtown-austin-coworking-chronic-illness/ https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/downtown-austin-coworking-chronic-illness/ Mon, 22 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT Not all coworking is created equal when your body is unpredictable. What to look for in a downtown Austin workspace, and how to use one without overspending your energy. https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/accomplished-women-chronically-ill-austin/ https://builtandunmasked.com/blog/accomplished-women-chronically-ill-austin/ Sun, 21 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT Austin is full of high-achieving women building serious things while managing chronic illness, mostly invisibly. This is for them, and about why the invisibility has to end.