KYZEN CEO opens up on leading while living with depression and anxiety

KYZEN Founder and CEO Carl De Giorgio has shared a candid reflection on navigating the challenges of leadership while living with depression and anxiety, highlighting the resilience required to succeed in spite of personal struggles.

In a recent post, the head of the outsourcing services provider described how he was “officially diagnosed with the disorders” at just 18 years old. “Not a single day has gone by that I have not had to face them,” he wrote.

Despite the difficulties, Mr De Giorgio said he refused to allow the conditions to dictate the course of his life. “I had all the right excuses to settle for mediocrity, and society would not even have judged me. It would have all been justified. But I was never going to let that happen,” he stated.

Instead, he turned to work and study as coping mechanisms, even if not the healthiest, in his words. “Not the healthiest way of a coping mechanism, as dubbed by doctors, but it worked for me. Still works for me,” he remarked.

Reflecting on how these experiences have shaped his career, Mr De Giorgio admitted to mixed feelings. “Would I have been as successful, or even more successful, had I not had these conditions? Maybe. Maybe not,” he wrote. However, he added that without them, he feared he might have “settled for average.”

The entrepreneur, whose company operates in the iGaming and Forex sectors with a team of over 50 professionals across Cyprus and Malta, emphasised the unseen effort required by many who quietly face similar challenges. “People like me must work harder – much harder – than the ‘normal’ person just because they are battling their own demons on a daily basis, while striving to get good grades… raising a family… growing a business,” he explained.

He described the struggle as a daily battle within the mind: “The brain is home to both the daemons and the ambitious warriors (cells). Everyday they go to war. Sometimes the warriors lose some of the battles, but they certainly have not lost the war.”

For years, Mr De Giorgio said he kept his mental health to himself, worried about the impact it might have on his professional reputation. “Growing up, I kept this to myself out of fear of being labelled and it affecting my career growth. Nowadays, I could not give a **** about what people think. I wish I would have done it much sooner.”

Now, having come to terms with the likelihood of living with these conditions for life, he said he feels he has nothing to prove to anyone but himself. “Despite its burdening weight, I have proved myself time and time again. There is nothing I need to prove to anyone else.”

Mr De Giorgio also shared a message for others facing similar battles: “If you believe it, you can achieve it. Might need to work twice as hard, but don’t let it be an ‘excuse’ to hold you back. If I did it, so can you. Surround yourself with the right people! Do not carry the burden alone.”

He concluded by extending an open invitation: “… and by the way, I am ALWAYS up for a chat!”