“I knew my life would change forever,” Webb, 48, tells CNBC Make It.
But a thriving business isn't always a recipe for happiness. Within seven years of launching Drybar, “everything started to unravel for me personally,” she says.
She and her first husband, Drybar co-founder Cameron Webb, divorced after 16 years of marriage. Her mother died of cancer. Her teenage son went to rehab for addiction issues.
Webb immersed herself in the work and avoided these difficulties until they were too great to ignore – a theme she addressed in her book “The Messy Truth,” published in November 2023, and which she continues to talk about today.
“I wish I had paid more attention when I was in it so it didn’t collapse the way it did,” Webb says. “I think sometimes we learn when we’re down and everything is falling apart.”
In particular, she says, she's learned to recognize and combat signs of burnout and to prioritize her mental health without feeling like she's sacrificing her career or family. Here's how.
In 2018, Webb experienced what she referred to in her book as her “great depression.” She was burned out, both physically and emotionally, and internalized a lot of self-inflicted guilt over her decision to end her marriage and her son's subsequent struggles.
“Am I ruining my family? Our lives?” Webb asked herself at the time, she wrote.
These struggles were the result of her unwillingness to consider the problems in her life and their impact on her as they occurred, she says. Drybar helped her avoid dealing with her feelings about the breakdown of her marriage or recognizing the toll the divorce took on her two children.
“I was very [much] “We're in the fast lane and we're not paying attention,” says Webb, adding, “We distract ourselves when we don't want to deal with shit.” Every person does it. I got to look at some things I haven't wanted to look at in a long time and was just hoping they would go away. But that never happened.
What finally helped Webb turn things around was a conversation with Brené Brown.
Webb says the best-selling author and social work professor made it clear to her that she had never fully acknowledged the trauma of her divorce or her mother's death and her feelings of guilt over her son's problems. She began doing just that, using mental health remedies like therapy, meditation, journaling, daily exercise, and running.
She particularly remembers therapy and journaling. “It's a big deal to talk to someone about it,” she says, and writing down your thoughts and feelings often helps people process their emotions or deal with depression or anxiety.
“It's like getting that stuff out of your head and putting it on paper. That in itself is a relief when you’re dealing with something difficult,” says Webb.
Other methods may work best for other people. The important part is simply committing to prioritizing your mental health, says Webb.
“I could never imagine digging myself into the ground [again] “Just like I did when we grew Drybar,” she says. “It was like a badge of honor.”
For them, this means not feeling guilty if the need for private time distracts them from work or family. “I think a lot about self-control and discipline [to regularly do] the things that I know are better for me,” says Webb.
She's still busy today: After Drybar, Webb co-founded other companies like massage startup Squeeze and currently serves as president of humidifier brand Canopy. But she no longer allows her work to interfere with her mental health, she says – which is easier to achieve when you have financial stability and a quality support system, she admits.
Still, Webb no longer wants anyone to approach their work the way she did at Drybar, including her current employees.
“As long as you get everything done, I don’t care how many physical hours you work,” she says. “This is the shift in consciousness that I hope we see more often in the world. It's like, let's do our work. But let’s also enjoy our lives.”
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