Zelmwell App Founder Keisha McCotry Opens Up About…
After 4 layoffs, a late ADHD diagnosis, and repeated skilled rejection, an Atlanta entrepreneur is utilizing her experiences to empower Black ladies through emotional wellness and technology.
Source: Courtesy
For Atlanta-based entrepreneur Keisha McCotry, shedding her job wasn’t merely another skilled setback. It challenged her confidence, reopened emotional wounds, and finally impressed her to create a useful resource she couldn’t discover for herself.
After spending more than 20 years building manufacturers for major firms including Google, Netflix and Disney, McCotry launched Zelmwell, an emotional regulation wellness app designed for adults navigating attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), rejection sensitivity and emotional overwhelm.
However, the street from company government to tech founder required McCotry to confront challenges that even her intensive skilled expertise couldn’t put together her for.
In an exclusive interview with BOSSIP’s very own Lauryn Bass, McCotry opened up about navigating unemployment, receiving an ADHD diagnosis in her 40s, and discovering what it actually means to guess on your self.
“Let’s be clear. This is my fourth layoff,” McCotry said when requested whether or not shedding her job modified how she seen her worth. “I feel for me when you have got 20 years of expertise and being promoted in these positions and then for a entire 12 months being told that you’re not good enough, put that on top of somebody who has ADHD and RSD.”
Despite the challenges, McCotry said she stays dedicated to discussing her experiences brazenly.
“I am an open book because I want to empower more people.”
Behind The Corporate Success Was A Woman Learning To Understand Herself
Although McCotry constructed an spectacular profession in advertising and marketing and communications, she says that her ADHD diagnosis didn’t come until she was 45.
“I was diagnosed at 45, in my 40s. After I had built my successful career in marketing,” she explained. “What people saw as success, they didn’t know what that took out of me.”
McCotry admitted that therapy wasn’t one thing she initially embraced. However, an employer-sponsored benefit finally inspired her to search assist.
Source: Courtesy
“I wasn’t originally one that believe in therapy but at the time, one of my jobs offered coverage and it was free-99,” she joked.
During those classes, McCotry started connecting experiences from her childhood with emotional patterns she had carried into maturity.
“It took my breath away as my therapist was explaining things I was talking about,” she said.
McCotry recalled being called a “cry baby” as a baby because of her emotional reactions. Growing up in a Black family where religion was central, she said prayer was often the response to personal difficulties.
“I grew up in a household where you went to church and prayed with God for everything in a Black Household.”
McCotry also revealed that she survived inappropriate assault and had sought therapy roughly 15 years earlier, when she acquired a diagnosis she described as “high functioning depression.”
Her experiences have made her notably passionate about difficult the stigma surrounding mental health.
Pointing to public conversations involving entertainers such as Tisha Campbell, McCotry said she appreciates seeing more people use their platforms to talk about emotional wellness.
“Just to see that more people in general using their platforms to talk about it, like Tisha Campbell’s press tour or the new A Different World,” she said. “I want people to know that nothing is wrong with you. I want them to unarm and disarm the fear. It’s 2026 and taking care of your mental health and your brain is just not important if not the most.”
For McCotry, those conversations are particularly important for Black ladies who could really feel obligated to keep an image of strength even when struggling privately.
“We make it look cute. You never know what’s going on in our heads,” she said. “When we show up, it’s like a caricature of ourselves. We’re highly successful and doing all of the things. But once we get out of your presence, we’re spiraling.”
McCotry said those inner struggles often stay invisible to colleagues, pals and household.
“You don’t know how this is affecting me behind closed doors. You can’t show emotion especially as a Black woman trying to regulate. We get the job done and you don’t know why this is happening until you get your diagnoses.”
Eight Months Of Job Searching Led To A Life-Changing Idea
According to McCotry, the thought for Zelmwell emerged roughly eight months into her unemployment journey.
“For those of us with ADHD, our mind never stops racing,” she said. “I still remember when I was 8 months in, applying for jobs and my mind was like, Keisha you are spiraling.”
Source: Zelmwell / Zelmwell
Searching for a method to handle those emotions, McCotry turned to Apple’s App Store.
“I went to the App Store to see if there was a platform or program for people with ADHD and RSD, I saw 50 million apps to help organize but none were for me.”
That expertise sparked a realization: While productiveness instruments had been widely out there, she struggled to discover a useful resource addressing the emotional experiences she related with ADHD.
Rather than persevering with her search, McCotry started exploring how to create one herself.
“I have 8 certifications in AI. I utilized all of my skills and wanted to see if there was a need in the market for this,” she said.
Although she had never based a software program company, McCotry acknowledged that her skilled background might help her method product development strategically.
“Before this was easily accessible I never knew that I could be an app developer. I come from a marketing background,” she said. “I know color psychology and my experiences with Google. I already knew what I needed my app to look like. I used AI to help as a product developer.”
McCotry said the thought finally got here together during an emotionally overwhelming night.
“One of those nights when I was overwhelmed, one of my lightbulbs went off,” she said.
According to Zelmwell’s launch announcement, McCotry started developing the platform in March 2026. The course of required six months, 18 builds, a redesigned onboarding expertise, and six rejected App Store submissions before approval.
Source: Zelmwell / Zelmwell
The completed app permits customers to doc emotionally troublesome experiences, determine doable triggers, mirror on thought patterns, and access calming soundscapes.
It also consists of workout routines informed by cognitive behavioral therapy rules and downloadable session summaries that customers can share with mental health professionals.
Even A Founder Still Experiences Rejection
While Zelmwell was impressed by McCotry’s personal experiences, she told BOSSIP that the platform has also develop into a useful resource in her on a regular basis life.
Source: Zelmwell / Zelmwell
In fact, she not too long ago skilled another skilled disappointment after turning into a finalist for a communications place.
According to McCotry, the position called for more than 15 years of public relations expertise and familiarity with artificial intelligence, {qualifications} she believed aligned with her background.
She referenced her work involving Google’s Gemini as an instance of her expertise.
“I went through 4 rounds of interviews and when I didn’t get the job, I began to spiral,” she said.
However, this time she had access to the useful resource she had created.
“I went to my app and did the custom meditations. I also did the soundscape afterwards to keep me calm now that I understand my brain,” she said.
The expertise strengthened her perception that emotional wellness requires ongoing consideration, even after somebody develops a larger understanding of their mental health.
Still, McCotry was cautious to distinguish Zelmwell from skilled treatment.
“My app is a wellness app only, it doesn’t replace a therapist,” she emphasised.
She explained that customers can obtain summaries of their emotional experiences to talk about during therapy appointments.
For McCotry, skilled assist has remained important throughout her journey.
When requested who helped her through moments when she didn’t really feel strong, her reply was rapid.
“Honestly, my therapist. My therapist. I’ve been with her since I was diagnosed. She’s who I lean on the most,” she said. “Yes I can go to my mom or other people for support but even when I explain what ADHD is, they want to help but they don’t have the tools.”
Her experiences have strengthened her dedication to making emotional wellness sources more accessible while encouraging people to search assist from certified professionals.
Entrepreneurship Taught McCotry A Different Kind Of Hustle
Despite her a long time of company expertise, McCotry admitted that entrepreneurship has launched an totally different set of duties.
“I think the biggest thing, of course when you have a job, you’re going to show up and want to shine and grow,” she said. “But there’s a different type of tenacity, want and hunger in entrepreneurship.”
McCotry said working for herself has modified how she approaches both skilled ambition and personal duty.
“When you think about the future and the type of life that you want for yourself. The want to work harder for yourself, there’s a lot from a negative perspective as well.”
While conventional employment could offer more outlined working hours, she famous that business possession could make it troublesome to disconnect.
“When you’re corporate you’re working 9-5 and then you’re off. The mental toll as an entrepreneur, you’re always on. There’s a different hunger, but the way you’re managing your mental is also different because you’re working harder for yourself than you’d work for anybody else.”
Even the identify Zelmwell displays McCotry’s advertising and marketing background and dedication to creating a recognizable wellness model.
“Zen gives you peace. Zen gives you calm. I wanted my company to communicate calm,” she said. “I was needing a differentiation like other companies like Netflix and Hulu who have made up names that would stick from a marketing perspective.”
For McCotry, the result’s a platform that combines her skilled experience with her lived experiences.
Her Message To Black Women: Find Your Community And Remember You’re Not Alone
McCotry’s journey also comes amid broader considerations about Black ladies’s employment and financial stability.
The company’s announcement cited practically 600,000 Black ladies being economically sidelined through job loss, unemployment and workforce exits in 2025, underscoring the challenges the founder hopes her story will help illuminate.
When requested what advice she would offer Black ladies with intensive expertise and {qualifications} who continue encountering skilled rejection, McCotry emphasised the significance of neighborhood.
“Number one, find your community,” she said. “With that being said, there has been so many that have come up for black woman who have lost their jobs. There are so many articles.”
She said communities of Black ladies have created areas to exchange skilled alternatives and present encouragement during troublesome profession transitions. She has her own platform and space called “Life As Keisha” on Substack, where a column titled “Broken Bougie: A Survival Guide for Formerly Successful Black Women,” helped insight dialog.
“In these communities, we’re sharing job opportunities. But even from a mental perspective, you can know sis, you are not alone.”
McCotry also pressured that building a business isn’t essentially the precise path for everybody.
“Entrepreneurship isn’t for everybody and that’s okay,” she said. “There are black women in 9-5s as well but if you are wanting to work for yourself, I am an advocate for AI.”
For ladies contemplating entrepreneurship, she inspired studying about out there technology and surrounding themselves with people who perceive their experiences.
“Root yourself in community, we’re all we got. They’re out there,” she said.
Zelmwell Is About More Than An App
While McCotry hopes Zelmwell continues to grow, her final purpose isn’t merely to set up another profitable technology company.
Instead, she needs people navigating ADHD and emotional challenges to acknowledge that needing assist doesn’t diminish their value.
When requested what she hopes somebody feels otherwise about themselves after utilizing Zelmwell, McCotry returned to the message that impressed her journey.
“That there’s nothing wrong with me and I’m okay. I just didn’t have the tools to know how to function. There’s nothing wrong with me.”
For Black ladies navigating profession uncertainty, her message is rooted in self-understanding, neighborhood, and the likelihood of discovering a new direction without abandoning their ambitions.
Zelmwell is accessible for free through Apple’s App Store, with premium access supplied at $9.99 month-to-month or $79.99 yearly following a seven-day free trial.
Readers can be taught more about the platform at Zelmwell.com or obtain Zelmwell through the App Store.
The post Zelmwell App Founder Keisha McCotry Opens Up About ADHD, Corporate Rejection & The Power Of Reinvention [Exclusive] appeared first on GWN.
