Highly Successful People Who Have Been Diagnosed With Bipolar Disorder

This series is a celebration of successful people who have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder at some point in their lives, but they refused to let it stop them. When people think bipolar, they think of creative types like artists, musicians, writers, and movie stars. While I have some of those on the schedule for this series, we can't forget about other professions, such as doctors, government officials, and successful business people. The truth is, being diagnosed with bipolar disorder or any other mental illness may be life-changing, but it doesn't mean success is out of reach.

Part 1: Business Professionals

I chose to write about business professionals first because, let's face it, the odds of becoming rich and famous aren't in the cards for most of us. A career in some sort of business is more likely for most of us. Bipolar is commonly associated with creativity, but that doesn't only mean paint brushes and song lyrics. It can also mean creating a business from scratch or helping an existing business creatively grow and expand.

Dave Dahl: Dave’s Killer Bread
Ted Turner: Turner Broadcasting
Andy Dunn: Bonobos cofounder
Hannah Hardy-Jones: The Kite Project
Gillian Stein: Henry’s Enterprise’s CEO

#1 Dave Dahl of Dave's Killer Bread

Life wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for Dave. In fact, his life got off to a rough start which tends to happen sometimes when mental illness goes undiagnosed. You don't know what you don't know is the only way to describe it. Often times with the emotional swings of bipolar, bouts of high energy can lead to high productivity or fast-paced problems, and lows can lead to bad decisions if gone unchecked. This was the case for Dave.

Fortunately for Dave, while he was locked up, the prison psychiatrist prescribed antidepressants. He hadn't yet been diagnosed with a mental illness, but this helped pull him out of a suicidal depression. The medication became the catalyst for him to slowly regain control of his life.

His baking career didn't really begin until 2005, after spending 15 years in and out of prison for multiple charges. His brother welcomed him back to the family bakery with open arms. It wasn't long after that Dave's Killer Bread began gaining popularity with Dave's cartoon likeness on the packaging, and as they say, the rest is history.

Or at least it was until 2013 when Dave returned to work after a vacation and acted way out of his normal character. He had quit taking the antidepressants that, for so long, had helped keep his life in order. What no one knew at the time was that he was in psychosis. Comparing himself to Jesus and Buddha, he was fixated on peace and love but began physically intimidating coworkers and customers.

When the police arrived, it escalated into a car chase ending in Dave hitting three police vehicles. After spending the night in jail and a string of court appearances, it was later confirmed that he had been diagnosed with bipolar 1 disorder.

Sounds like an eventful life, doesn't it? Success is never easy or pretty, regardless of whether there is a mental health issue or not. Dave persevered through it all, and in 2015, the Dahl family bakery sold for $275 million. Dave's cut was an estimated $33 million of that. He didn't give up; he made mistakes along the way, like most of us, but he kept moving forward.

At the time of this article, he still regularly volunteers with various charities and enjoys studying and buying African art. You can find a more in-depth article HERE.

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#2 Ted Turner

Ted Turner is arguably one of the greatest businessmen of our time, despite navigating bipolar disorder. Fighting against bouts of depression and periods of suicidal thoughts didn't stop Ted from becoming a success as far back as 1960 when he went to work for his father's advertising company. Through hard work and determination, he more than doubled the profits at the branch he ran for his dad.

Unfortunately, not long into his career in advertising, his father, Ed, passed away, leaving the entire company in his hands. His father had also been diagnosed with bipolar disorder but lost his battle with suicidal thoughts, which cut his life short.

Instead of calling it quits, Ted pulled his father's company out of debt and pushed the envelope of innovation. In 1980 he formed the first news network of its kind, running 24 hours a day. We know it as CNN, one of the most influential news channels in the nation.

He later followed CNN up with additional networks boasting the same level of success. These include the Cartoon Network, the first ever to only show cartoons and nothing else, and also Turner Network Television.

Ted credited bipolar with some of his riskier moves that led to his success but admitted he had some tough fights along the way with his own depression and suicidal thoughts. The trick is to continue pushing forward and not stay in those dark places.

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#3 Andy Dunn

Andy Dunn was the co-founder of Bonobos, a men's apparel company. The clothing company was founded in 2017, with Andy at the helm as CEO until 2017. That was the year his company sold to Walmart for a whopping $310 million.

Andy pulls back the curtain on what it's like to wrestle with bipolar 1 disorder and create a business in his book Burn Rate: Launching a Startup and Losing My Mind.

Dunn experienced his first mental break in his early twenties, followed by a second one more than a decade later. This second one ended in hospitalization, and upon release, he was arrested for the conduct that took place during his mental break.

This second episode led Andy to finally face his diagnosis head-on. He had been ashamed of it for far too long, and after sixteen years, he came to terms with it.

Please remember, we may have bipolar, but we are not bipolar. That is two different things. The disorder does not define us.

Andy didn't let it define him, either. His current project is a business called Pumpkin Pie. It's an app for platonic friendships aimed at relieving the loneliness and isolation that all too often comes with mental health issues. He could have taken his fortune and disappeared into the sunset, but instead, he has chosen to stick around and help people heal and find hope.

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#4 Hannah Hardy-Jones

Hannah is the CEO and founder of The Kite Project, based in New Zealand. The app began in 2018 as a resource for mothers but has grown into a customizable resource for organizations, companies, and specific groups of people.

The Kite Project was a direct result of her own bipolar diagnosis in 2013, which followed the birth of her first child.

Instead of bottling up her story and her emotions, she saw them as a chance to help people by sharing and speaking out.

Her background in HR and determination gave her the foundation to build an app into a platform that hopes to reach 10 million people by 2030. That's no easy task.

They plan to cross over into multiple languages and countries to reach areas lacking access to mental health technology.

One of her goals is to be able to give back by gifting the tech platform to impactful causes. Her full story can be found at www.thekiteprogram.com.

Had she never been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, The Kite Program and everyone it has helped would not exist. Let that soak in for a minute. She took a life-changing event that could have derailed her life in a negative way but instead used it as fuel to help millions. Through courage and hard work, she has built something bigger than herself to help people in need of mental health support.

Your mental health obstacles shouldn't be the anchor to weigh you down. Use them as the wind in your sails to let God work through you and fulfill your purpose.

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#5 Gillian Stein

In 2015 Gillian Stein took over as CEO of Henry's, Canada's largest independent camera retailer. After a family friend passed away due to suicide, she felt the need to share how bipolar disorder has shaped her life without controlling it.

In 2021, she became the first high-profile Canadian CEO to publicly announce a personal struggle with mental illness.

She was also the driving force for Henry's Foundation in 2020, which was formed to support the mental health of Canadians all over. With mental illness affecting her immediate family, they had always kept quiet about it until then.

With her sister running Henry's Foundation, they began telling their story loud and proud.

She realized by not talking about it, it was like pretending it didn't exist. Pretending it didn't exist meant keeping the fact a CEO could have bipolar disorder and be successful a secret. The world is a better place because she was brave enough to share.

What do all 5 of these business professionals have in common? They didn't let bipolar disorder define them. Some of them found success while living with the disorder, others found success because of the diagnosis.

You have a purpose, you have a voice, you have the strength. Some days are better than others, and that's okay, but don't get lost in the bad ones. You might think you have nothing to offer, but you do. You have a story, and that story is a powerful testament to strength and overcoming.

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