Bipolar Empath started as a survival project. It became a workplace mission.
I’m Shak Shah, founder of Bipolar Empath, workplace mental health speaker, and the person who learned the hard way that high performance and suffering can look identical from the outside.
I built a career in high-pressure environments where grit is praised and silence is rewarded. I also lived through what happens when your mind and body finally collect the bill. Bipolar Empath exists to shift how we talk about mental health at work, not as a trend or a poster, but as a real leadership practice.
My breaking point looked like success, until it didn’t.
I know what it’s like to be the dependable one, the ambitious one, the one who pushes through. I also know what it’s like to quietly fall apart while still showing up.
My story includes bipolar disorder, burnout, and a complete rebuild of identity. It also includes returning to real life with new rules: boundaries, honest support, better language, and routines that protect performance instead of sacrificing people to it.
Bipolar Empath is where I share what I wish leaders, teams, and younger me understood sooner.
Same mission, different rooms.
Today, Bipolar Empath shows up in two ways:
For organisations:
I deliver keynotes, workshops, and panels that help teams respond to mental health with clarity and action, without lowering standards. You’ll get language leaders can actually use, and tools teams can apply right away.
For humans:
I write and speak from lived experience, so people navigating stress, burnout, stigma, and diagnosis feel less alone and more equipped.
What I believe about mental health at work
Empathy is not soft, it is strategic.
Support is not therapy, it is leadership.
Silence is expensive. It shows up as turnover, mistakes, burnout, and broken trust.
You can care about people and still care about outcomes.
High standards and healthy culture are not opposites.
What teams walk away with
Clearer understanding of burnout, stress, stigma, and how they show up in real teams
Practical tools for boundaries, resilience, and sustainable performance
Better leadership responses in hard moments, without overstepping
Language that supports people while protecting accountability
A shared action plan teams can apply immediately
Shak today
Shak is the founder of Bipolar Empath and a workplace mental health speaker helping organisations build cultures where people can perform and stay well. His talks blend lived experience, business credibility, and practical tools leaders and teams can use right away.
Alongside his speaking work, Shak is completing his Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology and currently practises with Batool Psychotherapy and Wellness, supporting individuals navigating workplace stress, burnout, and work-life balance.
He also continues to run Shah Advisory, which keeps his work rooted in the realities of high-pressure professional environments.
Speaking and counselling are separate services. Counselling bookings are handled through the clinic.
If your workplace is ready to move beyond awareness, let’s talk.
Tell me what your team is facing, what “high pressure” looks like in your world, and what outcomes you want. I’ll recommend a talk or workshop that fits.
