Melissa Bernstein, co-founder of toy company Melissa & Doug, on creativity and her lifelong depression

Guy Kawasaki's Remarkable People

Meet Melissa Bernstein, half of the team behind Melissa and Doug. Melissa & Doug is a half-billion-dollar success story, its products a cheerful presence in toy stores and on children’s bedroom floors everywhere. Far less known are the real people behind the company: Melissa and Doug Bernstein, a married couple and parents of six, who are the founders, architects, and entrepreneurial force behind the company’s meteoric rise. Melissa, with her uncanny ability to understand what brings joy to children, has been the chief designer of its 5000+ playthings. But behind that genius is a truth she's rarely divulged: she has spent her life grappling with existential anxiety and depression, a condition that both fueled her creativity and brought her to the brink of self-harm. She's now on a journey to help others learn to accept themselves with her book Lifelines and community at https://www.lifelines.com/.