Jen Gotch
EntrepreneurDirector
United States
Jen Gotch is an entrepreneur and creative director who co-founded the lifestyle brand ban.do in 2008 and later served as its creative director and chief creative officer. She has also used her public platform to discuss mental health and emotional wellbeing. [2]
Career and work
Gotch began her creative career working in film-set art departments and later moved into food and prop styling, art direction and editorial photography. In 2008, she co-founded ban.do, initially as a small accessories company that later developed into a broader lifestyle brand. [2]
Over 12 years with ban.do, Gotch served as creative director and later chief creative officer and ambassador. She also hosted the podcast Jen Gotch Is OK… Sometimes and published the memoir The Upside of Being Down in 2020. [2]
What has been publicly discussed
- Gotch has publicly identified herself as having Bipolar II disorder, along with generalized anxiety disorder and attention-deficit disorder. She has said she received the bipolar diagnosis in her thirties after years of mental-health difficulties that had not been fully understood. [1][3]
- She later discussed the diagnosis extensively through social media, her podcast and her memoir. [2][1]
- Gotch has described both depression and hypomania. Looking back, she has identified earlier experiences—including hitting herself in the head with a wine bottle and becoming convinced that her skin was turning green—as episodes she now understands as hypomania. [1]
- She has also written about suicidal thoughts and periods of depression that interfered with daily life and work. During one depressive episode, she described being unable to complete her work, cancelling plans and withdrawing from other people. [5]
- Gotch has described a long process of finding effective treatment. She has said that from roughly age 23 to 31 she worked to find the right mental-health professionals and combination of medications, and that when medication finally worked, she felt “normal” rather than artificially happy. [3]
- She has also described using medication, meditation, talk therapy, EMDR, psychiatry, exercise and other approaches to manage her mental health. [4]
- In 2020, Gotch said she had spent the previous couple of years working through issues that surfaced while writing her memoir and described herself at that point as being in a more peaceful state than she had expected. She continued to acknowledge fluctuations in how she felt from day to day. [6]
- Gotch has become an outspoken advocate for discussing mental health openly. She has said that speaking publicly about her own experiences helped other people feel less alone and reinforced her belief that openness could reduce stigma. [5]
- She has also argued for greater acceptance of emotion in the workplace. In discussing work culture, Gotch has emphasized emotional intelligence and making room for difficult feelings without treating mental health as an excuse for harmful behavior. [7]
“What if I was actually Bipolar and not just Depressed?”
— Jen Gotch [8]
Sources and other resourcesExpand to view the sources used in this profile and resources to learn more.
Sources used for this profile
The following sources contain information that supports the claims made on this page.
Los Angeles Times“Anxiety is taking over. Jen Gotch’s new book can help. So can trash dancing” Documents her Bipolar II diagnosis, hypomania and mental-health history.
Jen GotchWork History Gotch’s own professional history covering her early creative work, ban.do, podcast and memoir.
Los Angeles Times“How I Made It: Jen Gotch wants Bando to be about more than cute accessories — like mental health advocacy” Covers her search for effective medication, career and advocacy.
View all 8 sources
Forbes“9 Female Founders On Mental Health & The Self-Care Tips That Work For Them” First-person comments about medication, therapy, EMDR, psychiatry, meditation and exercise.
The Washington Post“Jen Gotch is okay — sometimes. But with her new podcast and Ban.do, she’s nailing it” Covers depressive periods, public disclosure and mental-health advocacy.
The Washington Post“How Jen Gotch’s new memoir helped prepare her for the pandemic” Covers her mental health and state of mind in 2020.
CBS Los Angeles“The Key Is Understanding Our Emotions, Having Emotional Intelligence” Interview about emotional intelligence, workplace culture and her memoir.
Yahoo“Bipolar fashionista opens up about the common challenge of her mental illness” Reproduces Gotch’s first-person account of realizing she might have bipolar disorder, receiving the diagnosis and returning to medication.
Learn more
Recommended books and other resources about Jen Gotch and their experiences.