“The Shecession Is Still Here—And So Are We”

akpinnovates
Nov 4
2 min read

By Adyna K. Pressley Best Women’s Empowerment Leader in the U.S. of 2025 | Featured on Oprah’s Podcast

Introduction: Five Years Later, the Shecession Still Shapes Us

The headlines may have moved on, but the shecession never left. It evolved. Five years after the pandemic first exposed the cracks in our economic systems, women—especially Black and Brown women—are still navigating the fallout. We’re still rebuilding careers, reimagining income, and reclaiming our time.

The term shecession, coined by Dr. C. Nicole Mason, gave language to a truth many of us lived: a recession that disproportionately impacted women. But this isn’t just a history lesson.

It’s a current reality.

What the Shecession Looks Like in 2025

Today’s shecession isn’t about lockdowns—it’s about legacy. It’s about the cost of childcare that rivals rent. It’s about women leaving full-time work to care for aging parents. It’s about wage gaps that haven’t closed and funding gaps that haven’t budged.

We’re still seeing:

Stalled career growth in female-dominated sectors
Limited access to capital for women entrepreneurs
Burnout and mental health strain from invisible labor
Inflation and caregiving costs that push women out of the workforce

But Here’s What We’re Also Seeing

We’re seeing women rise. We’re seeing reinvention. We’re seeing movements built from the margins.

I know this intimately. After a corporate layoff, I launched AKP Innovations and turned my story into strategy. I shared my journey on Oprah’s podcast and was honored as the Best Women’s Empowerment Leader in the U.S. of 2025—not because I had it all figured out, but because I chose to rise.