Sick and Successful

Sick and Successful by Natalie Suppes isn’t just a memoir. It’s a rebellion against everything we’re told about chronic illness, success, and what it means to have a “normal” life.

Diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at 17, later reclassified as Crohn’s disease, Natalie’s life derailed before she ever had a chance to step fully into adulthood. But instead of giving up, she built a life that was never supposed to be possible. Hospital beds, failed treatments, corporate boardrooms, motherhood, breakdowns, business launches. Natalie brings readers into the raw, messy, beautiful reality of chasing dreams in a body that doesn’t always cooperate.

She dismantles the lie that chronic illness equals weakness. Instead, she shows how strength can look like getting back up again (and again), building businesses from hospital beds, and refusing to settle for anyone else’s version of success. This isn’t toxic positivity. It is radical self-acceptance, brutal honesty, and finding ways to thrive with the pain, not despite it.

This book is for anyone who has ever felt broken, stuck, or crushed under the weight of circumstances they never asked for. The ones who are tired of watching everyone else move forward while they’re left fighting battles no one can see. Natalie pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to stay resilient when your body keeps betraying you, to rest without quitting, and to chase huge goals while carrying pain most people couldn’t handle for a day. She shares hard-earned stories of grit, faith, ambition, and survival. Sick and Successful is a reminder that success isn’t about chasing someone else’s picture-perfect life. It’s about building your own version of freedom, no matter how many times life tries to knock you out.

You are not broken. You are not alone. And your story is far from over.