The weight of stress in Detroit isn’t just a statistic; it’s a lived experience. The numbers tell part of the story—Detroit has the highest unemployment rate, poverty rate, and divorce rate in the country. It ranks second only to Cleveland as the most stressed city in America, according to a WalletHub study analyzing over 180 cities across 39 key metrics. But ask any Detroiter, and they’ll tell you stress isn’t just about numbers—it’s about survival, resilience, and the grind of making it through each day in a system that often feels stacked against them.
Detroit topped the list for health and safety stress, a category that speaks volumes about what people in this city face daily. Families navigate financial burdens with one of the lowest median household incomes adjusted for cost of living. The median credit score in the city is among the lowest in the nation, reflecting cycles of economic hardship that make it nearly impossible to build wealth or stability. People aren’t sleeping well, either—Detroit ranks last in the amount of sleep its residents get each night. And when it comes to physical health, Detroit has the second-highest obesity rate in the country, a reality shaped by food deserts, a lack of accessible healthcare, and the ongoing stressors that make wellness feel like a luxury instead of a necessity.
Jeanetta Roberts knows this stress all too well. For nearly 30 years, she worked tirelessly in a job that drained her physically and emotionally. Long hours, demanding bosses, and little pay left her feeling trapped in an endless cycle of exhaustion. The weight of financial instability, coupled with the emotional toll of workplace stress, pushed her into a deep depression. “I was waking up every morning with a pit in my stomach, dreading the day ahead. The work never stopped, and the expectations just kept piling on,” she said.
The breaking point came when she suffered a severe anxiety attack at work. Her doctor warned that if she didn’t slow down, her health would be at serious risk. That was the moment she made the decision to retire early. “I walked away before that job could take me out for good. It wasn’t an easy choice, but it was the best one I ever made,” Roberts said.
Since leaving the workforce, Roberts has reclaimed her joy. She’s traveled to places she once only dreamed of visiting. She got married, something she never thought she’d have time for while juggling the demands of work and life stress. Her health has improved drastically. “I didn’t realize how much my job was killing me until I left. My blood pressure is down, I sleep through the night, and for the first time in years, I feel free,” she said.
Madala Mathurin, the founder of Kozen, a Detroit-based wellness platform, has seen firsthand how stress shapes the lives of Detroiters, particularly Black professionals navigating spaces that weren’t built with them in mind. “Detroit is a city built on resilience, hard work, and community. I grew up surrounded by people who put in long hours whether in factories or small businesses—but I also saw how workplace stress weighed heavily on them. It affected their health and their relationships,” he said.
Mathurin knows the pressure that comes with being Black in a workforce that often demands more while offering fewer resources for stress management. “As a Black man in Detroit, I’ve experienced firsthand how stress, especially in professional spaces, can feel compounded in a sense. There’s an unspoken expectation to work a little harder, prove yourself a little more, and navigate spaces that weren’t always designed for you. That’s why I built Kozen to create a space where wellness isn’t a luxury and exclusive, but a necessity that’s accessible to everyone, especially in communities like ours.”
Kozen operates as a digital marketplace connecting businesses with wellness professionals, making services like yoga, meditation, sound baths, and breathwork accessible to employees who might otherwise never encounter them. Mathurin understands the toll of stress because he’s lived it—first as the second iOS engineer at Rocket Homes, then working on integrations for Google, Slack, and Dropbox. “The tech industry, like many other industries, moves fast, and burnout is a real thing. There were times I found myself working non-stop, long hours, constantly plugged in, and struggling to find a healthy cadence,” he said.
That’s when he turned to mindfulness, movement, and breathwork—not just as a way to cope, but as essential tools for peak performance and personal well-being. “I saw firsthand how powerful these practices were, and I wanted to make them more accessible to organizations for their teams,” Mathurin said.
Detroit’s struggles with stress are not new, but they are urgent. Workplace stress is costing U.S. businesses $500 billion annually, a staggering figure that reflects not only lost productivity but the human cost of burnout, mental health challenges, and physical illnesses linked to chronic stress. For Black professionals in Detroit, the challenge is even steeper. Systemic barriers make it harder to access mental health support, take time off, or even acknowledge the weight of stress without being perceived as weak or unmotivated.
Mathurin’s path to tech success wasn’t conventional. He started at the Apple Store, selling products and getting his first exposure to technology and business. “My story is one of persistence, adaptability, and giving back. I was born here in Detroit and attended Wayne State University, but my journey into tech didn’t start in a classroom, it started at the Apple Store, selling products. That’s where I got my first real exposure to technology and business, working directly with people and seeing how tech could shape their lives,” he said.
Late nights spent teaching himself how to code led to opportunities in software engineering. He built products at Rocket Homes and eventually worked in Los Angeles and San Francisco, integrating software for some of the biggest names in tech. But something was missing. “Those years in coastal tech hubs were eye-opening. I saw how wellness was deeply embedded into work culture. From meditation rooms to corporate wellness programs. But at the same time, I knew that back home in Detroit, those resources weren’t as accessible, especially for Black professionals and entrepreneurs,” he said.
That realization brought him back home, determined to shift the conversation around wellness in Detroit. “Detroit taught me the value of community, hard work, and looking beyond your horizons, but I also saw that mental health, stress relief, and self-care weren’t always prioritized because essential needs came first,” he said.
Kozen is his answer to that. The platform isn’t just about business—it’s about creating a system of support for people who might not have realized they needed it. “That’s why I built Kozen. It’s about changing that narrative by empowering wellness professionals who already want to make an impact, helping them reach a wider audience, and making self-care a community-driven movement,” Mathurin said.
For a city ranked second in stress, solutions like Kozen are more than just an option—they’re a necessity. Detroiters have always been fighters, innovators, and survivors. But survival shouldn’t come at the cost of well-being. The data is clear, but so is the path forward. Creating spaces where Black professionals, entrepreneurs, and everyday Detroiters can access mental health resources without stigma is key to breaking cycles of stress and burnout. The work is ongoing, but the foundation is being built—one breath, one moment of mindfulness, one Detroit-born tech entrepreneur, and one freed Detroiter at a time.
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