Adversity to Advantage

“What really saved my life during that time was my ability to talk”

I am SUPER excited to have gotten the chance to interview the Legendary, Mental Health Power House that is Geoff McDonald!

Best known as a global advocate, campaigner and consultant who is passionate about addressing the stigma of mental ill health in workplaces, and about helping organisations embed purpose as a key driver of business performance. His sense of purpose to his work was catalysed by his diagnosis in 2008 of Anxiety fuelled depression.

Geoff shares his experience of mental ill health, his journey to recovery as well as what goes into a sustainable health and wellbeing initiative within the workplace.

We go deep on topics such as;

Connect with Geoff and learn more about his work at  geoffmcdonald.co.uk , linkedIn &Twitter.  Hear more about our mental health work at Petra Velzeboer Ltd. 

‘It’s not going back to business as normal, we’re in a very new era now and If you’re not stretching yourself to meet that you will get left behind’

Samantha Clarke is an amazing friend of mine,  Happiness Consultant, TedX speaker and Author of Love it or Leave it . She advices global companies on Happiness at Work and supports people’s conscious decisions to either Love it or Leave it!

She is full of innovative advice for employers and employees on finding happiness in our work as well as providing practical tips on how we can all adjust to the change born from the pandemic!

We get practical on topics such as:

Find out more by connecting with Samantha on Linkedin and you can see her full personal story in Episode 11 titled:  How Badly do you Want it .

Find out more by connecting with Samantha on Linkedin and hear more about our mental health work at Petra Velzeboer Ltd. 

You can catch a previous interview with Samantha How Badly do you Want it

Further Resources mentioned in this episode::

Micro Mentor

Life Coach Directory

Love it or Leave it 

“When I came out…..I had completely unconditional support and love and I realised that’s sadly not the case for everyone”

I feel very privileged to interview Matthew Clements. Matthew is the Senior diversity and inclusion advisor at Herbert Smith Freehills and i have had the pleasure of working with him through the partnership between Medigold  and PVL where i have been supporting the Mental Health strategy and training of HSF.

We discuss Mental health and his Matthew goes deep on his own experience of mental health and coming out to his family and friends.

We cover other topics such as:

Connect with Matthew on Linkedin and hear more about our mental health work at Petra Velzeboer Ltd. 

“You really can’t pour from an empty cup. You need to make sure you are ok first”

Ranked as one of the top 10 companies to work for by The Sunday Times and recently shortlisted for the REBA wellbeing awards,  Hannah Meredith leads the way on Health and Wellbeing for MVF Global

We discuss the current and long-lasting impact  of the pandemic on employees and their mental health and Hannah lends practical advice on how employers can implement mental health strategies.

Hannah also opens up about her personal  struggles with anxiety how she’s learned to manage these effectively.

We cover topics such as:

Connect with Hannah on Linkedin and hear more about our mental health work at Petra Velzeboer Ltd. 

‘We have to adapt with the changing times and we have to adapt to what are employees are needing’

So excited to speak with Selena Alcover who is an Employee Experience Manager at National Grid.

We discuss the impact of the current pandemic on employees and Selena offers tangible advice to leaders on supporting their workforce through these challenging times as well as opening up about her own personal struggle of becoming a first time parent in the midst of a pandemic.

We go deep on:

Connect with Selena on Linkedin and hear more about our mental health work at Petra Velzeboer Ltd. 

‘I would say to anyone, speak and there is bravery in that even if you are vulnerable ‘

Tony Nneke is Chair of Oracle UKIE Cultural Harmony Network and passionate about Diversity and Inclusion as well as mental health.

Tony  talks openly about needing to take time off work due to poor mental health and how leaders helped or hindered his experience in the workplace.

We go deep on:

Connect with Tony on Linkedin and hear more about our mental health work at Petra Velzeboer Ltd.

‘I think you are a better leader if you bring your whole self to work ‘

I am so excited to have been introduced to Jules Parke-Robinson - with a 20 year career in the British Military and current experience as Chair of the British Wheelchair Basketball, she has amazing insights on motivating a team, men’s mental health and adapting to change.

We discuss her experiences of mental health and leadership in the workplace as well as retiring only to be thrust in a world where she didn’t feel she belonged and struggled to adapt into a new career phase. Anyone who’s a leader or has hit rock bottom will relate to this episode!

We go deep on:

Connect with Jules on Linkedin and hear more about our mental health work at Petra Velzeboer Ltd. 

‘As adults we seem to forget that we were once children ’

It was so great to speak with Sayce Holmes - Williams, CEO of Mentivity, Activist and key note speaker and a coach of young people.

Sayce has a passion for raising the aspirations of young people between the ages of 8 & 25 by sharing his own personal stories and experiences of his childhood journey growing up in south east London.

His organisation Mentivity is an inspirational mentoring organisation and alternative educational provision that provides aspirational support for young people, schools and parents through 1:1 mentoring and group conversation based learning.

We go deep on:

Connect with Sayce on Linkedin and see more of his work at Mentivity

Super excited to have this conversation with David Allard, Part of the Petra Velzeboer team , David is now retired but has a wealth of experience as a CEO of a financial services organisation.

David shares with me his approach to mental health in the workplace and how CEOs can champion the cause  , leading by example, creating the correct environment and promoting the correct culture amongst their workforce.

We discuss topics such as

Connect with  on Linkedin and join the conversation at Petra Velzeboer Ltd. 

I am so excited for this new season where we focus 10 episodes on mental health at work and the people that champion this conversation with organisations.

Rondette Smith is an executive director in Human Capital Management at Goldman Sachs. A member of the Diversity & inclusion team, she oversees the Black & Asian talent strategies across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. She is also part of our advisory board and works closely with the Petra Velzeboer Ltd team to help us advise companies on their mental health agenda.

Rondette knows the crucial importance of mental health in the workplace and her personal story of a boyfriend being sectioned after going missing, hits to the heart of why  she is passionate about this topic.

We discuss topics such as:

Connect with Rondette on Linkedin and join the conversation at Petra Velzeboer Ltd.