Redesigning Wellness Podcast

As health professionals, we all know the importance of good sleep but how often do we include in into our wellness initiatives or address it at the workplace? On podcast # 7 I interviewed sleep researcher Dr. Rebecca Robbins and I thought we should re-address this health factor.

Today we talk about:

• What stands in our way of getting enough sleep
• What happens when people don’t get enough of it
• We talk lions, bears and wolves
• He leaves us with his top sleep tips and I’ve implemented one of these right after our interview.

You’ll learn more about my sleep habits then I’m sure you care about and we learn how Dr. Breus's sleep habits defy some common sleep advice.

For full show notes visit www.redesigningwellness.com.

How often do you incorporate or highlight doing good, giving, volunteering, mentoring, etc. within your wellness offerings? It turns out that giving can impact your well-being.

Today’s guest is Dr. Stephen Post. Stephen is an interesting fellow with a lot of knowledge around the benefits to doing good.

In this interview, he defines what doing good means, the health benefits, if you can overdo doing good and how to incorporate doing good into the workplace. Stephen also makes fun of my southern accent and leaves us with a joke that my 4 year old loved.

For full show notes visit www.redesigningwellness.com

Ed Harrold’s mastery in the science of mindful breathing has guided him to apply conscious breathing practices in corporate performance coaching, fitness & athletic training, healthcare trainings, stress reduction and overall health and well-being.

Ed is a contributing health & wellness editor for many publications including Huffington post, Thrive Global, MindBodyGreen, PTOnTheNet, & Corporate Wellness Magazine.

When Ed first reached out I was skeptical (because that’s me) that he could offer something new about breathing and mindfulness to you guys. Let’s just say he delivered! In fact, I was engrossed in what he was saying and kinda forgot it wasn’t a private conversation and I ask an off topic conversation about my childhood and how I was raised.

Other than that, we discussed using therapeutic mindful breathing as a tool for well-being, how it can help you achieve a state of flow, and how you can incorporate these techniques into your day.

For full show notes, visit www.redesigningwellness.com

Most of you have probably heard of or are members of WELCOA (Wellness Council of America). My 5th podcast interview was with the President of WELCOA, Ryan Picarella, where he shared his vision for changing the wellness conversation.

The change in leadership (from former President, David Hunnicutt) has also brought in new blood to help Ryan execute on the organization’s strategy. Todays guest is Sara Rauch, the Director of Strategy and Planning at WELCOA. Sara tells us a bit about the inner workings of WELCOA, some upcoming updates to the Well Workplace Checklist and Award, why WELCOA’s a neutral force in the market and she shares a deeply personal story that led her into the field of organizational/industrial psych and wellness.

Sara mentions several names in the industry worth noting and I’m happy to say almost all of them are past podcast guests!

For full show notes, visit: www.redesigningwellness.com

A few years ago, I was thinking about starting a wellness podcast and decided to search what was already out there. That’s when I found the Brave Endurance podcast hosted by Dr. James Kelley. Although he didn’t know, he inspired me to get off my ass and start my podcast!

James recently rebranded his wellness based podcast to one titled Executives After Hours: Real Conversations with Leaders where he has authentic conversations with real leaders and their personal journeys,

James is also CEO of BraveEndurance, which is a well-being consultancy which he recently relocated to the UAE to expand the organizational footprint to the Middle East.

James and I discuss what organizational well-being is like in the Middle East, a bit about his journey relocating his family of 5 there and a bit about his upcoming book on Authentic Leadership. We also talk a bit about Western Australia where we both spent some time, so forgive the reminiscing.

For full show notes visit: www.redesigningwellness.com

If you’re a regular on Linked In, I’m sure you have heard of or know Bob Merberg. Bob and I connected via Linked In and I’ve enjoyed his posts and point of view. For more than 20 years, he’s been helping people get healthier – primarily by promoting innovation and rigor in employee wellness.

As a leading advocate for new methods to support employee well-being through healthy work and psychosocial environments, Bob’s been featured numerous times in HR Executive magazine and other media outlets such as MarketWatch and Wellbeing Practitioner.

We start out with some breaking news (at least at the time of the initial release), move on to the challenges he faced in corporate wellness, we get into what he doesn’t believe in anymore and of course, what he does.

For full show notes, visit: https://redesigningwellness.com/

Do you offer health coaching at your worksite? Health coaching can be such a powerful tool to help employees progress towards their goals.

Some employers mistake having health professionals telling people what to eat, how to exercise or giving biometric results as coaching. And there’s nothing wrong with having those pieces but health coaches are expert facilitators of mindset and behavior change.

To learn more about the expertise of coaching, I today’s guest is Margaret Moore, AKA Coach Meg. In 2000, Meg founded Wellcoaches Corporation, in strategic partnership with the American College of Sports Medicine. They’ve trained more than 10,000 health professionals as health and wellness coaches in 49 countries.

In this interview, we discuss what she was doing before the formation of Wellcoaches, the coaching model they use at wellcoaches, why an employer should invest in coaching and what they should consider.

For full show notes, visit: www.redesigningwellness.com.

With my podcast, I’ve interviewed many wellness thought leaders and have learned so much from them. But as you know, I have a tactical side to me where I want to give you specifics on how to implement these great ideas. To do this, I set out to explore some real examples of companies who are redefining what wellness means, often stepping out of traditional wellness programming.

My conversation today is with Leslie Ritter, Wellness Leader at Eileen Fischer. Eileen Fischer is the fashion/retail brand and Eileen is the actual owner that is still at the helm.

Today Leslie and I talk about:

• Their wellness approach
• Executive support
• Challenges within the fashion and retail industry
• Her advice to others who want to challenge the status quo

For full show notes, visit www.redesigningwellness.com

To learn more about Resilience training, visit my Corporate Resilience page.

Municipalities have unique wellness challenges. Even the smaller ones have many departments with a wide variety in the workforce. Think police and librarians....different needs right? 

I'm continuing to interview wellness professionals who are on the frontline doing the work in a non-traditional way. Today I talk to Rana De Boer, Work Well Manager at the City of Sioux Falls. She has over 22 years of experience and is responsible for workers comp, safety and wellness. She started in wellness but her role has grown in scope over the years.

Rana tells us about her approach to wellness, how she overcomes challenges specific to municipalities, ROI and her advice for challenging the status quo.

For full show notes, visit https://redesigningwellness.com/

When I asked some of my local wellness colleagues who they want to hear on the podcast, today’s guest came up. Today I talk to Michelle Spehr, MA, M.Ed., MCHES, CWWPC, is the Director of Wellness Consulting with The Benefits Services Group (BSG).

In her role, she provides strategic direction and assistance with the planning, implementing, and evaluating of employer-sponsored health promotion and wellness initiatives.

Her approach involves expanding the wellness value proposition beyond reducing employee health risks to creating the conditions where employees can bring their best selves to work each day.

In today’s conversation, we talk about the wellness offerings she sees with employers, her approach to wellness, challenges she faces and her advice for other wellness pros.

For full show notes, visit: https://redesigningwellness.com