The Diverse Minds Podcast

Welcome to the 202nd episode of the award-winning Diverse Minds podcast. In this mini-series, we are talking about friendship and mental health. To join me today are authors Christine Pride and Jo Piazza whose new book, You Were Always Mine, is due for release this month.

Christine Pride is a long-time publishing veteran having worked with a variety of established and debut writers and published many New York Times bestsellers over her editorial career. In addition to now writing novels and selecting teaching and coaching, Christine pens a regular column, ‘Race Matters’, for Cup of Jo.

Jo Piazza is an award-winning journalist and editor who has written for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Glamour and Elle. The bestselling author of The Knockoff, How to Be Married, Fitness Junkie, and Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win, she currently lives in Philadelphia with her husband and three children.

• About Christine and Jo, and what they're working on at the moment [01:413
• How they became authors. [02.57]
• What the term "friendship" means to them. [07:28]
• Their thoughts on navigating friendships that change due to motherhood [07:42]
• Their top three tips for looking after their mental health. [21:41]

• For both of us, I think that friendship is the backbone of our lives.
• My friends are a huge emotional support for me.
• Our friendship informs the writing of our books.
• Writing a book, it turns out, is very hard.
• I make sure I get a ton of sleep.

• Connect with Christine on Instagram.
• Connect with Jo on Instagram.
• Join my Mailing List and receive my free e-Book here
• Check out my TEDx talk: The Connection between Culture, Race and Mental Health

Have a look at my online work-life balance course on Thinkific. You can access it here: http://bit.ly/DMMHPONC

Welcome to the 201st episode of the award-winning Diverse Minds podcast. To kick things off this month, we are talking about building your personal brand with a particular focus on leveraging your culture.

• About my TEDx talk and booking me as a speaker. [00:39]
• Why I decided to talk about today's topic. [01.34]
• The definition of friendship. [02:15]
• What is true friendship? [02:57]
• Dealing with friendships that go wrong. [07:49]

• Friendship is a strong predictor of both health and happiness.
• Having a few close friends is more important for health outcomes.
• Daily loneliness is the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
• Friendship fallouts can be particularly challenging.
• Friends can be more important than family.

• Listen to my TEDx Talk
• Maximize Mental Health With A Few Good Friends: Here’s How
• 12 Steps to Get Over a Friendship Breakup (Effectively!)
• Why Ending a Friendship Can Be Worse Than a Breakup
• Why Work Friendships Go Awry, and How to Prevent It
• Listen to Episode #75: How love promotes positive mental health
• Check out Episode #31: Staying connected during social isolation
• Join my Mailing List and receive my free e-Book here
• Check out my TEDx talk: The Connection between Culture, Race and Mental Health

Have a look at my online work-life balance course on Thinkific. You can access it here: http://bit.ly/DMMHPONC

Welcome to the 200th episode of the award-winning Diverse Minds podcast.

Yes, can you believe it? 200 episodes and nearly 4 years into the podcast. So this week’s episode is a celebration.

To join me today in celebrating is the person who encouraged me to start a podcast and has shown me unwavering support, Dr Jonathan Ashong-Lamptey.

Dr Jonathan Ashong-Lamptey is the world authority on Evidence-Based Inclusion in the workplace. His consultancy provides research, training and consulting to make organisations inclusive.
He has a PhD from the London School of Economics and this allows him to combine professional expertise with the academic rigour that his clients expect, these include Aviva Insurance, Sony Pictures, Conde Nast, John Lewis, Natwest Bank and Meta. 

He is the host of The Element of Inclusion; a weekly podcast that informs and educates using applied research and thought leadership. Dr Jonathan has been featured in the Financial Times, Bloomberg and BBC News. 

A prolific writer, Dr Jonathan is on a mission to help a million people to make their workplace inclusive through his writing, courses and other resources

• About Christine and Jo, and what they're working on at the moment [02:04]
• What makes him so passionate about Evidence-Based Inclusion. [02.59]
• Why data is not collected and interpreted in the correct way. [08:51]
• How to readdress the disproportionate allocation of resources to the C suite, and senior leaders. [13:16]
• His top 3 tips for looking after his mental health. [32:30]

• In everything you do at work, you use data to make decisions.
• When they are talking about diversity training, inclusion training and so on, it's always focused on the people at the top and ignores the middle manager.
• Workplaces should consider starting a podcast and a book club.
• Whenever I read a book, I take five memorable quotes, four stories, three practical activities, two frameworks, and one critical perspective. This allows me to get so much value from a book and make it practical, relevant, and something that I can communicate to other people.
• I like to watch movies that have a really simple narrative.

• Connect with Dr Jonathan on LinkedIn, email and Twitter
• Listen to his podcast.
• Join my Mailing List and receive my free e-Book here
• Check out my TEDx talk: The Connection between Culture, Race and Mental Health

Have a look at my online work-life balance course on Thinkific. You can access it here: http://bit.ly/DMMHPONC

Complete the form to discuss your training needs: https://forms.gle/hgnYtmTu33Zeem489

Check out my FAQs here: http://diverseminds.co.uk/solutions/coaching/

You can learn more about the coaching I do to support your wellbeing here. 

If you enjoyed this episode, then consider subscribing on Apple podcast, Spotify or wherever you access your podcasts from.

If you enjoyed it, why not leave a review? 

You can also connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  

Remember to tune in next week, where I’ll bring you more insights on mental health and inclusion.

Welcome to the 199th episode of the award-winning Diverse Minds podcast. This month’s theme is all about Men’s Health and attitudes in society. Today we are focusing on failing forward, to join me is Nana Parry.

If you enjoyed this episode, then consider subscribing on Apple podcast, Spotify or wherever you access your podcasts from.

Nana is a serial entrepreneur that uses his expertise in customer insights to build new businesses.

He is the founder of Tectonic, a research firm that helps companies understand their customers in extreme detail, working with individual startups all the way to the FTSE250, with clients in 12 different countries.

He also runs a Venture Studio, helping large corporations create new businesses from scratch, and has lectured business students at the likes of Imperial College London, UCL, London Business School and Capital Enterprise.

Prior to his journey as a founder, Nana worked for tech companies like Fujitsu and Rackspace, delivering multi-million dollar projects and running large teams.

Nana has also raised multiple investment rounds for his different ventures and his aim is to continue to create assets of value and help as many people as he can along the way.

• About Nana and what he's working on at the moment [01:41]
• His journey into the world of entrepreneurship. [02.49]
• What the term "failure" means to him. [07:28]
• Some ways to push back against societal assumptions [07:54]
• His top three tips for looking after his mental health. [22:26]

• I realized that I didn't really know what I wanted to do because I got bored quite easily.
• We have to be tenacious and almost delusional in a way, about what we can achieve and when we can do it.
• My personality is one where I just love to do difficult things and be like, wow, I've done it and achieved.
• I think the term failure means, at least in the entrepreneurial sense, a bit of a rite of passage.
• Sometimes, some people don't want you to be successful because they don't necessarily want you to invalidate some of the decisions that they may have made.

• Connect with Nana on LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.
• Join my Mailing List and receive my free e-Book here
• Check out my TEDx talk: The Connection between Culture, Race and Mental Health

Have a look at my online work-life balance course on Thinkific. You can access it here: http://bit.ly/DMMHPONC

Welcome to the 198th episode of the award-winning Diverse Minds podcast. This month’s theme is all about Men’s Health, for Men’s Health Month. To join me today is Mark V Smith. 

About my guest

Mark Smith specialises in speaking from his personal experience of trials and tribulations in life. His desire to chronicle CHOICES and share the “journey” of his life, resonates with everyone at our core personally and professionally.

Smith served as Vice President of MACCA (Middle Atlantic Career Counseling

Association), and former RESEA (Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment) facilitator for the Department of Labor in the USA. In those previous roles, he used his gift of sharing words of perseverance that helped individuals push forward through adversity.

Mark received standing ovations when he spoke on topics such as GROWTH, PURPOSE. LEGACY at venues across the country.

An alumnus of The Ohio State University, he has a strong passion for mentoring Currently, he is a nationally acclaimed award-winning STRIVE (Support Training Results in Valuable Employees) trainer at the Center for Urban Families in Baltimore MD. His teachings and guidance have changed the lives of thousands of men and women not only in Maryland but nationwide.

With his podcast “The Process,” he outlines and breaks down SITUATIONS we all go

through, and offers insight into methods to weather the storms in life.

Known for his clever use of acronyms within his messages, Smith gives listeners a way to remember key points as we GROW FORWARD. Mark’s vision statement of “Your Why is Greater Than Your Situation Which is Part of Your PROCESS,” gives us the perspective that we are always GROWING.

• About Mark and what he's working on at the moment [02:15]
• His journey to becoming a motivational speaker. [06.23]
• On moving from a transactional to a transformational life. [16.26]
• How to listen to your employees. [19:53]
• His top three tips for looking after her mental health [23:54]

• Start your day with self-care.
• One of the biggest eye-openers in my life was realising that your health is very important.
• Once you open your mouth, you tell the world who you are.
• You need to expand your horizon.
• Many people can see but not many have a vision.

• Visit Mark's website
• Connect with Mark on Facebook, Youtube, LinkedIn and Twitter.
• Join my Mailing List and receive my free e-Book here
• Check out my TEDx talk: The Connection between Culture, Race and Mental Health

Welcome to the 197th episode of the award-winning Diverse Minds podcast. To kick things off this month, we are talking about building your personal brand with a particular focus on leveraging your culture.

• About my TEDx talk [00:39]
• Why I decided to talk about today's topic. [01.08]
• The definition of personal brand and personal branding. [04:49]
• The benefits of building a personal brand. [05:19]
• Why you should build a personal brand [06:21]

• A personal brand is a widely recognized perception or impression of an individual based on their experience, expertise, competencies, actions, and or achievements within a community industry or a sector at large.
• Personal branding is about showcasing your professional experience, skills, and knowledge you have as an individual,
• I know from speaking to many people from the global majority diaspora of black communities and groups that working from home has been really great, as they haven't had to navigate the subtle everyday racism and politics in the workplace.
• It's not just about doing it for a promotion, which is important often, but it's also about doing it for you.
• Building a personal brand can really help you stand out.

• Definition of a Personal Brand vs. Personal Branding
• Listen to Episode #76: Self-love and Self-Esteem what does it all mean?
• Check out Episode #57: Assertiveness and Self-Care
• Join my Mailing List and receive my free e-Book here
• Check out my TEDx talk: The Connection between Culture, Race and Mental Health

Have a look at my online work-life balance course on Thinkific. You can access it here: http://bit.ly/DMMHPONC

Complete the form to discuss your training needs: https://forms.gle/hgnYtmTu33Zeem489

Check out my FAQs here: http://diverseminds.co.uk/solutions/coaching/

You can learn more about the coaching I do to support your wellbeing here. 

If you enjoyed this episode, then consider subscribing on Apple podcast, Spotify or wherever you access your podcasts from.

If you enjoyed it, why not leave a review? 

You can also connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  

Remember to tune in next week, where I’ll bring you more insights on mental health and inclusion.

Welcome to the 196th episode of the award-winning Diverse Minds podcast. This month’s theme for the podcast is all about anxiety linked to the climate crisis, and In today's episode, I talk about how divestment links to Mental Health.

• About my TEDx talk [00:39]
• More on the fossil fuel divestment movement. [02.49]
• How divestment can improve mental health. [04:49]
• Why systems must change to protect people's mental health. [05.06]
• Climate change's impact on mental health. [07:08]

• Divestment is essential.
• There is significant evidence that demonstrates that mental ill health and the climate emergency crisis and injustice are interlinked.
• Increasing rates of climate-related hazards are exacerbating existing mental health problems.
• The irony of supporting mental health in a dying world seems lost on the people elected to make the most difficult decisions.

• Guardian Beginners Guide to Divestment
• Princeton can't solve the mental health crisis without divesting from fossil fuels
• Divestment in Fossil Fuels: A Preventive Public Health Strategy
• RCP Position Statement
• Al-Jazeera Climate Crisis Creating a Mental Health Crisis
• Climate Psychiatry Alliance
• Listen to Episode #193: Anxiety Linked to the Climate Crisis
• Check out Episode #194: Parents for Future
• Listen to Episode #195: Colonial Legacies and Climate Change
• Join my Mailing List and receive my free e-Book here
• Check out my TEDx talk: The Connection between Culture, Race and Mental Health

Have a look at my online work-life balance course on Thinkific. You can access it here: http://bit.ly/DMMHPONC

Welcome to the 198th episode of the award-winning Diverse Minds podcast. This month’s theme focuses on climate change, anxiety and mental well-being.  Today, I am honoured to be speaking to Kenyan climate justice colleague Irene Asuwa.

Irene co-convenes Ecological Justice League, a collective of diverse community groups reclaiming, rehabilitating and transforming public spaces.

She sits on the National Advisory Committee of the Voices for Just Climate Action Alliance and in the Technical Working Group of an implementing consortium.

She is a social scientist currently supporting qualitative research on migration specifically urban displacement, and water governance.

• About Irene and what she's working on at the moment [01:50]
• Her journey from the countryside to activism. [04.19]
• What the term "climate crisis" means to her. [07:28]
• What workplaces can do to support the climate movement. [22:12]
• Her top three tips for looking after her mental health. [25:08]

• I felt I would make more impact if I went down to the people.
• I'm very careful about what I eat.
• I think it would make more sense to run anti-war campaigns.
• Stop investing in things that harm the planet.
• I sleep when I need to.

• Connect with Irene on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
• Join my Mailing List and receive my free e-Book here
• Check out my TEDx talk: The Connection between Culture, Race and Mental Health

Have a look at my online work-life balance course on Thinkific. You can access it here: http://bit.ly/DMMHPONC

Complete the form to discuss your training needs: https://forms.gle/hgnYtmTu33Zeem489

Check out my FAQs here: http://diverseminds.co.uk/solutions/coaching/

You can learn more about the coaching I do to support your wellbeing here. 

Welcome to the 194th episode of the award-winning Diverse Minds podcast. This month’s theme is all about Climate chaos/crisis and anxiety for Mental Health Awareness Week. To join me in talking about this is Jelly Mae Moring. 

Jelly is passionate about supporting organisations in going beyond sustainability and creating a more positive impact on people and the planet.

She is an organiser and campaigner at Parents for Future (UK) network, a love-led global climate movement of parents working together to advocate for a just transition and a liveable planet for all children.

She has helped to coordinate the Warm this Winter campaign in which PFF UK is an active partner.

Jelly also works with a local school and the city council in her local area to set up a walking bus to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution around the school, increase the road traffic safety of children, and engage the parents and pupils in active travel.

• About Jelly and what she's working on at the moment [01:55]
• What inspired her current occupation. [06.40]
• What can be done to support people with mental well-being as it relates to climate, justice and change. [14.49]
• How workplaces can talk about climate change in a realistic way. [17:40]
• Her top three tips for looking after her mental health [21:11]

• Anything we can do to reduce our emissions is great.
• I felt so concerned about my country's future that I actually did most of my research during my master's on climate change adaptation.
• Climate change affects different communities and individuals in different ways, and the most vulnerable and marginalized populations are often the most impacted.
• The responsibility for the human cost of climate change is distributed e unevenly.
• The burden of climate change and its consequences will be borne disproportionately by young people and future generations.