Category: Mental Health & Burnout
| 44 min
What does it take to maintain confidence and resilience while engaging in equity work? How can self-grace and allyship help underrepresented changemakers?
In Episode 122, Cory Ervin-Stewart, Founder and CEO of Stewart Consulting and Management, LLC, joins Melinda in a candid conversation on navigating the challenges of equity work as a marginalized changemaker. They share personal insights from their experiences in interracial relationships and discuss the importance of self-reflection and self-care practices to address the harmful effects of marginalization. They also explore ways allies can support and advocate for individuals engaged in equity work.
In Episode 102, Esther A. Armah, CEO of The Armah Institute of Emotional Justice, joins Melinda in a discussion about how Emotional Justice serves as a roadmap for racial healing. This roadmap focuses on the important emotional work all individuals can do to end systemic inequity and help transform our workplaces. They touch on the systems and racial biases we need to unlearn based on the four pillars of the language of Whiteness. They explore how we can replace them with the love languages of Emotional Justice to relearn inclusive thoughts and behaviors. They also discuss how leaders and DEI practitioners can frame Emotional Justice to navigate personal politics across teams and drive structural change in a corporate setting.
In Episode 95, Rajkumari Neogy, Executive Coach at iBelong, joins Melinda in an in-depth discussion about how exclusion and epigenetics, the study of how behavior and environment can affect the way our genes are expressed and inherited, can impact our sense of belonging. They explore meaningful practices of empathy and representation to address transgenerational trauma and recover the affected parts of our brains from discrimination, racism, and other stressors that destroy our psychological safety. Rajkumari also suggests how managers and employees can work better together to create pathways for healing and cultures of belonging in the workplace.
In Episode 87, Kudakwashe Mushaike, Founder of Below The Surface, shares a brief and powerful talk from Change Catalyst’s third Icon Summit hosted by Icon Project Founder and Change Catalyst Co-Founder, Wayne Sutton. In “Finding Freedom Through Vulnerability,” Kudakwashe tells us how authenticity, freedom, and love play a pivotal role in the journey of understanding vulnerability and how leaning into vulnerability can allow us to experience the world around us more fully. Vulnerability is important as we work to be good allies—and as we ask each other for allyship. We’re excited to share this special session with you.
In Episode 85, Karla McLaren, CEO of Emotion Dynamics, dives into a conversation with Melinda about how we can approach empathy and shame as a way to create sustainable change in communities and workplaces. They talk about ways to support ourselves through compassion fatigue, which often comes from doing tremendous amounts of emotional labor, emotion work, and empathy work. Karla also shares what organizations can do to protect the well-being of workers engaged in empathy work, such as setting up ‘repair stations’ and developing emotionally well-regulated social structures in the workplace.
In Episode 78, Dr. Komal Bhasin, Senior DEI Consultant & Mental Health Expert-in-Residence at bhasin consulting inc. and Founder at Insayva Inc., joins Melinda in a conversation about centering empathy and allyship in communities impacted by injustice during times of crisis, pain, and tragedy.
Komal explains how individuals and organizations alike can learn the skill of empathy according to science. She recommends practical ways to drive inclusion and build psychological safety at work by creating an environment where managers recognize and address marginalizing behaviors. Throughout the episode, she shares how we can use our power, resources, and privilege to impactfully support others even when we experience marginalization ourselves.
In Episode 71, Minda Harts, Speaker & Author at Memo LLC, joins us to discuss the trauma that women of color experience in the workplace, the role allies can play in the healing process, and how managers can reduce workplace trauma.
In Episode 61, Melinda Briana Epler is joined by an incredible panel of experts and catalysts for anti-burnout in the workplace: Erayna Sargent, Anthony Ware, and Al Dea. They examine the common drivers of burnout, how to spot its symptoms and take action for yourself and your team, and what managers can do to prevent burnout at work. They also share some tips on how to support teams through the emotional impact of an acquisition.
In Episode 56, Melinda brings in her husband, Co-Founder of Change Catalyst, and greatest ally, Wayne Sutton, for an honest conversation about addressing the mental health of Black and Brown men. Find out about Wayne’s motorcycle trip and learn about how Wayne and Melinda show up for each other in their interracial relationship.
Join Change Catalyst Founder & CEO Melinda Briana Epler with Andrea G. Tatum Senior Director, Corporate Equity Engagement, Catalyst Inc on discussing how to create a supportive working environment.
We discuss the Catalyst’s research and the challenges of the emotional tax for women, particularly women of color: the state of being highly “on guard” at work, which can impact well-being and ability to thrive in the workplace.
In this rich conversation, we learned about:
- Andrea’s personal experience experiencing racism in the workplace and how that led her to become an advocate.
- The role of inclusive leaders to develop workplace cultures where people feel valued and enabled to contribute their skills and expertise fully.
- The powerful change leading with empathy can create in the workplace.
