In this episode, I spoke with Alex Simmons about his career in private equity and investment banking, the impact it had on his life and how he took action to help others not find themselves in the same place. He found himself burned out during the traditional high stakes nature of this career and was introduced to therapy and meditation and later coaching. He soon realized that everyone around him was stressed and burned out and his employer only offered a standard Employee Assistance Program, which was not proactive but instead for crisis management and came with its own stigmas. Alex shares his vulnerability in his own mental health journey and how he created a safe space for people to be proactive in their own mental wellbeing by starting a company, Boon Health, that offers accessible coaching for employees.
In this episode, you will specifically learn how to:
More about Alex…
Alex is the Co-Founder + CEO of Boon Health, a B2B personalized coaching platform that is on a mission to build a more resilient world. After spending the beginning of his career working in private equity and investment banking, Alex saw an opportunity to bring more approachable and personal and professional growth tools into the workplace. Alex is an avid golfer and COVID has turned him into a serious barista.
How to connect with Alex…
Links mentioned
I’m Karen Weeks, the CEO & Chief Shine Officer (aka transformation coach) at KDW Coaching, the host of the Shine at Work podcast, award winning culture leader (currently leading the People team at Ordergroove), a speaker and published author. My purpose is to help career-oriented humans get unstuck so they can shine bright in business and in life. And I know how that feels, I navigated a career from theatre & the arts to HR (with lots of twists and turns there) to expanding my career into coaching as well. I live in NYC with my husband and furry babies!
Connect with Me!
Welcome to the Shine at Work Podcast! On this show, your co-hosts Karen and Dan will shine a light on your job search so you can land a role that lets you flex your strengths and progress your career in an environment you actually look forward to working in each day. From creating a stand-out resume, to confidently negotiating your salary, to finding your footing as a new manager, you can expect to hear actionable advice to help you shine your brightest in your role.
Karen D. Weeks is the CEO and Chief Career Coach of Shine at Work Coaching. She has over twenty years of HR experience, including as CPO at Ordergroove.
Dan Carr is a Shine at Work Career Coach with over a decade of recruiting experience helping high-growth startups expand with top talent.
Connect with Us!
In this episode, I spoke with Alex Simmons about his career in private equity and investment banking, the impact it had on his life and how he took action to help others not find themselves in the same place. He found himself burned out during the traditional high stakes nature of this career and was introduced to therapy and meditation and later coaching. He soon realized that everyone around him was stressed and burned out and his employer only offered a standard Employee Assistance Program, which was not proactive but instead for crisis management and came with its own stigmas. Alex shares his vulnerability in his own mental health journey and how he created a safe space for people to be proactive in their own mental wellbeing by starting a company, Boon Health, that offers accessible coaching for employees.
In this episode, you will specifically learn how to:
More about Alex…
Alex is the Co-Founder + CEO of Boon Health, a B2B personalized coaching platform that is on a mission to build a more resilient world. After spending the beginning of his career working in private equity and investment banking, Alex saw an opportunity to bring more approachable and personal and professional growth tools into the workplace. Alex is an avid golfer and COVID has turned him into a serious barista.
How to connect with Alex…
Links mentioned
I’m Karen Weeks, the CEO & Chief Shine Officer (aka transformation coach) at KDW Coaching, the host of the Shine at Work podcast, award winning culture leader (currently leading the People team at Ordergroove), a speaker and published author. My purpose is to help career-oriented humans get unstuck so they can shine bright in business and in life. And I know how that feels, I navigated a career from theatre & the arts to HR (with lots of twists and turns there) to expanding my career into coaching as well. I live in NYC with my husband and furry babies!
Connect with Me!
Welcome to the Shine at Work Podcast! On this show, your co-hosts Karen and Dan will shine a light on your job search so you can land a role that lets you flex your strengths and progress your career in an environment you actually look forward to working in each day. From creating a stand-out resume, to confidently negotiating your salary, to finding your footing as a new manager, you can expect to hear actionable advice to help you shine your brightest in your role.
Karen D. Weeks is the CEO and Chief Career Coach of Shine at Work Coaching. She has over twenty years of HR experience, including as CPO at Ordergroove.
Dan Carr is a Shine at Work Career Coach with over a decade of recruiting experience helping high-growth startups expand with top talent.
Connect with Us!
As a transformation career coach and culture and people leader My goal is to help career oriented humans get unstuck, so that they can shine brighter in business and in life. I believe that you deserve a career that lights you up. Because spoiler alert, it also impacts how bright you shine in your life. This season. Each week, we will focus on a key skill that you need to shine at work, and inspirational stories on ways to navigate your career. Because I know what it feels like when your light is dim. I made a career change from theater to HR, and now expanded to coaching. And at times in my life, I had to take a look deep inside to see what was most important, what made me shine bright, and make adjustments along the way. It's possible. I did it, my guest did it and I help others do it every day. I hope you walk away from each episode not just inspired, but with an actionable advice. And I hope that you find it so valuable that you subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and tell your friends because we all deserve to shine bright in our lives specifically at work. Okay, let's jump in into this week's episode. Before we start today's episode, let me ask you a question. How are those New Year's resolutions going? If you're like me, and lots of other people, I know by the way, you start the year off strong in January with a great plan to hit your goals. You hire the trainer, you sign up for the class, you start journaling, you get up early bookmark some job sites, all of the things that we think are going to take us to that place we want to be in the new year, then life starts to get in the way. You slip a little you get distracted, you miss one week, then you really start to miss some of those goals and you don't see the impact you wanted. And your motivation drops and drops and drops, which is natural, you're not seeing the impact because you weren't taking the steps to get there. I've been there. I've been there this year. And like I said, we are not alone. According to a psychological study, 64% of people abandon their resolutions after just one month. Personally, I have not gotten on the peloton as much as I wanted to. It's not because I don't want to I love doing it. But something isn't clicking, I've got a blocker, and I can't figure out what that is. So I actually work with my own wellness coach to figure out what is blocking me from hitting that goal. So you can do the same, you can also be part of that 36% That actually hit their goals. And I can be that person to help you. I work with people one on one to help them get unstuck and shine bright in their career in life. My unstuck framework helps people specifically unshackle yourself from your current mindset, ie let go the past and remove labels. Nail your new career target, identify where you want to go next, slay your skills. In other words, identifying your transferable skills. Talk to everyone. This is just networking one on one stuff that we'll go through so that you feel more comfortable reaching out to people, then we're going to unlock your new brand. So how do we position yourself through your resume through LinkedIn through telling your story for the thing that you're trying to achieve? Then you're going to crush your interviews, which is just a bunch of prep practice, and working through what kind of questions you might get and how to talk through some of the gaps that you might have. So that you can kick by in your career, you're going to land the gig and set yourself up for success. So do you want to get unstuck sound like something that you might need a little help with. That's why I'm here. And the amazing thing is that it's not just about your career, it's actually about living the life that you want to live that's right for you in this moment. That's what this is all about. That by working together, you'll gain the tools that you need the support, you need the confidence, you need to identify the right career path, and land a new job to shine bright both at work and in life. So if all this sounds good, and you're sitting there going, oh my gosh, I don't want to be part of the two thirds that doesn't hit their goals so soon in their career. You can email me directly at Karen at Karen de weeks.com. Or use any of the links in the podcast to connect with me through my website, on my Instagram or through LinkedIn. Let's connect to help you achieve your goals this year and shine at work. Now onto our regularly scheduled programming. Hi, everyone, I am so excited to have my friend Alex with me on today's episode. Alex and I have known each other for a while and we have a real passion around helping people navigate burnout and work through their mental health concerns and make sure they are as healthy as possible, especially when they're thinking about their career. We've partnered together for the last couple of years. I'm so excited for him to both share his own story, but then also help us make sure we are navigating our own burnout as best as possible. So Alex, welcome to the show.
Alex Simmons:Thank you Karen excited to be here. quality time with you.
Karen Weeks:This is Yes, yes. Yeah. So I'm so fortunate to have gotten to know you over the years. I really appreciate your story and you're vulnerable with your own story and sort of how you got to where you are today, so we'd love to kind of rewind a little bit and have you share more about your own career, and how that brought us to meet and all the things we'll then talk about next.
Alex Simmons:Sure, well, I guess. So currently, I'm the co founder and CEO of Boone health, which you know, well, but before that, my career kind of started more in the finance route. So I am a CPA by background, I spent about six years working in investment banking and private equity. And you hear a lot about kind of the toxic work environment ish of being an investment banking. And for me, it was the traditional 80 to 100 hour work weeks, stressed, anxious, burnt out everything that you hear about in that industry. And for me, I ended up getting introduced to therapy and meditation, and later coaching during that experience. And all of those things had a pretty transformational impact on my life. And I had a couple of realizations going back into the workplace, one of them being that all of my colleagues seems miserable and depressed or not depressed burnout, sorry, yeah, we seem miserable and burnt out. And secondly, all my employer had at the time for our mental or professional well being was an employee assistance program, which I came to find was how 75 to 80% of all companies were approaching mental health for their employees, and absolutely serves a purpose in the workplace. But EAP are really designed more for crisis management than anything. So they're meant for substance abuse, suicide ideation, feeling depressed, here's this hotline, and we will put you in touch with somebody. And so one to 3%, average utilization, stigmatized, a lot of employees don't even know it exists at their own company. And so that was really my journey to finding boon. And really trying to provide a more accessible means for mental well being in the workplace through a personalized one to one coaching platform where we were actually, instead of thinking about it from a crisis perspective, thinking about it from, okay, how can we personalize an experience and create a real relationship between the employees of these companies who are experiencing stress, anxiety, burnout, all the things that I was experiencing in my own journey and career? And how can we provide an accessible, approachable resource that employees will actually want to use and use consistently. So that's kind of the the short story
Karen Weeks:well, and a couple of really great points that I want to sort of dig deeper on is one, putting my HR hat on for a second, I get the EAP thing like that used to be, hey, we have this EAP and it will help you and you get free sessions. And first of all, no one ever remembered it even in cultures where we talked about it a lot. But also to your point it is it's a bandaid. It's not an actual solution. It's great for those moments when you need them. But it's not an ongoing solution. And it's also not a proactive solution, potentially. So I'm, especially over the last couple years as people have changed how they thought about their mental health, as companies have recognized the importance of it finally, in supporting it. I agree that like that it's a start, but it's not enough. And I think that's one thing that I was really impressed with when I first met you and we talked more about Boone was that it is more, how can we help employees where they are versus waiting to get to that crisis moment? And HR goes, Oh, well, there's this thing that might help you in this particular moment.
Alex Simmons:Yeah, no, 100%. And I think, you know, one of the things that we found really interesting was the idea that while we started off as a business that was trying to provide the most accessible mental wellbeing solution in the workplace, that was our that was our mission. And what we found was that even though we were we were messaging ourselves that way, we found that about half the people using our service, were actually perceiving us, at least in some part as a professional development tool. So we started to take a step back and really think about well, there's really such an intersection taking place between mental well being and professional development. Burnout is a is a specific topic that's just kind of really intertwined between those two things. And so, you know, the messaging is kind of shifted from being this accessible mental well being resource to really being an all in one personal and professional growth tool for employees, depending on what they're looking to work on. And to be honest, that's where I feel like the industry is headed and you think about traditional behavioral health solutions. You know, the mental health exclusive element of what's being talked about it is it is missing the mark a little bit because so much of what people want to talk about is not just mental in nature, it's also fashionable and vice versa. And so that's been kind of an interesting theme that we've seen develop? And I'm sure you've been seeing that with your people as well.
Karen Weeks:Yeah, well, and I think this goes back to something that I've talked about so much more lately is that we are whole humans. And while I've always believed that, you know, especially these last couple years, we don't even have the boundaries anymore, we were we can pretend that those lines exist, even though I don't think they ever really did. And so now, when I think about even my own experiences, when I work with my coaches, and I have several of them, you know, all the conversations end up overlapping, or when I work with folks and helping them navigate their careers, we'll be talking about their career, but then something from their personal life will show itself and we're like, hold on, we gotta talk about this for a second. Because this is obviously impacting how you're feeling about your search or about your career. And that's one thing that I actually wanted to talk a little bit more about when you were talking about your previous life. And I do think some industries, jobs, whatever category you want to sort of blame this on. Yeah, it's sort of it's accepted that like burnout happens, and toxicity is there and all of the negative connotations with some of these industries. So
Alex Simmons:investment banking is kind of seen as like a take your two years rite of passage, to do what you want to go do in finance. But first, you got to go do two years of investment, banking, suck it up and burn yourself out for two years.
Karen Weeks:That's horrible. I mean, it's true, but it's horrible. So, so before we talk about, like, how to navigate burnout in other situations, do you have any advice for folks? Because you were you were one of those people that are in that space? That for whatever reason, they're like, No, I want to see this through I either chose this career for a reason, or I like the work or whatever, how can they still protect their own health and their own mental well being, even if they are choosing to stay in that kind of environment?
Alex Simmons:Yeah, I mean, it sounds, it sounds like a lot of work. I mean, I think for me, like, finding gratitude is always really important. But I think even more important than that has been building consistent habits into my life. And I've kind of gotten to the point where, and I didn't have this while I was working in investment banking, but I've kind of gotten to the point now where I have very high self awareness as to like, what what keeps me healthy, mentally and physically, and what I need to do in order to be in my best state, and so for me, I'm making sure that I'm getting enough sleep, which is difficult to do, when you're working 90 hours a week, I need to be working out three, three days a week, at a minimum, or it's going to have a pretty negative impact. And you know, if it's 2030 minutes, fine, like just break a sweat, and just make sure you're getting that time in. And then I also have a therapist who I see on either like a weekly or bi weekly basis, and I have a coach. And you know, those those are really like my, I guess four pillars that I think about and I, you know, I eat well, too, but I think it's kind of To each their own. But I've gotten to the point where I have gone through extended periods of time, or like, I haven't been doing those things. And I've really noticed the adverse effects of that. And so I think really getting into healthy habits, and just committing to doing those things over time. And just getting an understanding of like, what makes you tick, in certain ways, has been really important for me, and just kind of my journey overall. And I wish I would have kind of discovered that earlier on in life. But I think you kind of have to go through some stuff to be able to get there. Yeah,
Karen Weeks:well, and it's really a great point about figuring out what works for you. And it's funny that you mentioned habit so many times because actually another guest on this season is talking all about habit forming and how to be like a great how to build healthy habits. So this will all tie together. But I think, you know, calling it what's important to you. One thing that I work with folks and suggest to people on is, you know, it doesn't if journaling sounds too woowoo for you, that's fine. But just sort of tracking when you feel good, and when you don't, and what's going on for you at those moments. Because to your point, maybe you start to recognize that you are someone who needs a lot of sleep or how you're feeling your body or you got outside or you stretched or it doesn't have to be some monumental thing. But if you start to track those things, you'll see what does help you feel better. So that even when you're in times of stress, and sometimes you can't get out of those, you can at least try to bring in those moments that will help you feel as good as possible. 100%
Alex Simmons:Yeah. And, and I think, you know, the the underlying theme with all of this is, and this is a big theme. The central theme at Boon really is around resilience and And it's like, in these tough times? How are you able to adapt to adversity? And how quickly are you able to bounce back. And and that's really the foundation of our coaching. And it's kind of, you know, the the background on that is kind of from my own experience, like being burnt out going through adverse times, like wanting to have that skill set to really be able to bounce back quickly. And, you know, you think about the the correlation, intersection that that has in the workplace, like, it's just, it really is at the root of so many, so many people's challenges, we're all going to face adversity, there is no life without stress, or anxiety, or whatever. But there is there is a very big, very big impact you can make on your own life, to bounce back more quickly, and to work on those sorts of skills. So, so that's just kind of the the overarching theme that we have.
Karen Weeks:Yeah, absolutely. We're gonna tap into that one second, before we go there. Just because you happen to mention you have a coach and a therapist, there are still people, which I totally understand. And I get this question who are still trying to figure out the difference between therapist and coach? Do you mind sharing your perspective on the difference between the to
Alex Simmons:Yes, we, we get this question a lot. And it's so it's so funny, like I you know, I never, I never even knew what a coach was. And I just thought of like, okay, well, I'm having mental health concerns, I'm talking to a therapist, and the way that I've really broken it down. And this might, this is a little bit simplistic, but the the the therapy side is, it's much more past oriented. So you're dealing with some challenge in your life, it's really more about okay, let's let's understand those childhood thoughts and behaviors and fears of inadequacy or whatever, whatever sorts of kind of root causes of that issue were from way back when process those feelings, understand what they're all about. But it's it's very much process oriented. Whereas when we think about coaching, it's very much goal oriented. So you're kind of identifying the challenge or goal that you're working on. So I'm having, I'm struggling to cope with stress and anxiety, okay, well, let's develop a game plan to help you better cope with stress, anxiety, certainly, there is going to be some overlap in terms of okay, understanding where that stress and anxiety is coming from, so that we can develop that game plan. But what what I've really found in my, in my work is that my therapy is much more just like really gaining so much self awareness around like, what what these fears are coming from, why these feelings are arising, and really having to just process a lot of that. But it's not necessarily about developing a game plan for how to tackle that moving forward. And that's really where my coaching comes in. And I, you know, I think everybody could benefit from having both, but not I realize it's not for everybody. And, you know, I mean, I've found coaching to be a lot more approachable for the average person. I think that my, you know, we ended up doing that with Boone, but ultimately, you know, you see the benefits of both
Karen Weeks:Yeah, yeah, absolutely. What I think too, there's different times when you do different things in your life to so there are times where, you know, I personally have much been in more of a crisis mode, where I needed my therapist to really help me on earth, what was causing that? Well, at other times of TierPoint, I'm thinking more about how am I managing my day to day today? Where do I want to go? Where I feel like my coaches have more impact there. And, and neither is right or wrong? It's just you need different things at different times, or you need both in your life and any version of that is okay.
Alex Simmons:Yeah, 100%? I mean, I've been, I've been several times where I've just been like, you know, whether it be frustrated, stressed, anxious, don't know what's causing it. And it's like, you're not always gonna be able to find the answer yourself. And like, that's, that's where my therapist is just, like a godsend. Helping just kind of discover what's going on.
Karen Weeks:Yeah, absolutely. Well, so as we were talking about how this overlaps with people's careers, because I agree with you, you know, we definitely are stress, burnout, career goals, personal development, professional development, like it all kind of starts to overlap. And so especially as I help people with their careers, and people who are listening to this podcast, are trying to navigate sort of, do they want to make a career change? Are they happy where they are, and they're just feeling frustrated? How do I find something brand new? How do you? What tips do you have for folks to navigate those career thoughts while not burning themselves out because like, this should be an exciting time you're thinking about a new job or thinking about a new career, you're trying to get a promotion. But with that comes a lot of stress, and that often tends to lead to burnout. So what advice would you have for people to try to avoid it or how to deal with it when it happens? They're thinking about a career change.
Alex Simmons:Yeah. Well, I mean, it's a loaded question. Yes. Thinking that, I mean, you hear, there's an article every day about the great resignation. And people are leaving their companies in droves, like they never have before. And, you know, it seems like there, there really is an element of like, the grass is always greener over here, sort of thing. And I would just encourage, encourage folks, whether you're, you know, you're looking for a promotion, looking for a new job looking for some sort of transition, you know, just just really being self aware that this is not coming from an emotional place. And in that you're really grounded in your decision making around everything. And I think, you know, that that would be the biggest thing for me, because I think even in my own career, like, you know, fears of inadequacy, fear of failure, fears of, of other things have at times, you know, shaped my emotions and the way I think about wanting to do certain things. So, you know, what is it that's driving your decision to want to go, you know, join a startup or join some other company? Is it you want to go do this for the right reasons? Or is it really kind of dealing with something else more internally, so I would really just encourage people to just make sure that they are coming at this from a grounded place, I think the millennial and Gen Z generation has shown that they have they're more of a generation where it's about values, it's about mission purpose, do I feel connected to my employer, and that is, I believe, going to be something that is, you know, this is not just a fad, this is gonna be this is this generation. But I would just encourage you to be able to just really take a step back and, and be grounded.
Karen Weeks:Well, and I think and I feel like I say, especially over the last few years, I feel like I say that so often. But I think it has also a literally shaped how people think about their careers. Because if this was, if these two years were earlier in your career, this is how you started your sort of adult life is with all of this chaos around you. So I definitely think that forms who you're going to be as a person and a professional, but I also think it is really, Broughton, it's really helped people bring their heads up and say, oh, wait a minute, if I'm going to do all this work, whether it's 80 hours, or 50 hours or whatever, I better like what I do, I better feel connected to my company, I better feel like my company cares about me. And so I think it's just also helped people realize there's more to life than all the hours of work that we're doing. So if we're doing all those hours, it better be worth it. And I it's, I love it when podcast episodes overlap, and I don't even like plan for it. I hope it but it doesn't have it. But it happens. So an episode that at this point will have come out a couple weeks ago was all about sort of, do I stay? Or do I go? A friend of mine calls it Love It or List It with your careers? So really identifying Are you just having a bad day? Or is this really a consistent theme? And it's no longer the right place for you?
Alex Simmons:Yes, that's the exact root of what I'm saying. I think, you know, in today's in today's world, being in this remote world where you're, you know, you can feel isolated, like it's harder to connect with your team, all of those sorts of things. Like, it really is a question, you need to be asking yourself on a more consistent basis. But it's also a question that employers need to be asking themselves on a more consistent basis around like, this challenge is now becoming so much more prevalent at the individual level. What can I What can I do to really maintain that level of culture and connectedness and all of those things that it takes to maintain your strong employee base? Yeah,
Karen Weeks:absolutely. Well, and I think to start then taking that if you do decide to go recognizing that job searching, even in a hot market, like today, job searching does take a while. It's exhausting, cuz you got to talk to a lot of people, there's a bunch of interviews, you got to do networking, all of the things it's worth it when you land your new new job, but to also recognize that it's its own job of its own is the actual job search. So being kind to yourself, going back to what you're saying about what helps you stay healthy, and really making sure you keep those habits while you're doing your job search because you will burn out fast or you will get stressed or you get exhausted or you know, feel like you're never gonna find something or even feel more isolated because you're doing all these interviews virtually, if that's the case. So taking care of yourself during a job search, I think is just as important as when you're at your current job.
Alex Simmons:Yep. And I also think there's a there is an element of like, you know, folks feeling like okay, well if I if I find this new job every you know, I'm gonna I'm going to be, I'm not going to be burnt out, I'm going to I'm going to be, you know, life is going to be amazing. But the reality is, you know, once that honeymoon period is over, you're going to have those same struggles and thoughts and, you know, things, things might be better at that company. But ultimately, you know, I've just found that like, finding, finding gratitude outside of work has been, has been something that's just kind of helped me feel a little bit more grounded, where, you know, you're not, you're not relying so much on, you know, the, the passion, or the or just like following your passion for work or whatever that might be. Because ultimately, we found that like these people who are job hopping and going to new places, it's like, once that honeymoon period is over, okay, you're kind of back to square one with those initial thoughts and feelings that you had for your left your old company so
Karen Weeks:well, and I'm so glad you brought that up sort of the onboarding piece of it, because I also tell people, This is your chance to reset your boundaries. So if you know that working out three times a week is important to you, or getting outside at lunchtime, build those practices from day one with this new company, talk to your manager about what what's important to you. Because Now's the chance to do it, because it's so easy to jump in the deep end and like give it your all in the beginning. But then you've set those expectations, and it's a lot harder to pull those back. So use the new job to also create those boundaries that are going to be important to you. Because while I don't think you can avoid burnout always like stuff happens. You can at least help set yourself up for as much success as possible.
Alex Simmons:100% I guess what are there? No, that's that like the personal level? From the from the HR hat? Yeah. How are you? How are you thinking about onboarding new employees? And I guess kind of going the extra yard to make sure that those folks are feeling connected and everything they need from a company perspective, besides kind of reminding them what they need to be doing individually? Yeah, it's
Karen Weeks:something I talked to a lot of our new hires about is helping them meet people and build relationships. And by the way, not just like, literally get to know each other. But that also creates the trust, the psychological safety, the space to have conversations. So it's important no matter what, but I think, especially if, because we're still remote versus we will be moving forward. So I think building those relationships remotely is harder, because everything's a planned conversation. So we've done a lot of things to try to have more ad hoc organic conversations with random people. But the other thing is, we've gotten some feedback from new hires around more buddies. So we're implementing things like a new hire new hire, buddy, so someone who started within the last six months who can kind of help you recognize, you know, I don't know what I don't know, well, they didn't know it either. So they're going to help you realize what you don't know, a peer, new hire buddies of the person that probably used to sit next to you that you could turn to to ask questions. And then we've always had a cross functional culture, buddy. So someone that you don't work with every day, who's been recognized for living our culture, giving us chance to get to know the company better. So we've tried, we're trying some of those new buddies, which feels like a lot for folks, especially maybe are more introverted friends. But you can be doing it over slack, if that's more comfortable to you. But it just gives you more people to be in interact with in an organization while you're sitting, you know, in your bedroom or your dining room table.
Alex Simmons:Yeah, super interesting. It's a similar theme that we've heard from some of our other some of our other customers. But it's I'm always fascinated to hear how HR leaders like yourself are approaching this because it is I mean, it's still is new. And from what I've seen, nobody has, nobody has cracked, crack the code yet.
Karen Weeks:We are all learning from each other at this point. We're all trying to figure it out. And that's the other thing I encourage folks to is, you know, if your company if you're listening to this episode, or you're watching this video, and you don't have you know, you're not in HR, or you're not a manager, it doesn't mean that you can't help bring this to your organization. So, talk if you don't have a platform like Boone or you're feeling like your company is not focused enough on helping with burnout. You know, reach out to your HR partner, reach out to your manager, find someone who can maybe help you help you help the company be better at this. Because I want to you know, everybody has a part to play in building a great culture. So even if you aren't the quote unquote, decider bring this up to those deciders to help get a better opportunity in your organization. You know,
Alex Simmons:the two most common themes that we've seen employees wanting to work on are coping with stress, anxiety and burnout, and leadership development. And you know, we feel like this is a it's a universal challenge right now. And if you're an employer who's not Dealing with it, you're, you're turning a blind eye to it. And, and so, you know, we see this, you know, the millennial and Gen Z generation now make up a majority of the workforce, and there are new expectations for how you're, you're going to be thinking about investing in their personal and professional growth. So it's, yeah, it's an interesting world. And like, we're all we're all getting better for it. So
Karen Weeks:yeah, it's, it's a benefit of all the chaos around us is that at least we're starting to focus on what I think are more important things, and really helping the people and the humans on our teams and, and helping them figure out the right path forward for them. So, so thank you so much for sharing your own story and showing your own vulnerability. But then also everything that you do for companies and teams and individuals to help them figure out their own path forward. Is there any sort of final thoughts or if anyone remembers just one thing from this, one final tidbit to walk away with?
Alex Simmons:Find gratitude? I think that's ultimately when when I'm feeling stressed, or anxious or burned out, you know, all the, all the habits in the world don't, don't always solve whatever challenges you're going through, just try to find gratitude in whatever it might be. For me, it's my, it's my family, and all the other amazing things I have in my life. And, you know, really just finding that gratitude. So I found that to be my number one tip.
Karen Weeks:I love it. Oh, that's so good. Well, thank you again, so much. We will make sure all your contact information and how to connect with you is listed in the show notes and as we share the episode out there, so thank you again, I'm so glad we finally had a chance to do this.
Alex Simmons:Awesome. Thank you so much, Karen. Always a pleasure.
Karen Weeks:Thank you so much for listening to the shine at work podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe and leave a review. Leaving a review takes just a few minutes and truly helps other people find the podcast. If you want to learn more about how I work with people to help transform their careers, and shine brightly in their lives. Let's connect. I work with amazing humans one on one to help them make a career change, go for that promotion, set career goals, and build a plan for success for a new job. I also lead group programs for new managers that are navigating this huge change in their careers, and entrepreneurs who are building their teams for the first time. If any of that sounds like it could be helpful for you. You can email me directly at Karen at guarantee weeks.com or message me through Instagram, LinkedIn or my website. I just want to give a final shout out as always to astronaut go home for our music and novice studios for making the podcast come to life. Until next time, remember that you can and deserve to shine at work