Open Comments, hosted by The Open Group
Welcome to Open Comments hosted by The Open Group*, where we’ll discuss things openly with our guests from a variety of backgrounds and from different walks of life. Through this podcast, we hope to give you an inside look into a variety of topics with an equal mix of humor and candor.
In this series so far, we have touched on the following topics: Healthcare, HR, Diversity + Access to Technology, Cybersecurity, and lots more. We hope you enjoy our show and look forward to bringing more topics into the fold. Let’s get started!
*The Open Group is a global consortium that enables the achievement of business objectives through technology standards and open source initiatives by fostering a culture of collaboration, inclusivity, and mutual respect among our diverse group of 900+ memberships. Our Membership includes customers, systems and solutions suppliers, tool vendors, integrators, academics, and consultants across multiple industries.
Disclaimer: The Open Comments Podcast (hosted by The Open Group) is presented purely for informational and educational purposes only. The views and opinions expressed by the hosts and the guests are their own and are not intended to harm or offend any group, organization, company, individual, anyone, or anything.
Host: Ash (Marketing Specialist, The Open Group)
Open Comments, hosted by The Open Group
Open Comments - Episode 28: Navigating Career Challenges and Mental Health Insights with Daniel John
Ever wondered how to turn your struggles into strengths? Our guest, Daniel John, founder of "You, Me and Anxiety," shares his transformative journey from a directionless university graduate to a successful freelance copywriter and content manager. Hear Daniel’s candid reflections on his encounters with anxiety and panic attacks, and how these challenges inspired him to create a platform that uses humor and practical advice to make mental health relatable.
Join us as we dive into the art of creative brainstorming within agency settings, and the magic that happens when diverse minds collaborate. Daniel discusses the importance of lifelong learning and adapting to different mediums like writing and podcasting to maintain creative control. If you’re feeling stuck in your career, Daniel offers valuable advice on patience, exploring various industries, and viewing mistakes as growth opportunities. We also touch on cultural perspectives on failure and the critical need for stillness and reflection in a fast-paced world. This episode is packed with personal stories, insightful advice, and a fresh perspective on turning adversity into advantage.
Copyright © The Open Group 2023-2025. All rights reserved.
Welcome back to Open Comments with me, Ash. On today's episode we are joined by Daniel John, founder of you, Me and Anxiety. Thank you, Daniel, for joining us on the Open Comments hosted by the Open Group podcast today. Thank you for having me. It's great to be here. Thank you. So, to start off with, please can you tell us a little bit about what you do and your career journey so far, and what made you set up you, Me and Anxiety?
Speaker 2:and your career journey so far and what made you set up you, me and Anxiety. Okay, so I'm a copywriter and content manager, but it can be regarded, you know, called several different things. People go by different terms it's kind of the ones I like but it basically just means that I work with clients and companies to produce primarily, but not always, digital content. So, whether that's social media strategies, writing for website copy, creating blogs or articles and, in some cases, working with companies that are publishing books, it all came about somewhat by accident, which I think is the case for most people in their career. I left. I was pretty lost, confused what I wanted to do, and I thought what I wanted was basically to never leave uni. So my plan was to go back, do a master's, phd and then lecture. However, it was going to cost me some money, so I needed to get a job to work for a year to build up to that. So I picked up a job in my local council working as a librarian. During that period, I started to write for different publications online. It was all pretty much all unpaid, picking up whatever I could, and whilst I was doing it, I kind of realized that this is. This is what I loved about university. It was the writing and research aspect of it. And you know, I found out you can get paid for that. You don't have to pay the university and government to to learn about it. So in the end I built up a portfolio of kind of intern-based free work and then I took it to a few different agencies local to me and I picked up a job. A few different agencies uh local to me and I picked up a job, uh, doing that, uh, transitioning more to social media based content, um, and learning about that world. And then I left the agency side to go in-house for a charity and now I am working freelance.
Speaker 2:Oh and sorry, the human anxiety side of things. It kind of had a slow evolution. When I was at university I was going through kind of a tough time around my mental health. I'd always struggled with anxiety and panic and other stuff going on. But university was kind of the petri dish for it to explode. You know you don't have your family around you, you don't have strict school rules, you're eating badly, you're probably drinking too much, you know you're not sleeping well All that stuff goes out the window.
Speaker 2:And during that time I started to, you know, worry like what's going on in my head. Is this normal? And rather than actually speak to a human, like most people, I turned to the internet. Rather than actually speak to a human, like most people, I turned to the Internet. So I would Google my symptoms, whether it was panic attacks, general anxiety, this concept called depersonalization, all that stuff and what I was met with was some forums which turned out pretty dark places. If I'm being honest, what would happen would? People would come on, you know, blur out their problems and never come back and explain how they got better or what the future was like. So when you're scrolling through these forums, it's just comment after comment of people saying, you know, I've ruined my life, nothing's, I don't, you know, some some dark stuff basically. Um, and in the end it got to the point where I just stayed away from the these forums because they just weren't a good place for me.
Speaker 2:Um, and that kind of planted a seed in my head of wanting to produce something, uh, similar, but, you know, with a positive outcome. Um, I was also one day, literally just sat in my job thinking back to different sort of anxious periods or episodes in my life, and although at the time they were not funny or fun, I realized with the rose-tinted glasses I suppose I could see some humor in them. They're one of the most powerful things to break down barriers is through humor, especially for british people who feel very uncomfortable around uh, being sentimental or open and honest. Um, so those two kind of came together in my head, I suppose, after a while, and I thought okay, why don't I just pick one anxious period of my life? I think the first one I wrote about was a date that went wrong when I was like 14. I had a panic attack during it. And why don't I write it in a honest but still humorous, humorous and, uh, accessible, engaging way? Um, with a focus on ending the blog with three particular things I learned from that experience. Um, and then I wrote that I literally just put it on word, uh, finished it up.
Speaker 2:Then, all of a sudden, I was getting. I was thinking, oh, I could write about this, I could write about that. So I was writing more and more and more. And then I created uh I think it was through Squarespace uh a website and I named it you, me and Anxiety, and it was initially just meant to be about me talking about my experiences, trying to, you know, just make them accessible both to someone who who has never experienced a mental health difficulty but is maybe interested because a friend or colleague or family member is going through something. But the kind of normal website seemed too heavy and, you know, kind of scary almost.
Speaker 2:And I also wanted to write to the person who is struggling, um, and wanted to provide them with some humor to hopefully lighten the situation a bit but also offer them a um, sort of some practical tips at the end, some takeaways. So, rather than going to those forums where it's just people saying how bad life is, they could go to this other place. They could maybe have a laugh, they could relate to something and they could learn from something. And initially it was just me writing, and then I had a couple of friends and family members who read it and said, oh, I would like to talk about my experience, and they started to do it. And then I put out, uh, some ads on intern wise, which is a website I used to build up my portfolio, and uh, ash was actually the first non-family, non-friend that got involved and many, many great articles.
Speaker 2:You were definitely the most consistent writer. We had um and yeah, and then it kind of grew from there and there were writers from america writing my writers from australia, um, and then I did a little merchandise run where I produced some t-shirts and jumpers to sell. I sold them and then, with them, all of the money was made from that. I didn't take anything. All the everything went to, um, uh, purchasing podcast equipment and I started a podcast which was called the human anxiety podcast, which I loved doing, and then, unfortunately, the pandemic came swinging in maybe a year into the podcast or less than that, and uh, I, yeah, the main thing that I loved about that podcast was sitting down with guests and being able to connect with them.
Speaker 2:I feel like in person it's far, far easier to get people to feel comfortable and willing to share. And for me, for Selfishly, I like that exchanging of vulnerability. I found, you know, you know, humanizing it. It was lovely. And then I said that the pandemic kicked in and you know that wasn't possible. So did a couple of Zooms, but it kind of fizzled out in the end. But that's sort of the the origin stories of the website.
Speaker 1:Thank you, and just touching on collaboration, whether that be, you know, with writers like myself or past colleagues, what are the most important aspects of collaboration according to you, and what do you feel you get most out of collaborating with others?
Speaker 2:you and what do you feel you get most out of collaborating with others? Um, it's a good question. I kind of building on the end of my answering of that last question. I you know, collaborating with people online is great, but collaborating with people in person for me is is what really fuels me, and certainly in a work situation. Um, I absolutely adored in the agency world of going into a meeting room with a bunch of colleagues, getting a whiteboard or you know some pieces of paper and just throwing out ideas, no matter how crazy they were, and kind of seeing that process of them coming from you know nothing to a fully formed, formed strategy that we would then use for different clients. It was, I guess, in my world you don't kind of, you know, with a carpenter or builder, you can see the physical manifestation of what you've actually built. You obviously don't really get that when you publish everything online, but for me that was the closest thing of we could come together with no ideas and leave with this.
Speaker 1:You know pretty, you know sometimes good strategy or great strategy, yeah cool and um now touching on lifelong learning, with what you've discussed so far, would you say that you know continuing to harness your own skills, but also just learning and adapting that that's helped you along the way as well, because it certainly sounds. You know that you've dabbled in different mediums, whether that be writing or podcasts. Do you feel like more in control creatively by doing that, or is it something that you've always? It's just been ingrained in you from the start in terms of, like, trying um different things along the way?
Speaker 2:I think working with other people has certainly helped me try different things, like it's easy when you're working by yourself to go down, you know, different rabbit holes.
Speaker 2:Um, I had a boss once who used to say that she would have to pull me out of the cave because I would go so, so hyper focused on certain areas that I would need to come out and realize there's a lot more going on or there's different moving parts here.
Speaker 2:So for me, having that, that team around me, or or even just a client meeting or whatever is, is great to kind of see things from different perspectives. Um, I guess I learned a lot when working in marketing agencies because I'm surrounded by like-minded people who are creative but very thinking of and execute things in a very different way from me, whether that's people within my own team or sitting down with designers who you know I don't have design skills, so just to see how their brain operates, from me drawing a really bad sketch on a piece of paper for them to see like the clogs turning and then and then figuring out, okay, well, we could, we could move in this direction or we could, we could bring in, you know, a style from this particular kind of template and mix it with this template.
Speaker 1:So it it opened my eyes to different creative processes, for sure nice and and for anyone who is, you know, currently coming out of university soon or might be feeling a bit stuck as to what they want to do, but know which areas they might want to, you know, visit or even do a career in, what type of advice would you maybe give to them Because I know like, coming out of university, I think initially I struggled a bit and would you maybe give to them because I know like, coming out of university, I think initially I struggled a bit and, you know, thinking about a what I wanted to do, but also giving myself, I think, time to actually figure out what I'm passionate about as well, I think really helped me in understanding, you know, what I can see as a career yes, for sure.
Speaker 2:I think I mean the number one thing that you just you just brought up actually was you have time. I think it won't feel like it and I think that's at least so far in my life. That's been the big issue throughout, like I'm always thinking, oh, I should be doing this, I should be here, I should be there. But you know, I'm 30 now. If I look back to even three years ago, I'm like, oh, you were so young. And I know when I'm 33, 35, I'll look back at 30 and be like, oh, you were so young. So I think there is time. You have plenty of time to try different things. You know, if you're fortunate enough to be able to move back with family, it's going to suck for a while, but, uh, use that kind of uh security that you have to try a few different things. Um, try a few different industries. Do some free interning if, if you know it's possible in the industry you're you're looking at um, and I think this is something that I'm still very much training to uh, to learn myself or make sure we consistently do, but reframe uh mistakes.
Speaker 2:I actually listened to uh the podcast with paul smith uh recently, and I loved the section where he was talking about the difference between british entrepreneurs and american entrepreneurs, how american entrepreneurs are typically fine with failure. They don't see it as failure, they see it as more of a learning curve, whereas British entrepreneurs feel, you know, it's an embarrassment, they should hide away from it or they should, you know, be risk averse, just in case of failure. You know, if you go to a job and it doesn't work out, it's not necessarily in fact it's probably rarely actually an issue with you. There's so many different factors going on. So, you know, for me, I moved to the charity sector and I thought, oh, this is going to be my calling, uh, and it could still well be, but that particular experience, uh, you know, I learned so much and I'm grateful for it, but in the end it didn't work out.
Speaker 1:So I've I've had to work hard on reframing that, not as a failure, but as just I don't know you figure it out onto the next one kind of thing and staying on the topic of reframing, would you think, would you say as well, just kind of reflecting helps in that sense of because I know obviously the world can be a very busy place and things can feel like, you know, everything around us can go so fast. So do you think like finding stillness in certain things or even in nature? Actually for me that helps anyway, but, um, you know, taking those moments and just taking it one step at a time, because obviously things can be very overwhelming, but maybe not feeling so much pressure is to just dive in straight away to things. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:I think, um, the key, no, an important thing is just to do things at your own pace. Uh, I am, as a default, and observer. First, I'm not a doer, um, so it can take me a while to kind of make make the moves, but I will make them, but only when I'm ready. And in the past I beat myself up for that for not, you know, jumping in and taking the risk. And I know some people will say, no, you need to jump in, take the risk, you know. Each to their own, but I would say, if you are more an observer, you still have to push yourself because otherwise you'll sit still, um, but you know you will get there eventually, as long as you kind of plant the right seeds and speak to the right people and you can slowly work your way there. Basically, you don't have to be there in in one month's time.
Speaker 1:It could take three years, you know I guess in a way as well, like we said there, you know like it's important, you know to uh as well like forge our own paths right, and we all go at our own paces and we shouldn't necessarily. I know it's very easy to compare ourselves to others, but going at our own pace isn't exactly a drawback in the sense of we're all at different life stages or we all have a certain pace that works for us. But you know, the goal could be, it could be the same, it may not be, but still I think it's important to you know, continue to not only support each other but to not be too hard on ourselves in the moment, because that can be, that can be quite a default thing, right to kind of knock ourselves down a bit if we're not where we think we should be. But maybe society expects us to be that kind of thing yeah, for sure, and it's the same with friends.
Speaker 2:You'll probably feel pressure for, uh, career-wise, personal life, whatever, just like. It's very hard and I'm still struggling to do it, but try and block it out. I can see that throughout my life it's taken me maybe two or three years longer than where I'd expected to be, but I've got where I've wanted to go each time.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm, I think as well. It's balance, finding the balance that works for you, but also the flow. So, for example, like the time and energy you put into certain things, whether that be inside of work or outside of work, and just making sure that you have that time to yourself in between as well, so you kind of recuperate your own energy as well, as well as giving that energy to other people too.
Speaker 2:Yes, definitely. I mean, if you're kind of more a type a person or you're very work focused, that can be difficult and it's probably one of the most important skills that, again, I'm still trying to to develop, but to realize that there's plenty of stuff going on outside of work, and again, again coming back to that paul smith episode. But he was saying, you know, we, what he used to say was it's just business, um, and no one wants to feel just like a number in a company and that's not always the case, but business will always have to come first. So building a life outside of that is pretty key.
Speaker 1:Before we wrap up the episode, we'd like to do a quick fire round word association, for example, when I say the word learning, what's the first word that you associate it with University? Perfect. So after that warm-up word, let's begin, shall we? So three, two, one, progress, hard work, communication, difficult Mindset, important Milestone Life, freedom, key, creativity, fun, collaboration, fundamental Challenge, rise Problems, solutions, advice, listen and finally, one of my favourite words, journey, enjoy Nice, okay. Well, thank you, daniel, for sitting down with us to talk about your career journey, human anxiety and lots more. It's been great seeing how passionate you are about what you do and the difference you're making around destigmatizing mental health, but also your own viewpoints around mental health and just um lifelong learning in general. Thank you to our listeners, our open comments community. We hope you enjoyed this episode and look forward to bringing more episodes like this one to you very soon. Stay safe and happy listening. Bye for now, thank you.
