Beyond the Checkbox
Beyond the Checkbox is a workplace podcast hosted by Dr. Ryan Todd, a clinical psychiatrist, award-winning filmmaker, and founder/CEO of mental health tech startup, headversity. The goal of the show is to help listeners future-proof their organizations through stories of innovation and progressive leadership that champion mental health at work, where they’ve gone above and beyond checking the box. This is accomplished through Dr. Todd diving into hard-hitting topics of mental wellbeing in the workplace with some of the world’s top business leaders, executives, and technologists that are leading exemplary initiatives.
Beyond the Checkbox
Episode 42 | Living an Olympic Dream | ft. Shannon Abeda and Patricia Phillips
Shannon Abeda is a 2x Olympic athlete in Alpine Skiing, and the only Winter Olympian to represent the country of Eritrea. Just two weeks before the Olympics in Beijing, after three and a half years of training and preparation, Shannon got the devastating news that his funding through the Eritrean National Olympic Committee had fallen through, all but ending his hopes of returning to the Olympics. Enter Patricia Phillips, CEO of PBA Group of Companies, who spearheaded a last-minute sponsorship of Shannon to make his Olympic dreams a reality. This special episode covers Shannon’s amazing story of getting to Beijing, persevering through adversity on every turn, and touching on how mental health impacted his journey.