Girl Tries Life Podcast

It's the penultimate episode of this season on workplace wellbeing, so we wanted to talk about what's going on in real-time. Companies are cutting their DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) budgets left, right and center. We'll talk a little bit about why that's happening, but also why it's the biggest mistake an organization can make. DEI and your wellbeing in the workplace are intricately connected, which is why I wanted to have this conversation today with Sr DEI Consultant, Janelle St Omer.  In this episode we talk about: the many ways DEI shows up at work that you may not even realize how it correlates positively or negatively to stress and retention why companies are cutting their DEI budgets why that is an EPIC mistake what individuals, teams and leaders can do about it what gives us hope  Connect with Janelle on LinkedIn Connect with Victoria on LinkedIn If you enjoy this episode, please share it on LinkedIn or with someone who will find value in the content.

Engagement surveys. Love them or hate them, they're an incredibly useful tool to understand where an organization is at, and where their people feel they need to go. They're also a useful tool to understand workplace wellbeing. But how do we use them to their maximum effect so they don't become something that organizations dread?  We dive into this and more with Denise Lloyd, the Founder and CEO of Engaged, an award-winning, Victoria based human resource consulting firm that provides leading-edge HR services to organizations across Canada. Denise is a leader that brings new ideas and innovation to the way HR contributes to an organization and is known for transforming workplaces. Denise has over 25 years of HR leadership experience, has a Master of Arts in Leadership, and holds the prestigious designation of Fellow Chartered Human Resources Professional (FCPHR).   In this episode we talk about: the core differences between engagement, pulse and engagement surveys, when to do them and why the criticality of or

Job hunting consistently ranks as one of the most stressful experiences. It triggers feelings around self-esteem, financial security, worth and purpose, all massively important areas of our lives. That's why this week I wanted to bring Career Coach and Financial Recruiter Darci Smith to the microphone.  In this episode we talk about: current state of the job market tips to be successful in your job search the importance in finding clarity in your needs and fine-tuning your search how to keep your spirits up and maintain momentum job hunting myth-busting! navigating internal job moves and much more! Follow Darci on Instagram Connect with Darci on LinkedIn Darci's Recruitment Firm - Roklyn  

We've talked a couple of times now about the connection between purpose, volunteerism and wellbeing... but where is the evidence? I'm all for evidence-based decision-making, so today on the podcast we're joined by Ryan Adams, the head of Strategic Partnerships at Benevity. Benevity is a corporate purpose software that provides charitable donation-management, volunteer-management and grant-management solutions for corporations. It also happens to be my former workplace, and one of my favourite parts of the job was the data that was produced from the 1000+ clients and millions of participants. In March 2024, Benevity produced its most recent State of Corporate Volunteering Report and the data is fascinating, and for me, I couldn't help but see the connections between corporate purpose programs and an employee's wellbeing. Ryan has a deep background in all things social impact, which we discuss in the podcast, and we also talk about: turning implicit understandings about volunteerism into explicit findings the p

Multiple studies have shown that most workplace wellness features don't actually make a difference to employee wellbeing. But there is one that has been proven to work at retaining people, giving them a sense of purpose and improving their wellbeing - employee volunteerism. Today I am joined by social impact leader, Jerome Tennille, to talk about why employee volunteer programs make such a difference to our wellbeing, how to thoughtfully develop your own program, how we can better measure impact and much more.    Check out our Less Stressed Leaders Training  Follow Jerome on LinkedIn   

This week on the podcast I'm very excited to bring Michelle Berg to the mic. Michelle is the Chief Visionary Officer of Elevated HR, a fractional HR services firm that believe fiercely that work shouldn't suck.  To continue our conversation on workplace wellbeing and organizational stress, I wanted to have a frank conversation about what is the role HR can and/or should play in supporting organizations to reduce stress and burnout. In this conversation we talk about: How the motto work shouldn't suck is their north star and what organizations should aim for Whether or not engagement surveys should exist Workplace trends regarding stress and burnout Tips for transitioning employees back to the office after stress leave (and tips for leaders to see early warning signs in the first place) Why HR may not be the team to teach leaders about psychological safety, and the role HR play vs department leads in building psychological safety Why more part-time professional roles don't exist and how we can get to a more fl

If you work for a corporation, your company website likely has some values listed on it. We believe in x, y and z. You might even have your performance assessed against it. And corporate values can't be bad, right?  In this short episode I dive into where corporate values can go wrong, and what you as a leader need to do to make sure your team are on the same page. Less Stressed Teams training launches April 17th https://www.impactfulengagement.com/training  Hub Spot Culture Code https://www.hubspot.com/culture-code/the-hubspot-culture-code 

We're back for Part 2 with Jen Singhal. Last week we dove into what it takes to move a team from low engagement to a highly engaged and high performing team. We talked tangible practices to build team morale and in this episode we dive even deeper into the practices to develop psychologically safe teams. It's far more than a buzzword, and we can talk psychological safety in theory for ages, but Jen breaks down tangible tools to put it into action.    Check out Less Stressed Leaders training at impactfulengagement.com/training  Follow Jen on LinkedIn  

There's a common misconception that certain industries or roles are simply high-stress and that's "the way it is and the way it's always been." I don't buy it. Today we're joined by Jen Singhal, a leader who knows what it means to build a team's performance while sustaining (in fact measurably improving!) their wellbeing. She's proven both are possible, and in this episode she graciously breaks down what it took, the tools and practices, that got her team there. Her coaching leadership style is fascinating and you'll have so many takeaways that you can implement immediately.  In part one of this episode we talk about: What Jen’s leadership career trajectory has looked like (10:15) How her background in sports impacts her leadership style  (15:43) The unique features of leadership and goal setting  as a result of team sports (18:29) How fun can and should be part of team dynamics (21:20) Balancing your teams limits (self-imposed or otherwise)   (22:20) The importance of safety given uncertain times (25:03) Bui

An intentional employee resource group (ERG) has the ability to not only build awareness, but to create systemic change in organizations, build allyship, improve belonging, engagement and psychological safety. And all of those things... decrease workplace stress! This week on the podcast we're joined by Johann Shudlick from Golden, a volunteer software that helps organizations (and ERGs!) to grow their programs efficiently and effectively, to save costs so they can focus on the impactful work they are doing and to make compliance easy.  In his time at Goldman Sachs, Johann took on a leadership role in the LGBTQ+ network and it was life-changing. In this episode he shares the one big thing that was a critical focus for their ERG. We also talk about: The career path that led him to employee resource groups (07:05) How ERGs boost your feeling of belonging (11:43)  Advice for ERGs shifting from awareness building to systemic org change (14:00)  How to achieve goals which operate in an intangible space (17:13)  Te

Welcome to our brand new season of Stop Stressing Me Out, a podcast where we investigate the many ways we can decrease stress, at the root. This season we are focused on Workplace Wellbeing. To kick it off, we have to start with… what even is workplace wellbeing? Where did it originate? How has the workplace evolved as a result of wellbeing practices? What does modern workplace wellbeing look like and have we altered the definition of it?    It’s a short episode but gets to the heart of things as we kick off a 12-week season where we dive into some of the root issues of workplace wellbeing and speak to experts from around the world about strategies to improve how we experience work. It’s going to be an incredible ride, so make sure you’re subscribed to the podcast player of your choice so you don’t miss an episode. Want to dive deeper as an individual leader? Check out Impactful Engagements Spring 2024 training schedule at www.impactfulengagement.com/training

As we prepare to launch our new season on Workplace Wellbeing and Stress Management, we’re pulling out a never-before heard episode which is quite timely. Today we’re joined by entrepreneur, activist, speaker, podcast host and incredible mom (among many other titles), Sarah Elder-Chamanara.    You may know Sarah from her incredible business, Madame Premier, which is all about empowering women in politics. What started as a t-shirt design business has grown into a full-fledged community that brings people together to talk about the tough issues we face today.   In a time that can feel more divided than ever, Sarah shares with us her perspective on how we can work across the aisle and meet in the middle more. We discuss:   How Sarah’s passion for politics began (10:30) Fun fact about Victoria’s background in politics (13:23) Turning an interest in politics into a business (14:37) Creating a safe space for hard topics (18:57) How to talk to people you disagree with (20:56) Practicing empathy in different areas o

Shulamit Ber Levtov, or @the_entrepreneurs_therapist as she's better known online, is a therapist who works primarily with entrepreneurs. She helps them to navigate the emotional ups and downs of running a business, and over the past couple of years I couldn't help but feel that the gig economy is bringing those same ups and downs to many in the traditional workplace.  In this episode we talk about: workplace trauma that's not so easy to recognize pandemic exhaustion and how it's still affecting us scarcity mindset for any kind of worker the relentlessness of tasks and how to help yourself to focus what traditional workers can learn from entrepreneurs and vice versa Resources: Shulamit's website: https://www.shula.ca/  The Canadian Institute of Workplace Bullying: https://instituteofworkplacebullyingresources.ca/  Shulamit's 3 Principles https://entrepreneurstherapist.click/principleshandout 

We may be in 2023, but I feel like so many of us parents are still a little traumatized by what it took to parent throughout a pandemic and the after effects we're still seeing, so I needed to chat this week with author and parenting expert, Julie Freedman Smith. We talk about the different challenges parents are facing post pandemic, how to problem solve with your kids and help them problem solve between each other, how to communicate with your kids and so much more.  Check out Julie's free community Parent Break here ---> https://www.parent-break.com/join  Follow Julie on Instagram @juliefs  Check out Julie's book, A Year of Intentional Parenting ---> https://www.amazon.ca/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B00QOPCTUY 

Over 70% of us are moderately or extremely stressed at work. But whose responsibility is it for remedying that horrifying stat? This week we'll dive into what elements of workplace engagement both employees and leaders need to take ownership for if we want to feel more engaged and less stressed in our 9-5.  To book a free discovery call to join the Stress Less at Work program, find a time here: https://calendly.com/stresslessladies/discovery-call

Over 65% of us say that money is a significant source of stress, and in times like these with rising costs and stagnant wages, it's easy to see why. Today, I'm joined by Alyssa Davies, money expert, founder of Mixed Up Money and two-time author, to discuss how we can: shift our money mindset tangible changes we can make today habits we can build to ease financial stress what it takes to hit COAST Fire living a rich life regardless of what's in your bank account  and more! Head over to my Instagram @stresslessladies for the chance to win a copy of Alyssa's second book Financial First Aid.  Check out Alyssa's new course on easing your financial anxiety, Bills and Chills.     

We're kicking off this summer 12-episode season of the Stop Stressing Me Out Podcast with one heck of a topic. What do you do WHEN you are laid off. Roughly 50% of us will be laid off at least once in our lives, and it seems that layoffs are happening more and more.  The strategies we talk about this week will help you process sooner and build your resilience through what is one of the most challenging experiences we can go through.  If you're not already, find me on Instagram @stresslessladies 

First off, big news! We are launching 2023 with a brand new podcast name - Stop Stressing Me Out! Each episode I'll be sharing fun, tangible tips for stress management with you, both from years of coaching clients and from interviewing experts around the world. It's going to be FIRE and your go-to podcast for stress less tips.  Today we're kicking off 2023 with something a little bit new. I'm joined by Tara Scott, podcast host of Queerly Recommended, to talk about the Netflix documentary, Stutz, by Jonah Hill.  Stutz is a documentary about therapist, Phil Stutz, and his various tools that he's honed as a therapist. As we'll discuss in the episode, the documentary shifts not only to share these tools, but also the dynamic between Jonah Hill and Phil, and we see the use of tools in real-time.   

Nobody wants to be laid off, but over 40% of North Americans will be laid off at least once in their careers. This week I'm joined by employment lawyer, Heather Tyminski, to help us understand what are our rights when we are laid off, how to consider your severance and in what situations to reach out to an employment lawyer. She shares so many nuggets of wisdom that I wish I had known before I was laid off - it's a good one! If you're in Alberta and in search of an employment lawyer, you can find Heather at https://www.tjworkplacelaw.com/  WEBINAR! Sign up for the free webinar on 3 Tips to Stress Less Now https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/3-tips-to-stress-less-now-tickets-449681578707 Limited space!

What does Fat Bear Week have to do with our topic this week? Just you wait to find out! Today we're talking about how to reduce the overwhelm by getting chunky.