Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to Faces of Atlantic, a series hosted by Terianne Richards that gets real with the leaders, change makers and everyday doers shaping Atlantic Canada. Each conversation dives beyond titles to uncover the grit, growth and human stories behind the work.
[00:00:24] Speaker B: This is Faces of Atlantic, where we go beyond titles and talk about the real human side of leadership. I'm Terry Ann Richards, your host, and today I'm sitting down with Elizabeth, who is going to share some of her story, some of her experiences in leadership, and all the cool work she's been doing across North America. And we're going to uncover the story behind this leader. So, hey, Elizabeth.
[00:00:46] Speaker C: Hey, Terry Ann. So glad to be here.
[00:00:48] Speaker B: I'm super stoked to have you here. So I have known Elizabeth for a good number of years. Funny enough, many moons ago, she actually trained me in mental health. Remember, I got my mental health right certificate, like, many, many, many years ago. She was a fantastic trainer and I fell for her at that point. And so she's been chumming around ever since. But I'm gonna pretend I know nothing about her today so that you can all learn all the ooey, gooey, juicy bits that I've learned over the years. So, Elizabeth, before we dig in and talk about what you do professionally and how you're making impact across the country and beyond, when I strip away all your titles, the stuff I can't probably see, you know, on LinkedIn. Who are you really?
[00:01:31] Speaker C: Great question. Diving right into the deep end of the pool. I love it. I would say I'm a helper. Yeah, I would say I'm a helper. And yeah, I know that that's something that you and I, I think, have in common. And I want to say as well that I equally fell for you all of this years ago. I think we had been circling each other. We were in each other's orbit, right. And yeah, so that was back when, like, in the early days of when I was doing mental health first aid training. And it's a program that I still do. And one of the coolest things about that is that I get to connect. So that program is all about teaching helpers how to help, you know, more or in a different way.
And, yeah, one of the things I love the most about it is that over the years I've gotten to meet so many more helpers, right. People who, realistically, when you were in that training, you were probably like, yeah, duh, of course. These are the things that we do, right? Like, because it just, it aligned with who you are as A leader as well.
[00:02:33] Speaker B: So yeah, now you're also a dog owner. And and I just have to say that because I don't know, there's just something about a fellow dog owner that I love. Can we talk about your dogs for a second? Do you have two still?
[00:02:44] Speaker C: I have two and then I have a step dog as well.
My partner's eight year old. Lab. Yes, yes.
[00:02:51] Speaker B: Okay. Okay, now your two dogs. Tell me what's the breed again?
[00:02:55] Speaker C: Oh my gosh. Okay, so did not expect the interview to go here but I, yeah, my heart's exploding. So Ruby is a Weimaraner, so she's my little anxious Annie. She. For anyone who knows that breed, they're known for being prone to separation anxiety.
But I like to say that I also have separation anxiety when I'm away from her. So we're well matched. And Violet is a German short haired pointer.
So super, super high energy. And then my dear little trapper who has come into the family just within past couple years.
He's like your stereotypical lab who just, he kind of wants to like lay around and whatever. Yeah. My girls who are younger and very high energy. He's like what are these creatures? Poor little guy.
[00:03:42] Speaker B: Oh, I love it, I love it. Thank you for that. Thank you for humoring me because I think there's something special about dog owners.
[00:03:48] Speaker C: So it's so true what you do
[00:03:50] Speaker B: on a day to day basis because you're a, a very busy woman. I mean calculated in your busyness, I know that but you are, you have multiple levels and spaces and, and how you show up for the folks that you support. So can you share a little bit about a, what your company's name is and then the work because you have a few brands. So we'll start with sort of the main one that's in that I know you think I'm thinking of and then we'll let, we'll go to the others like what's your company? What does it do? Who is it for? Because there's going to be folks that are going to tune into this and be like hey, I know of her, awesome, have had her before or I don't know of her. And you know, what problems does she solve? What solutions does she deliver? So take it away.
[00:04:34] Speaker C: Yeah. What I think of as my real job is that that I'm a psychological health and safety consultant. So interesting in that field. Like there's even within the last, I would say year or two the term psychological safety suddenly is everywhere which is very.
So right now what the Appetite seems to be for. I'm doing a lot of consulting work with organizations who are looking to identify psychosocial hazards in their workplaces. Kind of in the same way that it's been commonplace for decades to do physical hazard analyses. Right. Of our workplaces. So identifying where those little gaps or hazards exist and then what steps can we take to mitigate those risks. So I'm doing a lot of that, helping organizations to develop frameworks that uphold a psychologically safe and healthy work environment. I do a lot of training, custom built solutions for organizations who are struggling with. I always say to potential clients, you don't have to know what you're looking for, you just have to tell me the problem. It's my job to figure out, you know, what might fit the bill. So yeah, that's kind of my main job.
And then, yeah, back in the days when I was starting out as a mental health first aid trainer, back when we first connected, I still run that program. It's a standardized program, it's evidence based. So it's a really like tried and true program. There's another program, kind of type that's also from the Mental Health Commission of Canada now that it's been really well received the last couple of years called the Working Mind. And I described that as, it's kind of like the workplace specific adaptation of mental health first aid. So there's a program for leaders, a program for employees. So yeah, I like to say that when I'm giving like a very long, drawn out recap of my day to my partner, I'm like, aren't you lucky? You get to listen to me for free. Like I talk for a living and you won't even get an invoice after this.
[00:06:33] Speaker B: Oh, I love it, I love it. Now do you find that most organizations at this point are leaning in to this as something that's it's important as in like it's, it's on the list, it's in the budget, it's in the talks, they're speaking about it in the boardroom. Like you're no longer having to potentially, I don't want to say sell, but like prove that it's necessary.
[00:06:55] Speaker C: Yeah, you're bang on. I think there's better recognition now. Like when I first started out in 2012, delivering training on mental health in the workplace, a lot of organizations were kind of like mental health, like what would that have to do with work? Right. That was, you know, if you're struggling with something, well, that's what weekends are for. Deal with it check your problems at the door. And now in just that short a time, too, I mean, that wasn't a hundred years ago, right. But yeah, we've come a long ways just in the last handful of years. And I think there's much more recognition now, especially in leadership, that this is not a soft, fluffy thing. It's really directly related to performance. Right. And then I would even say that when I look on the horizon and I'm feeling hopeful and optimistic that even beyond, because there's tons of, you know, this stuff can be integrated into KPIs, we can assign an ROI to it, but there's more recognition now, and I think there will be going forward that who wouldn't want to work in a place where people genuinely care for one another, right? Like, even aside from just this, like, you know, how many dollars you get per dollar that you invest or whatever, who wouldn't want to show up in a place where you feel like you're seen as a human being? And, you know, we all have great days, crappy days, somewhere in between.
You never know when you put your pants on in the morning what that day is going to throw your way. Right?
So, of course life is going to be better for every single one of us if we're able to show up as our authentic selves. And when we go to work, we don't have to put the mask on, right? We can bring our authentic selves to work. If I was going through something tough, I want to feel like, yeah, those people who I spend a ton of time with every week, they would recognize if I was behaving a little bit differently or if my mood seemed off and they would care enough to ask. Right?
[00:08:55] Speaker B: Yeah. So true. When you work with, I mean, because you're working with organizations of all different sizes from all over and in different cities, sectors, what are you seeing as the common thread? And maybe I'll add to this. Where are you seeing almost the easiest, lowest hanging fruit that is the easiest shift and change for those organizations. And I mean, I know always first it's awareness, but then there's always those next couple steps. Is there sort of a common thread that you could share?
[00:09:24] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. I think that sense of belonging at work and like what I mentioned a minute ago, that that feeling of being able to show up as your true human self, I think leaders really set the tone there. Right. And leaders historically, you know, if you think of kind of the stereotypes around strong leaders, it's someone who, they know all the answers. They've got it all figured out. They're the, you know, this fearless person with the cape on their back and everyone goes to them because they know what's up, they've got the answers. That's not realistic. That's not a realistic expectation to have of leaders.
And it's so much undue pressure that leaders put on themselves, I think sometimes. So to foster that real sense of belonging, leaders need to model vulnerability. Right? Like, if you don't know the answer, it's okay to say, yeah, I don't know, or to say, yeah, I'm nervous about that too, you know, So I think that's, it's such a powerful message and it's this twofold benefit because not only is it great modeling for those you work with, but for the leader themselves. What I hear is that feels great.
Like, that feels awesome to just, you know, so. And I think if, if we want to feel that true sense of belonging, that's where it's got to start. Like, we've all got to be willing to be vulnerable. And that ultimately is what psychological safety is all.
If I'm scared to make a mistake or if I'm scared to not have the answers, that means there's psychological safety lacking, right?
[00:11:03] Speaker B: Yeah, 100%.
So now you work with both leaders and the teams, is that correct?
[00:11:09] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.
[00:11:10] Speaker B: So what is the energy? Because I think, you know, as I work with organizations, the vibe that I get a lot of times is a lot of organizations have tried a lot of wellness programs. There's been a lot of things that they've put in place and there's all sorts of surveys going out and they're trying to get data to understand where their people are. But people sometimes, I don't know if they lose trust, but maybe they lose belief in what's going to be done because, you know, they've given the information they've shared with their superiors. There was a yoga class last Friday. There was this, there was that. And so what is the energy that you're seeing across teams of, you know, noticing or noting that their leaders are now saying, okay, we're going to put this program in place or we're going to start putting these policies or these frameworks in place. Are they being positively received or are they feeling like, oh, it's just another thing they're going to try?
[00:12:00] Speaker C: Yeah. Oh, that's a great question. I would say very, very, very mixed in my experience. Or you mentioned like the, oh, there was a yoga class last Friday. My go to example is the pizza party. The pizza party Like, a pizza party is not a wellness initiative.
[00:12:16] Speaker B: It's not.
[00:12:16] Speaker C: It's not. Right. It's not even an effective recognition strategy. It' sort of a nothing. Right. Like, everyone can buy their own pizza. Like, it's. Yeah. So what I see is. I mean, I see it sort of like both ends of the spectrum and everywhere in between. I think one of the keys is, well, history. I would say, like, plays a big part of it, right. That if historically people have been responding to those surveys and then they see it going nowhere, or leaders are paying lip service to it, but they're not putting their money where their mouth is. But I think transparency all along the journey is so important because I seen it actually work really beautifully where there's been a total turnaround, there's been kind of a lack of trust that this is going to go anywhere. And then leaders have said, you know what? We hear you, and we have dropped the ball on this before.
We have sucked at this. We've asked you for your input. Then we haven't done anything with it, but here's why this time is different.
And then really engaging the entire team so that they feel they have a role to play in the journey. Right. And like, part of that role sometimes times is being patient. Part of that role should be asking good questions. Right. I think employees should feel like they can kind of take their leadership to task a little bit on. Well, maybe that was not the right way to phrase that, but, you know, they should be able to feel comfortable saying, where are things at with that? Right. Like for there to be some accountability measures there. So I would say that's where I see the greatest success, is when there's real engagement and it's a sense of collaboration. Right. Like, that neither party can do this without the others.
[00:13:57] Speaker B: That's awesome. So let's kind of pivot a bit and talk about you, because I think, you know, you're an entrepreneur, you're a speaker, you're a trainer, you're a consultant, you run multiple, you know, businesses.
And so there's a lot of balls in the air. There's a lot going on. How do you stay grounded? How do you deal through, you know, the chaos and the changes of just society in the world in general? What is it that you do to help to maintain that inner peace and to keep yourself grounded?
[00:14:26] Speaker C: Hardest question yet, I would say, as you were speaking and you were like, how do you do? In my head, I was going, not well. Not well is the answer. Sometimes I would say what I strive for because of course there's going to be. In entrepreneurship, there's always. There's peaks and valleys, there's tough times, there's stuff that you haven't seen coming. All of that, as you know very well. Yes, I would say a real key for me is I've worked really hard the last two or three years, especially to establish some semblance of balance.
And in my life, as in about two years ago, I decided I'm going to see what all the fuss is about with weekends. I never understood, why do people care so much about the weekend? I can look back now and say, well, yeah, I didn't have a. It happened to be a Saturday or a Sunday. But even if I wasn't sitting at my desk, I was constantly making notes. My brain was still, like 100% plugged into work. Anything that I did for fun, it was just sort of like this little side thing, you know, Like I wasn't really fully present.
[00:15:37] Speaker B: Yeah, I have felt that.
Yes, I have felt.
[00:15:40] Speaker C: No doubt. Yeah, it's hard.
[00:15:43] Speaker B: The boundaries are hard. When you are your own boss.
And I think maybe just in general, like anybody who's passionate about the work that you do, it's so easy to just consider it and start thinking about it and then add new ideas. And then, you know, with the invention of AI and it's like, it's right there. So you're like, I'm trying to watch a show with, you know, my hubby, and I'm relaxing and I'm like, but I wonder about this thing. And I start researching it and then the ideas start to go and all of a sudden the whole show's gone and I'm like, what? What happened?
[00:16:14] Speaker C: I know.
[00:16:15] Speaker B: Did he die? What?
[00:16:17] Speaker C: Like, where'd he go?
And your husband, I'm sure, is like, ah, this again, right?
[00:16:23] Speaker B: Like, yeah, this again.
[00:16:24] Speaker C: He's seen it before.
[00:16:26] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I totally get that. So it sounds like you've put some perimeters in place. Does that mean you, like, don't work on the weekends? Does that mean, like, you lock your phone in a treasure chest? Like, what do you do
[00:16:39] Speaker C: generally? I would like. And I'll be the first to say I do not have ye. I mean, I will certainly write a book on it if I ever find, like, the answer. Because there is like, yeah, I totally, totally get what you're saying. I feel similarly that I. Cause I do genuinely love the work that I do. And actually, in trainings, I say a lot, you know, this concept of work, life balance. If someone is really invested in Your organization's mission and the work that the organization does for them. It's probably going to look a little more like work life blend or work life integration. Those are terms we hear a lot more now. Right. But with that said, you know, it can't be so blended that you can't see, you know, any edges. So yeah, for me it's been a game of trial and error, I would say. Generally now I take weekends off now. Are there times when I have a great idea and I'm like, okay, I'm just gonna, you know, I'm gonna write a couple notes about it. I do, but I'm able, with practice, I feel like I've been able to. Okay, I've got it written down. It's not going anywhere. And Monday morning I'll be looking forward to diving into it. I actually just did a couple weeks ago, I was on vacation with my partner in Mexico and I did a LinkedIn post on what are people's thoughts? Like if you're a leader, if you're an entrepreneur. Yeah, because I was away for a week and a half and yeah, logistically and just mentally, I don't know, my own connection to my work that would feel too long for me even if, I mean, I had an auto reply set. Like it would have been fine if I had totally disconnected, but I don't actually like to do that. So I was curious what other self employed folks would say. And it was funny, the comments, it was sort of all across the board, but it was really neat for me to see what tiny little things people are putting in place for themselves that help them to find that little bit of balance. So yeah, I do also in the evenings now, like I have it set on my phone so that like across all my devices it goes into do not disturb at stuff seven in the evening. So I at least don't have the little pings that I can't resist looking at, you know. So I guess it's just about finding what works for you. Right? Playing around with that.
[00:18:50] Speaker B: And I find like we can go in extremes. I was with a client this weekend and he was like, you never answer your phone. And that's the truth. I don't answer my phone.
[00:18:59] Speaker C: I put my phone same.
[00:19:00] Speaker B: I, I put my phone on mute in 2015.
[00:19:06] Speaker C: Okay, that's long. Yeah, I know.
[00:19:08] Speaker B: And it's never come back on. Like my kids will be messaging me on every platform like mama, mother. Like, you know, I'll have like 50, 000 messages because my phone's always on Mute. Because I'm like, I'll look at it every like 20 minutes or 30 minutes and be like, what's going on?
[00:19:23] Speaker C: At my convenience. Yes.
[00:19:24] Speaker B: Right. But I don't want it binging and dinging at me. I started to feel like I was like a slave to it and I was like, I don't like. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Mr. Phone.
[00:19:34] Speaker C: Yes. Well, that is a good way to take back control from Mr. Phone. Yeah, like to, to be, you know, I will check in with it regularly, but it's going to be on my time. Yeah, yeah, good point.
[00:19:46] Speaker B: So as you start to look towards your future and you're kind of painting a picture for like where you're headed and where you want to continue to make impact, where do you foresee your path leading you next? Like, what does it look like for you? Because I think I've kind of been witness, you know, as a peer, as a friend over here, watching the evolution of you and your entrepreneurship and the cool things you're doing with your business businesses. Where do you see yourself headed in the next, you know, two to five years?
[00:20:14] Speaker C: If there is one thing that I have learned about entrepreneurship, actually, and I'm a super type a person, you know this about me, my color coded day planner. But it has been an exercise for me to let go of the planning a little bit because life has proven to me and being in business for myself has proven to me there are things that, oh my gosh, like best laid plans. Right. Like if you.
I mean, it's good to have some structure and some aspirations and some goals, but I'm much better now. I guess that would factor in with my, you know, sort of keeping things balanced approach. Now I'm much more loose on letting opportunities come up and being putting myself in a position where I'm able to grab onto whatever really excites me. And I think in the work that I do, I feel so lucky to be in this place at this moment because the stuff that I have believed in so deeply for so many years now, organizations are going.
Yeah, that's true. That is true. So I feel really, just really grateful and lucky. Yeah. To be in a position where I'm going to be able to walk next steps with organizations who are ready to do that. Yeah, I would say aside from that, I'm pretty open and just optimistic and excited for whatever life and business throws my way.
[00:21:42] Speaker B: I love that. I love that. Okay, well, I'm going to wish all of that and more for you and that you're able to find the peace and the integration on the in between.
I want to thank you so much for coming on today and sharing more about you and the work that you do and the impact that you're making. And, you know, it's exciting and heartwarming to hear that so many organizations are leaning into this in the way that will really make impact, because I feel like it's the butterfly effect, right? Like when you make impact in an organization, that impact, you know, flutters out into communities, into schools, into families. And so I think that the work that you're doing is making a massive impact. So kudos to you for doing it. Keep doing the good work. Keep smiling and having fun while you're doing it.
[00:22:25] Speaker C: Thank you, my friend. And you are such an inspiring leader. You are changing. You are shaking up the world around you when you talk about that butterfly effect. My gosh, it's so cool to get to watch you do that.
[00:22:37] Speaker B: Thank you. Thank you, thank you. I hope you have an amazing week. And cheers to you.
[00:22:42] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:22:43] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:22:45] Speaker A: This has been Faces of Atlantic with host Terianne Richards. Real conversations with the people shaping Atlantic Canada.
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