Lessons Learned from a Scary Moment on Stage

Okay, this is me about three minutes before I had some sort of syncopal episode - losing (temporarily) my vision, hearing … and ability to finish my presentation at The Customer Show Australia 2022.

One hospital visit, three blood tests, five scans and a holter monitor hook-up later, I’m pretty sure I’m okay (for now, muahahaha).

At the time, though, it was a bit crushing. Being helped off-stage was a bit embarrassing. Not knowing what happened was confusing. And, because I didn’t deliver - in fact, I’d barely got through five minutes - I felt like a failure.

I’m unsure why it happened - delayed COVID symptoms, mesial temporal sclerosis, delayed trauma from sparring … or good ol’ fashion stress (I’d just started a business, also had a new job, a baby on the way, and this was my first presentation for exsona …#lifeshit).

In the last week or so, I’ve started to see lots of posts on LinkedIn from this year’s Customer Show, and it’s forced me to reflect.

A year on, though, I’m grateful it happened. The reaction surprised me because I felt like shit at the time. Overall, it was a good opportunity to be grateful for my health, senses, and support system. And, it was an encouragement to stop and do a little ‘life audit’, which is often beneficial. "Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labour does the body" as Seneca put it, so there’s that too.

I’ve been on stage a few times in the last year and haven’t passed out, fainted or lost my vision … so I’m on a winning streak, haha.

Which, is a good segue to …

Building a Data-Driven Wellbeing Program

I presented with Matt Meffan from Unmind last week - a webinar I definitely stayed conscious for (granted, it’s a little easier when doing it from home!).

We took around 200 People and Culture leaders through a session on Wellbeing Strategy. I drew from my experiences with Youi, sharing some stories, insights and ideas - as well as tips from my wellbeing guide on how to create an award-winning wellbeing strategy.

We covered:

⭐️ How to build a robust wellbeing program.

⭐️ Lessons learnt and the failed experiments.

⭐️ The importance of data and insight and how they inform your future evolution.

⭐️ Why a Wellbeing Champions network is key to success.

We talked a lot about data, and the various ways you can measure the effectiveness of wellbeing, or showcase its return on investment … something I’ve built models for in the past. So it was great to share, and answer Matt’s as well as the audience’s questions.

The session was recorded and is free on YouTube if you want to check it out, see here:

Unmind APAC | Lunch + Learn: Building an Award Winning Data-Driven and Inclusive Wellbeing Strategy

Hats off to the team at Unmind - they’re an awesome team and are doing some incredible work. And, they’re everywhere, so when you come across them at the next HR or culture event - say hello :)