REGISTER NOW: Uncomfortable Conversations: The Skills Crisis
REGISTER: 8THIRTYFOUR Skills Survival School Founding Cohort

Culture + Mental Health

Share This Post:

A statue with colorful glasses beginning to drip

A big part of culture is being in tune with your team’s mental health. Especially now during a time when our entire world has lost its damn mind. Work needs to be a place where employees can get shit done, in a welcoming and safe environment. Talk about stuff, address the hard topics and make it ok for them to feel, for you to feel.

Here are a few things you can do as a company to ensure your culture and your team stay healthy.

Mental Health Days

We are being barraged 24/7 with some really depressing shit and it’s a lot to take in. It isn’t business as usual when 21 people are murdered by a psycho with an AR-15. As an employer, you need to make it okay for your team to feel, take time, and talk about things – if they want. Don’t force conversations, that’s just awkward for everyone.

If you have mental health days, encourage your team to take them. Set an example by taking one yourself.

Boundaries 

Remind your employees to set boundaries. We had no boundaries between work and home for 2 years, we’re still recovering. They need to be able to shut it off and not worry you’ll be blowing up their inbox between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. If for some reason you need to get ahold of them after hours, pick up the phone and call them. 

Admit the Struggle

Make it okay to admit the struggle. If your employees feel they have to keep up appearances, then you need to check your culture. They should feel comfortable asking for help when they need it. 

Make mental health a priority in your company, it’s what great cultures are made of.

Search

Recent Posts

Something on Your Mind?

If you ever need proof that personal brand matters...Kim got to see the @nasaartemis II launch in person as a direct result of her Big Deal Energyâ„¢. 

You need to work hard, show up authentically, and provide value. That was her message to a room full of students and young professionals at @western_michigan_pmi's theProject Collegiate Competition. 

The Big Deal Energyâ„¢ Workshop is on June 23. Register at the link in bio.
Employers think Gen Z is lazy, entitled, and will quit the second things get hard. That perception is keeping you out of the room before you ever get a chance to prove otherwise.

The good news is, you can flip the script, but it will take some serious work and a personal brand, or as Kim Bode refers to it: Big Deal Energyâ„¢.

Kim is speaking at theProjectâ„¢ Collegiate Event, hosted by the Project Management Institute Western Michigan Chapter on April 14. She'll cover how to build a personal brand that actually sounds like you (not ChatGPT) and how you can show your value through social, content and networking. 

Link in bio to learn more.
No one talks about how lonely it is to own a business. The tough decisions land on you, the business doesn't pause when you need a break, and nobody - not your employees or your spouse - really gets it. 

If you know a business owner, tell them they're doing a good job. It matters more than you know.
The growth stage is the hardest part of building a business. 

Kim was recently quoted in @corpmagazine on what she sees running the Women's Entrepreneurial Fellowship: women who have built something, survived the hardest part, and are still doing everything themselves. The natural tendency to be humble and attached to their work creates unique business challenges for women; they put up walls because they can't be vulnerable. 

Meanwhile, when a woman CEO needs growth capital, she compiles three years of tax returns before a bank will schedule a meeting, while her male competitor closes the same deal over drinks.

When women have access to the right resources, they grow and invest back. Full article at the link in bio.

Join Us for Uncomfortable Conversations: The Skills Crisis

April 28, 2026

We’re putting employers and Gen Z in the same room, across a table from each other. They’ll discuss what’s working, what’s missing, and what they wish the other side understood.

Responses

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *