Tech Exec Wellness Podcast: Conversations to Reignite Your Soul
In the fast-paced world of technology, where innovation and disruption are the norm, tech executives often find themselves caught in a whirlwind of high-pressure decision-making, long working hours, and constant connectivity. The relentless pursuit of success and the demands of their roles can take a toll on their mental, emotional, and physical well-being. However, a new narrative that emphasizes the importance of tech executive wellness as a crucial component of sustainable success is emerging. This is the story of the tech executive's journey to rediscover balance, prioritize well-being, and ultimately thrive in their personal and professional lives.
If you're ready to embark on a wellness journey that will empower you to live your best life, I invite you to subscribe to Tech Exec Wellness, Navigating the Digital Balance, wherever you listen to podcasts. Together, let's cultivate harmony within ourselves and radiate positive energy to the world. Each week, we'll explore a wide range of topics related to wellness, inviting experts, thought leaders, and everyday individuals who have transformed their lives through mindful living, self-care, practices, and holistic approaches. We'll dive deep into areas such as nutrition, fitness, mental health, spirituality, mindfulness, personal growth, and more.
Tech Exec Wellness Podcast: Conversations to Reignite Your Soul
Ep. 15: Afternoon Tea With Friends Feat. Renee Bruning
When tech virtuoso Renee Bruning tunes into her storied career and the symphony of flavors that make up her life, the result is nothing short of captivating. Renee's vibrant journey sweeps us from the humming data centers housing mainframes to the cutting-edge of modern mobility, echoing the rhythm of her eclectic playlist and standout concert memories, with Natalie Merchant's performance striking a powerful chord. Our conversation dances between the beats of her professional milestones and her soulful engagements outside the office, reminding us that even a tech maven finds harmony in life's simple pleasures.
As we swap stories of culinary escapades, it's not just the root beer shakes or the apple pie in a brown paper bag that tantalize the senses, but the mindfulness savored with each bite. There's an art to being present, especially when you're diving into a plate of chocolate-covered toffee, and we wax lyrical about how this artform can transform a workplace. From the importance of wellness in the professional sphere to the charming interruptions by our furry companions during video calls, we uncover how remote work is reshaping our human connections.
Finally, we brew excitement with the announcement of our potential new podcast add-on, "Afternoon Tea with Friends," promising a blend of wellness and candid conversation. With Renee's mentorship echoing as a beacon of support, and the backing of Mel, Erika, and Lisa in these audio adventures, we extend an invitation to our listeners to join us on this exploratory journey. So, subscribe and stay connected for insights that stitch the fabric of life, technology, and well-being into a quilt of shared experiences.
Please visit our website https://www.techexecwellness.com to stay up to date and subscribe to our newsletter!
Welcome back to another episode of Tech Exec Wellness. I'm Melissa, I'm Erica. Today we are thrilled to have Renee Bruning on the show with her dogs my dogs and Erica's dogs. So to give you a little bit of background about Renee she's a veteran of sales and marketing with over 40 years of experience working in software and hardware manufacturing. Renee has worked for technology leaders such as Digital Equipment, compaq, hp, nokia and Apple. Her current role is developing mobility strategies to help businesses transform the way employees work. So, renee, welcome to the show. Before we continue on to the questions, we have to ask you, like we ask everybody else, what is your favorite music genre before we start, and can you share a memorable concert with our listeners?
Speaker 2:Well, thank you all for having me join today. I would love to share some information. Okay so, favorite music I grew up in the 60s, so music was always around me. I will listen to pretty much any genre of music. If I have to pick something, I tend to listen to classic rock. I love folk rock, rhythm and blues rock, pop rock, kind of something in that space.
Speaker 1:How about any concerts that you've been to that you talk about often, anything like that?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I love going to see artists their life and personal. If I can think back, I've seen everyone from Prince Janet Jackson, cher, buddy Guy, rob Zombie, led Zeppelin. I even saw Lady Gaga when she was first coming out as emerging artist in Rosemont, illinois.
Speaker 2:Pick like my most memorable concert that I ever went to. It would be Natalie Merchant, aerie Crown Theater in Chicago. She opened with the title song from her album Ophelia. At that time that was the album that she was launching. She did a whole bunch of songs from her days in 10,000 Maniacs. She did Bowie, oasis, some of my favorites from Van Morrison. It was just such an incredible experience. If you've ever been to Erie Crown you'd know how amazing that theater is because it's designed acoustically that everybody gets this immersive experience. But what was so key about that concert for me is that in one point in the middle of the concert she just stopped the song and she's like no, no, no, let's try this again. And I kind of like that from an artist perspective that you know she was okay with just stopping and starting over again.
Speaker 3:That's amazing. Honestly, I do know that theater because I'm from Illinois as well. Renee, and you know I do have a questions as we're on the music topic. So some of our previous guests play instruments. Mel and I played them when we were younger, so we were band geeks and I think we're going to get a band together for after retirement. Do you play any instruments or sing? Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:I wish I was that talented. I learned to play guitar because I think back in the 70s everybody wanted to play the guitar. I didn't really do very well at it because I just couldn't focus on reading music so it just never really connected with me. And then you asked about singing Honestly, only in my car or the shower. That's what I think I'll limit to, but I would love to join your band if you let me shake a gourd or tambourine. I think I can manage reading a music sheet of it says you know, shake here, shake here, I can do that.
Speaker 3:All right. Well, mel likes to play the harmonica, and I think she has it at her desk with her.
Speaker 1:Yeah, all right, all right. Well, let's go ahead and get started. Renee, again thanks for coming to the show, and Erica, I hope you took notes on who's joining the band after retirement, so we can get that going.
Speaker 3:Yep.
Speaker 1:So, renee, I know you personally, so I know a lot about you, but for our listeners you've got such a remarkable and unique career. Can you walk the listeners through your career journey, like what got you into technology, what motivates you and what do you like about what you're doing?
Speaker 2:I would be happy to. I think I have really an unusual background because my career started when I was really young, and I will thank my dad for this. My dad worked for a company that was called Singer Frieden. They repaired the big IBM mainframes and when I was a kid we moved out of the downtown Chicago area. We moved out to what was at the time it was the country, and my mom's hands were kind of full with my two sisters. So my dad would take me tagging along with him I think I was probably seven or eight years old to jobs on the weekends and I really loved hanging out with him.
Speaker 2:The operators would do fun things to keep me busy. They would print out on these big, huge IBM printers like pictures of Snoopy or the Mona Lisa. They would show me how they operated and then back home in our basement my dad had a bunch of equipment that he would bring home, fix, tinker with, and that's where I kind of got my start with coding. You know I found out how to use one of the punch card machines that he had. I used to pretend that I was like running these big IBM computers. You know what a great genius I was.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. That inspiration came from your father. But what motivates you to continue into the technology sector with your established career?
Speaker 2:I for me, I find technology absolutely, incredibly amazing, and I find it that it has. It's something that connects all of us. If you really kind of think back to technology and we think back to, like, the first telephone, you know it connected people miles and miles away from each other, and that's where we've kind of, you know, catapulted forward to the type of technology we have today, and I like being part of that.
Speaker 1:Now that's awesome. So, aside from being a busy technology professionals, what type of hobbies and activities do? What do you do outside of work for fun?
Speaker 2:Outside of work for me. I have to get recharged by connecting with nature, so I really like to be outdoors as often as possible. I like to do things like, you know, camping, and I really enjoy, you know, kayaking when I can get out there and do it. Anything that brings me as close to nature as possible.
Speaker 3:Do you feel that makes you recenter yourself Everybody's?
Speaker 2:different, but for me I find that if I get myself outside, even just you know, barefoot someplace, I just feel so relaxed and at peace and anything that was stressing me out during the course of the day or week just kind of melts away.
Speaker 3:We do have Lisa Sanford with us as well. Lisa, do you want to add anything to that, because I know that you wrote a great article about adult playtime and it kind of intertwines with what Renee is saying. What are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 4:I agree 100%. In fact, today I was stressed out so I went out and went for a walk to my little neighborhood park and walked through the little wooded trail there and just felt a hundred times better. So I walk out in the backyard barefoot all the time. Something about being in the sun and bare feet on the ground does center you, I would agree with you, and playing on the swings is its own special joy.
Speaker 1:I agree with you, renee. I think that's one of the things that I would like people to see that it's okay to get away from your desk. And, erica, you and I've talked about this before on podcasts, about how, with the lockdown, things just blended in family life to work life, and I think it's really important for us to prioritize our wellness and prioritize getting out sun, touching grass and getting sun.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I agree with that, and it just I lost myself, like we've talked about in the past, after COVID and lockdown and whatnot. I lost myself and I'll never get that time back and I regret it, but I'm way more centered now than I was before, so it's also a positive impact on me personally. Renee, I know you and I regret it, but I'm way more centered now than I was before, so it's also a positive impact on me personally.
Speaker 1:Renee, I know you and I used to travel a lot. I think at one point we were at 75%. So you and I've talked about this, but I would love for our listeners to understand how are you prioritizing wellness and what tools or apps any accountability that you're doing to stay on track those days of our traveling is kind of like these mixed emotions.
Speaker 2:I miss being on the road and the camaraderie of the team and especially all the fun things we used to do. But the opposite side of it is the impact you have on your body and I think for me I didn't realize or identify at many times that I wasn't properly managing the stress of travels. So I've learned now that how important it is that if I'm in an airport to, instead of sitting and waiting for my flight, walking around, practice that mindfulness every day of just sitting and just listening to myself in my brain. I might not get those 10,000 steps every day. I'm okay with that. I'm totally okay with that.
Speaker 2:My pups love their daily walk. But if we can't do it outside, you know, hey, you know I'm good with inside. You know tools that I like. I'm probably going to sound like a commercial for that manufacturer that we've talked about, but I love Apple's fitness app and I love Apple's watch. I like the simplicity of it and I like the integration. So I like the fact that I can easily see on my phone you know how many steps I've got during the day, if I really have gotten some good cardio in if I haven't and I do like the fitness plus workouts they're in my pocket, they're with me wherever I go.
Speaker 3:I love my Apple Watch.
Speaker 2:It just keeps me in line. Yeah, me too. And honestly, for folks that are listening, if you're not an Apple fan, there's Fitbit. I used to have a Fitbit and used it all the time because I wanted to keep track of my motion. I think that's really important to keep track of my motion. I think that's really important to keep track of that. We're getting up and getting away from our desk and walking around.
Speaker 1:Okay, here's a fun fact for our listeners. But one time I don't remember the year, but there was a blizzard and Renee decided to drive and pick me up and we were white knuckling it to Iowa. So I don't know that I would ever do that again. Renee and I was like what is she thinking?
Speaker 2:I'm sitting here laughing because, honestly, we were. I remember the drive. We were humming through Davenport and you're like, let's turn around. I'm like we can't, we're committed. You know the road. There was only one little path that the trucks in front of us had left. If you remember, I was like yeah, no, absolutely so.
Speaker 1:Erica and Lisa Renee talked about the ecosystem apps and whatnot. Do y'all do anything like that too? To stay accountable, I can track my sleep.
Speaker 3:I don't use my Apple watch for that, because I want to be able to wear it during the day. And then I do have a coach myself who does my meal plans and my training plans, and I use his app to track my steps, cardio, log, my meals, you know, communicate with him. So I'm a little bit different than most people because, uh, renee, you don't know this, but I'm a X competitive bodybuilder, so everything I do is timed and structured. So I actually need stuff like that to fit in my day and I'm completely different from all of y'all.
Speaker 4:I love being able to see the steps, but I don't wear my Apple Watch because the constant the dings drive me crazy. I don't like being that connected.
Speaker 3:I hate the red bubbles on my iPhone. If it has a red notification, I have to clear my phone. It just bothers me.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I can't stand the little sensation on my wrist, so I never wear it honestly, I understand where you're coming from with that.
Speaker 2:I have it all silenced because I don't like the interruptions, so everything on my watch is silenced everything. And I'm a proponent of focuses. A lot of phones do this today, where you can create these focus times, where you know I have one for mindfulness and no phone calls come into my phone during my 10 minutes of mindfulness.
Speaker 1:I forget to do that. But no, absolutely. And I think, renee, I don't know if you do this, but one of the things that I started doing was visualizing before I go to bed and then visualizing the kind of day I want to have in the morning. Do you do anything like that with the mindfulness stuff?
Speaker 2:You got me connected with doing that because I don't think that I was consciously doing it, but now we've talked about it and I'm actually consciously. When I go to bed, I'm really kind of saying out loud thankful for a great day I had. Even if I didn't have a great day, I'm still saying thank you for really an amazing day that I had, and then I'm looking forward to a great day tomorrow when I wake up. And when I wake up I'm trying that same thing, saying, hey, looking forward to an amazing day, and I noticed that by ending my day and starting my day with those mindsets, I really do have a great day.
Speaker 4:Isn't it amazing how just I've started doing this, like I'll take a few minutes in the morning and visualize how I want my day to go, and it's uncanny how close it actually works?
Speaker 3:out. I love affirmations in the morning and I do love the focus times. Renee, I have focus times for all kinds of things.
Speaker 1:So I'm with you, Okay. So, Renee, I'm spilling a lot of tea. We should have probably called this episode tea with friends, but Renee and I we used to do these drives together to our customers and one of the apps. I don't know if anybody's a fan of the show, but dine in, Renee. Do you remember the app? What was?
Speaker 2:it. I always screw. It's the triple D drive-ins, diners and Dives.
Speaker 1:Yes, because Renee and I were just like okay, we're tired of eating at the hotel chains, we want to check out some of the local fare. And, renee, I don't know how many places did we check out that were just off the wall so many and they were.
Speaker 2:Everyone was better than the next and it was fun finding those. Sometimes they were just off the beaten track, but it was a really great experience.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think there was a place by Purdue University and remember they only took cash. I'm like crap, I don't carry any cash and I think after that time, renee, after you spotted me for the lunch, I was like I got to have cash on me but I was so used to just using my corporate card.
Speaker 2:Oh, I remember that place. It was something like Triple X or Triple something.
Speaker 1:They had great root beer shakes and burgers, yes, and speaking of root beer, remember when we used to go up to Wisconsin, we would stop at that. What was that little store outside of Waukesha?
Speaker 2:Oh, I know exactly what you're talking about. Farmer Pleasant Break Bakery. Farmer's Elegant Farmer, elegant Farmer, yes, yes, oh, my gosh, their apple pie in the brown paper bag.
Speaker 1:Oh my God. So, erica and Lisa, after we would do our business up in Wisconsin, we were driving back to Chicago and we used to go to this place called Elegant Farmer and we'd get what they call the brown what is it? The paper bag apple pie. Yes, brown, paper bag apple pie. And then we'd get like deli sandwiches and they had like peanut brittle. They had all these like unique fun stuff that we grew up with as kids and they had it in this little local small business and we just loved it. So, erica, lisa, have you guys ever heard of this stuff?
Speaker 4:Yes, I am very familiar with Elegant Farmer, don't you remember? You used to bring me back toffee, the chocolate covered toffee. I forgot. Yum, yeah, that was my favorite, it was so it was like a big thick slab of toffee. It was wonderful.
Speaker 3:I'm jealous because I can't eat at these places because I have food allergies, so I've never eaten or heard of this, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:So, hey, renee, do you feel that since you've been practicing mindfulness and the meditation, has it improved your overall well-being? Have you had any successes about this that you could testimonials, I guess. Can you talk about that? Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2:I think that it has helped me in all different aspects of my life, Everything from being mindful when I'm eating and, as we were just talking about the food that we like, I don't mind, you know, branching out and trying different foods, as long as what I'm eating, if it's something that you know is very rich in calories, that I'm just, you know, controlling. You know how much of that I'm eating, but I'm going to eat it, I'm going to do it, I'm going to enjoy it, but I want to be mindful, like enjoying those bites of the apple pie that we're eating. And then also, you know, the just the daily mindfulness that I take, and I've noticed that it helps me if I'm having an extremely stressful day, that if I have one of those calls that you know everybody has those calls during the day where you're just, you're exhausted, and I will take those few minutes to step away, walk around and you know, just like I said, be in my mind, relax, not think about the call, but practice thinking about something else, something that I enjoy doing.
Speaker 3:And I've noticed a huge change in my outlook every day. Do you feel that you're, you know, a better employee in person overall with those changes?
Speaker 2:You know that's a good point, because I really feel that I do. I truly feel that. You know everybody has bad days in life. Let's just say I'm talking to a colleague and you know something they say I don't agree with it. Instead of you know me going down you know a path, of path of destruction. You're talking with them. I might hear, listen them out. I think I'm more conscientious of what they're trying to share. I may not always agree with it, but I'll take that time after the call to take a step back going. Okay, I heard what they said, I appreciate what they said. I'm going to think about this a little bit longer and I'll revisit that, maybe later on today, maybe tomorrow.
Speaker 1:I think what needs to happen is organizations need to promote that, because think about what you just said, renee, you may not agree, or I think Erica, lisa, myself as well. We've had those conversations where that person on the other end they may be going through something, their tone might come off or whatever, and I think employers should promote wellness, because what this will allow you to do is to reset and recalibrate and then you can have a more emotional, intelligent type conversation and kind of build that rapport.
Speaker 3:That's exactly where I was going to go, melissa. Thank you, we're on the same wavelength.
Speaker 1:So, renee, it sounds like your children are having a great time.
Speaker 2:Yes, you know it's got to be Amazon or somebody's at the door right now.
Speaker 1:Oh, my goodness, no problem at all. I think again, we talk about how work is blending in with our life and I can't tell you how many dogs I've seen on Zoom meetings and babies. And I work with a guy at Cap Gemini His wife had a baby and the baby's like in the meeting with us. And I worked with a guy at Cap Gemini his wife had a baby and the baby's like in the meeting with us. So I don't really think there's a disconnection sometimes and that's okay. I think that's one of the things that we need to respect about our colleagues that are out even doing this interview. I said to Erica, I said my dog might bark, your dog might bark, renee's dog might do the same thing, but you know what it's, who we are and I want this platform to be authentic. So, renee, not a problem, tell the girls I said hello.
Speaker 3:I will. What kind of dogs do you have, Renee?
Speaker 2:I have a five-year-old standard poodle and a four-year-old labradoodle that does not look like a labradoodle. I have to clarify for everybody who looks at her and they're like that's not a labradoodle. I have to clarify for everybody who looks at her and they're like that's not a labradoodle, she is but she just is more lab than doodle.
Speaker 3:Okay, I have a golden doodle as one of my three children and he looks like a doodle.
Speaker 1:That's interesting. So here's another fun fact. Lisa, you might want to weigh in on this, but there was once upon a time we used to do Bikram yoga and boxing with Renee of time.
Speaker 4:We used to do Bikram yoga and boxing with Renee. Yes, I loved going to boxing with Renee because I would be like dying and look over at Renee and she always had the biggest smile on her face whenever she was hitting that bag. And even at yoga hot yoga she would be I mean, dying sweating, and Renee always had a big smile on her face. How do you do that, renee? How do you keep that smile?
Speaker 2:I don't know, but I'm thinking back to the fun times we had, or the yoga instructor who constantly would say to us and it's like but we're having so much fun, we haven't seen each other in a while. Oh, my gosh, I miss not living close to you because I do miss those times. I think that exercise is important to do it with friends because we keep each other accountable and have fun while you're doing it. Even if I suck at something like sometimes, the boxing, I could not get those moves right. But you know what? I was there to have fun.
Speaker 1:You know, renee, you said something that okay boxing. So I don't know if it was Lisa that got me into it, but the hand-eye coordination and I just remember we'd meet there after work and we just pound the hell out of those bags. That was a great workout.
Speaker 4:It was yeah, I had gotten a Groupon for like a month free at the title boxing in Schaumburg and just fell in love with it. It was going like three days a week. I got to get that dedication again because that is the funnest workout.
Speaker 3:It is. I went to title boxing when I lived in Illinois and let me tell you how many people's faces I pictured on that bag.
Speaker 1:All right, all right, I will tell you this, erica. I didn't have a face on that bag, but I had punched the bag so hard. Renee, do you remember this, that they said that I had a detached retina from punching so hard? Yes, yep, whoa. Yeah, erica, I didn't have a face on the bag, but there you go.
Speaker 3:It's a great workout. The hand-eye coordination is amazing and I think that's what helped actually shape my arms, my biceps and my triceps. Because I did that. I did it more for cardio purposes because that's when I was competing actively, so I couldn't do too much of it, but it's a great workout.
Speaker 4:And the stress reduction I always had, like chronic knots in my traps and go to a boxing class and those knots were gone.
Speaker 3:I'll tell you it's good for that too. There's so many benefits to doing it. You just feel good overall. It's just. It's like yoga. You go to yoga class and you feel great afterwards.
Speaker 1:So, renee, I remember once upon a time that we were very mindful about what hotels we were staying at because of you're sleeping in a new bed, like we were years ago. I mean, we were in a different hotel, like every other day. Are you managing that? Are you still being mindful of where you're choosing to stay because of the comfort or some of the amenities that they offer?
Speaker 2:Absolutely sticking to that. I think that, being a female traveler, I don't think sometimes people understand that it is a little bit more difficult when you're a female traveler. It really is. So I try to pick hotels that I feel comfortable and safe with. That. If they have a workout room, it'd be fantastic. Sometimes I get in so late, I'm too tired, I'm not comfortable venturing down to the workout room late at night. So I'm doing like mini workouts in my room and I'm making sure that that room is set up in a way where I can, you know, do something like maybe I keep resistance exercise loop bands in my suitcase because they pack up really nice, and then the room needs to have a little bit of room so I can kind of, you know, stretch out a little bit and use those loop bands, and if the room needs to have a little bit of room, so I can kind of, you know, stretch out a little bit and use those loop bands, and if they don't, I might be doing a couple pushups on the wall or in the furniture.
Speaker 1:You know I was really excited when the Westin had that partnership with Peloton. This was back, I think, when I was I don't know if I got into cyber at that time but I loved it because there was the bikes that were set up in the workout room. You put your headphones on and I think they had the toe cages where you could wear like running shoes. But I really like that. Weston has taken that approach of wellness not only from the menu but from the workout amenities.
Speaker 2:I agree. They were, and still are, on the top of my hotel choices because of the food selections are really nice, healthy and clean and they're good. You know. You don't have to have a meal that doesn't taste great. The food at the Westin tastes amazing.
Speaker 3:It does, and you can order a chicken breast with vegetables. I believe the Marriott has. I think it's the Marriott chain which is Bonvoy. They actually have hotels where they have, like the resistance bands in there or the TRX bands, so you can do workouts and the rooms are big enough to be able to do that. I personally carry resistance bands and they call them the hip circle, which you can do legs with them, because if the gym is too packed or I don't feel comfortable, I'll have that with me and I base my selection of hotels on their gym. That's me, though. I would agree.
Speaker 1:So, renee, as we come to the almost end of our episode, I got two questions for you. One of them is do you feel that the wellness that you're more mindful of things, has that improved your cognitive function? Any creativity, what has that done to like ignite more? I?
Speaker 2:guess, creativity. Those are really great questions, because I think sometimes people hear you use the phrase, or I use the phrase, mindfulness and I remember a conversation I had with my brother-in-law and he's like you know, you do that every day, multiply the day. I'm like, well, yeah, I do, it's not a pure, I'm not sitting there meditating for hours, I'm just being mindfulness about things and I find that when I'm doing that, I'm really pulling some creative thoughts in my head, because maybe, like, for instance, I might be working on a quarterly business plan and I am tired of the numbers or tired of something or trying to come up with a way that slides and look something different. And if I just take that approach of stepping away, kind of closing my eye, visualizing what I want it to look like now, it's like, oh, okay.
Speaker 1:I got it. Yeah, I like that. I think we need to talk about that more. What are you watching on Netflix these days? Any good series, anything that's kind of like wow, okay, you all got me hooked on three body problem.
Speaker 2:I'm almost done, so don't tell me the end. I think I have two more episodes to go. And Shogun. Just it's visually amazing. I finished the first two episodes of that and I'm trying to think oh, I for fun. I absolutely love watching Resident Alien on SyFy. I just find the writing is just very humorous. The storyline is great, the actors are phenomenal.
Speaker 1:I'm going to have to find that. I don't even know where to find the SyFy channel on the app. We have Spectrum here in our area, but I got to tell you I really dig science fiction. Erica and Lisa, what about you? What are you watching?
Speaker 3:I don't really have a rhythm that I like anything that I'm watching. I'm more of a movie person. I do like series, but I'm not really watching anything good Lisa.
Speaker 4:I have finished Three-Body Problem and it was wonderful. Highly highly recommend it. I am looking for a new show right now. I always watch RuPaul's Drag Race when it's on winding up the season right now, so that's always fun and that's about it. I watch a lot of History Channel, like on the History Channel app Was re-watching some Ancient Aliens last night. That's always fun, that's interesting.
Speaker 3:I do want to ask one last question, if you ladies don't mind, Renee what are your suggestions around what organizations can do to further promote wellness? I know Mel talked about it a bit, but what about your perspective?
Speaker 2:My perspective on that is that it has to be a top-down approach. If the leaders in the organization are not educated, they don't understand, they are not thinking of their employees in that aspect. It's just going to fail. It really is going to fail. So it has to come from the top. The leader should be educated on how important not just physical health initiatives but mental health initiatives are so important to employees and respecting their employees' time that they need to regenerate and regroup.
Speaker 3:I love that answer Top-down approach. Lisa, do you have anything to add to that? I?
Speaker 4:completely agree. It does no good if the leadership doesn't have buy-in. If they don't support it, then who's going to? And the mental health portion is, I think, as important as the physical.
Speaker 3:What about business risk, lisa? You and I have talked about this in length. What's the business risk you think? The business risk you think If?
Speaker 4:employees don't feel wanted and needed, they're not going to care. Their work is going to suffer. They're not going to care if they install their updates, if they treat the customers the way a customer should be treated. They're not going to be mindful of their actions, they're just going to be sleepwalking through the job, and so that's the business risk.
Speaker 3:That's awesome, renee, did you want to add anything to?
Speaker 2:that. I'm going to completely agree with you, lisa, on that, because so many organizations they will talk the talk like they're really behind health and wellness for their employees, but then they're beating their employees down for taking time off or whatever it can be Like during the course of the day. You know, always being on camera or always, you know, answering a quick text message. You really have to take the approach nowadays that we're all so constantly connected. For my own mental health, I need to be able to take a step away. You know, maybe I'm not having a good photographic day and I need my camera off today. That should be respected.
Speaker 4:I agree, and it's strange we're so constantly connected, but it's artificial, because there's something about physically being around another person, around your teammates. That kind of rejuvenates you somewhat. So, yeah, we're constantly connected but not and I think that's not healthy.
Speaker 3:Right, I agree with you on that. The other thing is with the video fatigue, renee. I have been on the sales side in cyber and tech forever and I've had bosses that always want you on video. But I'm also always on video with customers and it's not that I don't mind it, but sometimes I really don't want to be on video because I need that decompression, and especially since in sales we work such long hours and everybody for that matter I literally am so sick of video because that's all we had to do for three years and I'd rather see a customer face to face.
Speaker 2:Oh, I agree it is exhausting because you think about it is you're on all the time. Literally you're on all the time. You don't have that chance of, you know, taking and just maybe your facial expression. You don't want to be smiling anymore, but you want that camera turned off just for a little bit.
Speaker 1:Yep, I remember when. Wow, I keep saying that a lot today. I remember when. But, Renee, I remember those days when we used to have those workshops and we'd be doing them for like three hours and going from city to city and I don't know. I kind of felt invigorated doing the face-to-face. What about you, Because you've done both now.
Speaker 2:That was really invigorating because, if you remember, we did have downtime. We got when we were done being face-to-face with that large group. Now we're in our car or heading to the airport and we've got that little bit of downtime. I truly miss being out there with the groups. We are back my company, we are back to traveling again, which is nice. I find that people give me some energy and I like to be around everybody.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I used to like it when we used to do the events with the vendors and whatnot, I don't know. They just became fun, especially when we would talk about applications and stuff like that. So I prefer in-person versus video. So I'm with Erica, I'm in that boat Me too. So, renee, I am so happy that you took some time out to talk with our listeners, to talk with us, to have some virtual tea today, and I just really have learned a lot from you professionally and personally, and I just want to thank you for your time today.
Speaker 2:Thank you all. This has been a lot of fun. You should do it more often. I do listen to every one of your podcasts because I learned so much from your guests, so keep doing it, it's awesome and I had a joining today because Renee is just one of my favorite people in the entire world.
Speaker 3:You know we might have to make this a series within our podcast. Afternoon Tea with Friends yeah, good idea, I think.
Speaker 1:Erica, yeah, that would be a good branch off so we'll have the wellness portion in this. But, renee, I got to say you've given me a lot of inspiration, you've been a mentor to me and I know you kind of pushed me out to do stuff like this. So thank you again.
Speaker 2:Thank you both for being there with me as well and always motivating me.
Speaker 3:Yes, amazing. Thank you, renee, lisa, mel, and don't forget to subscribe to our podcast on a variety of platforms and check out our website at wwwtechexecwellnesscom. Take care and thanks for tuning in. Thank you everyone, Thanks, bye.
