Episode 104: No Job is Worth Your Mental Health - Why Attention to Your Intention Matters with Jasmine Francis
Do you know what today is? A new episode drops with a very special guest, Jasmine Francis, who is kicking off our Mental Health Awareness month. Jasmine is a dynamic People Leader with almost 15 years of experience working in both corporate and start-up environments. Best known for her human-first philosophy and unique hands-on approach, she is passionate about building and implementing inclusive strategies that focus on creating a values-driven culture and delivering a world-class employee experience.
Currently, she is the Vice President of People + Culture at Thinx and is responsible for synergizing business goals and people strategy. She is also the Co-Founder of Humanconnexion, a boutique HR consulting practice, that provides customized solutions and advisory services for organizations’ specific needs.
She shares her impactful story that I’m sure many of you can relate to and focuses on the importance of working for an organization that sees you, believes in your mental health, and finds value in surrounding you with resources that can help with your mental health.
Jasmine reminds you that when you feel burnt out - you are not alone.
improve it! Fam – hit play to hear this amazing, relatable episode!
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Erin Diehl is the founder and Chief “Yes, And” officer of improve it! and host of the improve it! Podcast. She’s a performer, facilitator and professional risk-taker who lives by the mantra, “get comfortable with the uncomfortable.” Through a series of unrelated dares, Erin has created improve it!, a unique professional development company that pushes others to laugh, learn and grow. Her work with clients such as United Airlines, PepsiCo, Groupon, Deloitte, Motorola, Walgreens, and The Obama Foundation earned her the 2014 Chicago RedEye Big Idea Award and has nominated her for the 2015-2019 Chicago Innovations Award.
This graduate from Clemson University is a former experiential marketing and recruiting professional as well as a veteran improviser from the top improvisational training programs in Chicago, including The Second City, i.O. Theater, and The Annoyance Theatre.
When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running and beach dates with her husband and son, and their eight-pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl.
You can follow the failed it! podcast on Instagram @learntoimproveit and facebook, and you can follow Erin personally on Instagram @keepinitrealdiehl here. You can also check out improve it! and how we can help your organization at www.learntoimproveit.com. We can’t wait to connect with you online!
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Episode 104 Transcription
Erin (00:01):
Improve it! Fam I know you, you are a leader in your organization and you've realized that you need to up level your professional presence and pay particular attention to the power skills that could excel your career. But you're having trouble finding a group of like minded, lifelong learners who can cheer on your growth and a learning methodology that will keep you intrigued and wanting to learn more. As a result, you remain stagnant and you watch your peers soar in their careers. While you try to piece together fragments of leadership tools by Googling, reading boring business books, and attending conferences that leave you with a lot of ideas, but no plan on how to implement. You're looking for a support system, a virtual mentor and cheerleader, an outside of the box and interactive approach to learning skills that can help you fast track career success.
Erin (01:01):
I am personally inviting you to the first ever improve it! Virtual mastermind. This mastermind will give you the support, confidence, creativity, and bravery that you will need to up level your power skills and create next level growth in your career all while infusing laughs, levity and positivity. Duh, here is what you get a six month master mind program each month, you're going to get one live power skill workshop, an e-learning course post workshop that reinforces the learning a 60 minute account call with members of your cohort and masterminds and an ongoing slack community to share the wins, the best practices and receive an offer support on a daily and weekly basis. Oh my gosh. I would love to have you in this mastermind as a listener of the show, our application process starts on March 30th, 2022. It is application only. So you'll see a link to the application on our show notes. Click that link to apply today. The cohort starts at the beginning of May 2022, and we'll end at the end of October 2022. Come join the other members of the improve it! Family, create connections and use your creativity for good to accelerate your career growth. Find the link to the apply in the show notes. I hope to see you at the improve it! Mastermind!
Erin (02:55):
Improve it! Family. I'm recording this show, post the show with Chris Do. So know that we are still working on a new name. All right, we are still working on a new name. Also I'm singing into this episode because today's guest is a singer with me. She loves to sing and, and, and do things like Hey like that. And I've never met another person in real life besides my mother who birthed me, who loves to do that. So you're in for a real treat improve it! Fam to be named something different. I am obsessed with today's gift. I cannot even tell you how amazing she is. You are gonna have to listen for yourself, but let me tell you, I will tell you this. I will tell you a little bit about her because she has got a phenomenal background. Jasmine Francis is a dynamic people leader, and she has almost 15 years of experience working in both corporate and startup environments.
Erin (03:57):
She's best known for her human first philosophy and her unique hands on approach. She's passionate about building and implementing inclusive strategies that focus on creating a values driven culture, and she's delivered a world class employee experience time after time. Now, currently she is the vice president of people and culture at Inc responsible for synergizing business goals and people strategy. And she's also the co-founder of human connexion, a boutique HR consulting practice that provides customized solutions and advisory services for organizations specific needs. Now, prior to joining Thinx, Jasmine has been an authentic thought leader in HR, operations, technology and analytics for BNY Mellon, Xander, Goldman Sachs, and the Carlisle group. Now she holds a BA in French, which we're, interesting fact, we're gonna talk about France in the show from east Carolina university and MSC in organizational development from university in a diversity and inclusion certification from Cornell university.
Erin (05:07):
I'm taking a pause here because this comes to the point where I tell you what the show's about. And today's a little different. I am not gonna give you any indication other than the top or the title of this show because Jasmine has a story and she was vulnerable enough to share it with me when we met prior to the show. And I knew when she told me that story, that it had to be told here on the show, she, she said she was very open to sharing it and going into may May's mental health awareness month. I knew that this story could impact somebody here today. We're gonna talk all about mental health and why attention to your intention matters. She's gonna share a very personal story that I think will resonate, and she shares it through the lens of her amazing personality that the woman that Jasmine is is somebody I wanna strive to be honestly, she is so just vulnerable.
Erin (06:14):
She vibrates at a really, really high frequency, and you'll, you'll hear that. And she is one of the most genuine and caring thought leaders, people leaders that I've had the pleasure of chatting with. And now I I'm gonna call her a friend. I, I wanna, I'm like, sorry. We're friends forever. So I'm gonna stop talking, but just know that today's show might be hard and a little triggering to hear for some people. So I just wanna set that up, that she is going to share a very personal story. I'm gonna allow her to tell it. Let's get into today's episode with Jasmine Francis.
Erin (06:55):
Are you a leader or change maker inside of your business organization or corporation? Are you looking for new innovative ways to drive morale through the roof? Are you looking for fun and exciting icebreakers, team building exercises, and activities that will foster team growth, friendships, loyalty, and completely inform your organization from the inside out? Have you been searching for a fun and unique way to create change instead of the same old, dry, boring leadership books and ice breakers that aren't actually working? Hi, I'm Erin Diehl, business improv, entertainer, failfluencer, and professional zoombie who is ready to help you improve it. My mission in life is to help you develop teams and leaders through play, improv and experiential learning. In this podcast, we will deep dive into professional development, team building, effective communication, networking, presentation skills, leadership training, how to think more quickly on your feet and everything in between. We have helped everyone from fortune 500 companies to small mom and pop shops transform their business, their leadership, and their people through play. So grab your chicken hat. We are about to have some fun, welcome to improve it! The podcast. I am verklempt because Jasmine, I am so, we're already laughing. I am so excited to have you on this show. I love you. I've I, well, we just met literally like two weeks ago and I said done you're on this show, improve it fam. We are in the process of renaming the improve it fam. So the improve it fam to be named something different is just going to love you, embrace you so welcome to the improve it! Podcast.
Jasmine (09:00):
Thank you so much. We literally met yesterday <laugh> and our energy is just phenomenal together. I am so honored to be here. You are everything. I'm so lucky to even like, meet your people, to meet you, to meet all the wonderful things and be a part of all this greatness. So let's just <laugh> it's so you're just so funny. I can't even.
Erin (09:23):
I think the same about you. No, I know we're already laughing and that's good. Well, cuz I know, and I wanna share this with the improve it! Fam. So we, when we met, it was like a sisterhood. It was like, I get you like you are my spirit animal and my spirit sister. I was like, I just, I need this. My soul was like, yes. And then kindred spirits. And then we did a high kick and I was, and I said, we did a high kick. We did a high kick and we've both wore bedroom slippers and <laugh> leggings over zoom. And I said, I feel like we were, were destined to be friends.
Jasmine (09:57):
We were, we are. We're we're gonna be friends forever. Like you just can't break up this friendship. 'll Be devastated.
Erin (10:04):
Me too. Me too.
Jasmine (10:06):
OK. OK. Good. Good. Listen.
Erin (10:07):
Same way. OK. This is happening forever. We're here now. We're here.
Jasmine (10:09):
Here we are.
Erin (10:09):
And we have it. We have it recorded to prove it. Okay. We've got,
Jasmine (10:13):
We have receipts.
Erin (10:16):
Yes! There is a record. Okay tell, okay, let's start with this because I think this is always fun. We do something in our improv workshops that is called five facts. It's a fun little game. And it's literally where we learn about you. Five things about Jasmine that we couldn't find on your bio, your LinkedIn profile, your resume that, that you just are like, this is the real Jasmine. Ooh, I almost see, I got so excited to almost knock my computer over. So <laugh>
Jasmine (10:47):
I hope that what I say makes that worth. It
Erin (10:51):
It's going to happen. I was like, woo, I'm already there. Okay. So what I'm gonna is this little cheer and it goes like this five facts, five facts, five facts, five facts, five facts. And then I'm not, I'm not even gonna question any of the facts. You're just gonna list them off. Okay. And we'll count 'em out. All right. Are you ready? I'll do the cheer one more time just because it's ridiculous. And I need to do it. Here we go.
Jasmine (11:12):
Can I just put some background noise to it?
Erin (11:14):
Yes. Here we go. Okay. I love this. Yeah. Five facts, five facts, five facts, five facts, five facts! Yes. OK. What's one's one. Nailed it.
Jasmine (11:29):
I collect crystals. I love crystals. I love minerals. I love rocks.
Erin (11:35):
We were meant to be friends. Meant to be friends. I gotta show you the drawer in my office, and number two. Number two.
Jasmine (11:40):
OK. The, my favorite type of water is Panna water, and it sounds so, but it is the best water from Tuscany, Italy.
Erin (11:48):
Oh my, okay three.
Jasmine (11:51):
I, in my past life, was born in Paris, France and I am really Parisian, but you can't tell that, but I know that in my spirit, <laugh>
Erin (12:07):
Four, four, four.
Jasmine (12:08):
My favorite color is pink.
Erin (12:12):
Ooh! Number five.
Jasmine (12:12):
That was high. Number five is number five is I have plants everywhere. Cause plants give energy. And I love the energy of the universe.
Erin (12:23):
I knew that we were friends for so many reasons and I have to tell you, okay, spoiler alert. I just went in this store on Friday and it, I live in Charleston, South Carolina. It's called the station. Okay.
Jasmine (12:35):
Oh, okay.
Erin (12:35):
And it was filled with plants and crystals.
Jasmine (12:39):
Oh.
Erin (12:39):
And it was literally the most magical store I've ever been to. And so now that I know that Jasmine you'll be gift, you'll be given gifts. You'll be given gifts was such a magical place that I just felt the best energy in the entire world. And I, I said, I could have lived there. I, that could have been my home.
Jasmine (13:01):
Ah, I love this. Oh my, can I just say really quickly that when you're around that, when you're around, like the crystals and the, the plants that are giving off life, the vibration is so high. And like you said, you can feel it. You can feel it. And just so you know, fact number six is I am the number one gift giver in the universe. And so if you give me a gift, it's gonna be a competition. Just wanna let you know that.
Erin (13:24):
I see. I see. And I love that so much because you know what, it's the gifts that keep on giving. It's the gift of love.
Jasmine (13:31):
The gift of love.
Erin (13:32):
Oh, gift of love. Okay. See, I, this is, we were destined and to be friends, this was meant to be, and see, I'd love that game because now I know these things and I never would've known, so, okay. I love this. We're both. I'm a big energy person. You're a big energy person. I feel it. I knew the moment I talked to you, this was a meant to be situation. So let's set an intention for today's show. What's one word. What's one word you wanna get out of today's show?
Jasmine (13:59):
Hmm. Changing lives. It's two words.
Erin (14:02):
That's okay, we can hyphenate it. That's a one.
Jasmine (14:06):
That's one word.
Erin (14:06):
Okay, so changing lives. Okay, I love that because let me ask you this. I, when we met, like we said, we did high kicks. We felt the great vibes. Do a lot of people to tell you that, is that, is that something that you feel a lot or is it just when you meet people who are on the same vibrational frequency that you feel that, or how does that work? For you.
Jasmine (14:28):
Ooh. I love that. You know what? I'm such an empath and I think you are too mm-hmm <affirmative> and so people tend to feel, they definitely feel my energy and I feel theirs, but I'm more attracted to, and put more intention and energy into people that are on the same vibrational plane as me.
Erin (14:49):
Attention an intention. Yes.
Jasmine (14:51):
Yes. Yeah. Intention that's right, right. And it took me a long time to learn how to do that, but game changer.
Erin (14:59):
Jasmine I am so with you and as the, the older I get, the more I'm I am just so my energy goes where my energy flows naturally. And it's like, if I like it doesn't feel like work if I'm talking to somebody on the same playing field, if I'm still like, I'm like a child, like at the playground right now, like I'm so, yes. And it feels, it just feels so nice. And so I wondered that I I've, I've wondered that too, and feel like that makes a lot of sense because you have this spark, right. You have this spark, you have spun. And I, we talked earlier and we were introduced by a former guest on this show, Cassandra rose. And she's amazing. And you know, we got to talking about what would, what does the improve it! Fam mean? What does Jasmine wanna talk about? And there was a time in your life where this spark was dull. Don't dull, my sparkle. That's something I like to say. Don't dull my sparkle. Right, right. So can you just, first of all, start about, start talking to us. I know you've changed careers to this amazing company. Thanks. So can you tell us a little bit about thanks and your role there?
Jasmine (16:24):
Yes. Let's definitely start with that. Let's start with the sparkle and the shine. Yes. Okay. So I so I am the vice president of people and culture at Thinx. And for those of you that are not familiar with Thinx, we are an underwear brand for people with periods and incontinence. And so I can vouch for myself, I wear the incontinence ones, all the time, they're amazing. But we, you know, we are the type of organization that's very real. And one of our values is actually be human. And I love that cause we actually show up as humans. And we talk about those things that are so taboo, which is really the narrative of who we are as an organization. And so I get to show up there every day as my true self, I could say what I want. And I'm heard, I'm heard and it feels so good to show up to that.
Erin (17:19):
Ah!
Jasmine (17:20):
So thanks, shout out to Thinx.
Erin (17:21):
Shout out to Thinx for thinking correctly and hiring Jasmine. I mean, that is <laugh>. That is, I mean, what a cool place that is literally all we talk about on this show is wanting to show up at work and feeling seen, heard, and like you belong and matter. Like that is a very amazing thing. I think that's how companies should view work these days. And I, so, okay. So let's talk about this. So when we chatted before you mentioned you had some mental health struggles prior to Thinx.
Jasmine (17:55):
Mm-Hmm.
Erin (17:56):
Can you share what led you to thanks. And sort of that journey that you went through to find this amazing company?
Jasmine (18:07):
Yeah. Okay. Here we go.
Erin (18:10):
Okay!
Jasmine (18:11):
Everyone, hold onto your seat.
Erin (18:11):
Yes. I'm putting my hands open. Here we are. We're ready here.
Jasmine (18:14):
I'm receiving your energy. OK. OK. I feel your healing vibe as well. So yeah, so I was definitely one of those people that's like, I have to do this. Success to me absolutely equals I'm at the top of the corporate ladder. I don't care how I feel about it. That's what success equals to me and I will do anything to get it. And so that was my line of thinking for my whole entire life really. And so I was really challenging myself to try to, you know, promotion after promotion, how do I get to the top? How do I get to the top? And as I was kind of growing within my career, I was becoming more and more unhappy and you know, life happens. We all have things outside of work. And I had a really traumatic incident happen to me while I was working at a big corporate bank.
Jasmine (19:05):
And I was like, okay okay I can do this. My name is Jasmine and I can do anything. So I'm working at this big bank and I'm respected and I can't let people see that I'm quote on quote weak. So I'm going to continue to show up. And so I turned myself into two people, one into the Jasmine who was like basically had PTSD from this incident. Who was so heartbroken who was just not in a place to be able to show up to anything in her life. And then there's this Jasmine that's like, I'm powerful. I can do whatever because I have to show that I can do this because if anyone sees me weak, I'm not gonna meet my goal, which is to get to the top. And eventually those two Jasmines just basically exploded. And I felt as though I couldn't talk to anybody about what I was feeling. And so I went to the doctor, I started seeing a psychiatrist, a therapist and I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety, but really, really bad depression perfectionism, which really isn't a true diagnosis, but it definitely was how I was feeling about myself and then PTSD.
Jasmine (20:13):
And so I'm like, I can't tell anybody I'm dealing with this. They're gonna think that I'm quote on quote crazy. <Laugh> And so I <laugh>, so I'm gonna act like everything's OK. And so I started to feel like I was getting to a breaking point when I became a little more disengaged in my work and you know, my quality of work was going from a plus to B minus and I'm like, I just don't have it in me to give anymore. And so I started reaching out to some people and everyone's like, but you got it so together, Jasmine, but you're exactly where you wanna be Jasmine, you you've gone through way worse and I'm like, you're right. So what am I complaining for? I should just be grateful. And then one day it was a Sunday. And I had all of this work to do over the weekend and my husband was working ons and he gave me kiss and went off to work. And I, it was, it was slowly going into the evening and I'm like, I gotta get my computer back out. I gotta do some of this work ahead of Monday. And it just dawned me, Jasmine, you don't, there's an there's easier just just take your life and you don't have to worry about anything anymore.
Jasmine (21:28):
And at that point in time, it was like the magical solution. There was a sense of happiness that I got of figuring out how I can remove myself in this situation. And that's exactly what I did. I, I attempted to take my life and was very, very, very close to being successful at it. Obviously I don't wanna trigger anybody. So I won't get into the details, but I ended up in ICU and I was on life support. And I, there was just so many unknowns. We didn't know what my life, if any, was gonna look like. And so I, when I woke up, I had no idea what happened. I'm like, how am I here? What happened? And it wasn't until my best friend. She was like, Jasmine, you really need help. I can never lose you. You really need to get help.
Jasmine (22:24):
And so, you know, this wasn't actually too long ago. And so, you know, since then I have been to so many group therapies. I had to go to a residential facility for a month. I had to go to, you know, DBT classes, CBT classes. I have a whole team around me that I lean on every single day. Both medically and non-medically. And so it, you know, some days are really, really good. And then some days are really, really not great. And I think part of this journey is recognizing that it's OK to not be OK as number one. And what do I need in my life so that I can show up as my best self and what I needed at that time was to get outta the industry of finance and banking and cutthroat and inauthenticity, and then go over to something where I align with the values of the organization, where it was a little smaller and my voice mattered where if I was having an episode, I could say to my boss, I'm not in a good place right now. I really need some days off and it would be OK, great, whatever you need. Without it having any type of damper or downstream impact on my career growth. And so that's kinda, I mean, it took me a long time to kinda, you know, understand this journey and the, the purpose of it. But now that I do understand it, I'm so grateful because if I didn't go through it, I definitely wouldn't be at Thinx.
Erin (23:54):
Thinx. I love the, the songs that we get throughout this story, because I I'm sitting here listening to this amazing, amazing woman. Like when I met you, I just was like, man, she's my forever friend. And you just give off this light and this energy, and I'm so grateful you shared that story. So thank you so much. Like I, I genuinely oh my gosh. I have like a little tear in the retina, I am like, okay.
Jasmine (24:26):
Not in the retina no no no.
Erin (24:28):
It's just, no, not the retina stop. I have contact lenses. My contact lenses are talking. No,
Jasmine (24:35):
<Laugh>, don't let them slide out yet.
Erin (24:40):
So I do think though, the fact that you are so willing and able to be vulnerable and share this journey with people who might be going through something similar, who may not have gotten to that point, but have thought about it, who have felt, because I'll tell you this, in my past real life, you know, I believe in past lives too, but in my past real life, I was so burnt. I was, there was a breaking point, not to that extent, but I was so burnt out. I would've done anything to not be at that place anymore. It was so hard. And, and I think that you sharing this story is so, so impactful and can help so many people, because you are now at this place where you work for an organization who sees you, who believes in mental health days, who says, it's okay to take days off if you need it, or and, and sees the, the value in surrounding yourself with a mental health team, whether it's an actual medical doctor or spirit healers or whatever you may, you know, have, have in your, your wheelhouse, you found this path.
Erin (25:50):
And now you're sharing, which helps other people feel less alone. So I'm gonna give you a slow clap. Okay? You deserve this, you deserve this.
Erin (26:05):
You're coming out on top. So what would you share knowing our audience, this team of people, leaders, these people, just like you, who care about the people in their organization who wanna make an impact, who, who love people and want to help people. So that is your role. And, and I love that you are sharing this because a lot of, of times people, leaders, they forget themselves because they're constantly putting out care for others. But it's this notion of you have to fill your own tea kettle first, before you can pour tea in somebody else's cup. Like you have to absolutely take care of this, this human being before you can pour love into others. So let me ask you this. What would you tell? Cause you said this was recent, right? This was a couple years ago.
Jasmine (26:54):
Mm-Hmm <affirmative>
Erin (26:56):
What's one thing you would tell Jasmine from two years ago, what's one piece of advice you would've told her in those moments? What's something now you can look back and say, I wanna tell younger Jasmine from that moment?
Jasmine (27:12):
Oh, that's deep.
Erin (27:13):
It's real deep ain't it.
Jasmine (27:14):
We're getting deep.
Erin (27:19):
We're the same human I'm literally like when I'm uncomfortable too, if I'm like, when something's going, I'm like, I'm gonna sing. I'm gonna a song I'm gonna sing.
Jasmine (27:45):
Hmm.
Erin (27:45):
Or maybe if it doesn't have to be Jasmine, it could be, what would you tell somebody else going through that situation? If that helps.
Jasmine (27:53):
Okay. I can, you know what? I think I can answer of them. I think I would say for myself it would be, you are enough.
Jasmine (28:01):
What I would say to that's. Yeah. That one hits real quick. If, if it were someone who was in that situation and unfortunately there's so many people in that situation I, I say to them again, it's and talk to someone, talk to someone do not, you're not alone. And I know it's so cliche. Everyone says that, but sometimes when you're, when you're in it, and, and I thank you so much for your vulnerability and sharing how you were burnt out a while ago. Because as you know, it's like, when you're in it, it feels like the most massive thing you could ever feel. It almost sometimes feels like quick. That's just bringing you under to this, not good place and trying to get outta it feels nearly impossible. And so it's such an isolating experience and, and, in those times we forget and understand so that, that there's so many people hurting in the exact same way as we are. And so I think, and I'm gonna use this word again, being very intentional about being in touch with how you feel and who you share your feelings with.
Jasmine (29:22):
And for those that are on the receiving end of hearing someone's feelings, my advice to you is listen, listen. And that was, I think a mess on my experience is because the much of the feedback that I got was, but you're enough, but it's fine, but you've been through worse, but you're so smart, but you got it all together. But, and I'm like, I don't, if I did, I wouldn't, I wouldn't be having this conversation with you now. That may be the appearance of it, but you have no idea what I'm feeling inside. And so when someone does trust you and confide in you, your role is to say, how can I best support you? That's it, that's it. And I think with those three things, the outcome may look a little different.
Erin (30:07):
Yeah. Yes. Oh my God. I love that. And I, first of all, you are enough you're right. It just hits. It's like, okay, you can say it or you are not enough. You are enough. Oh my God. You are enough. That in itself is just like, yes, it feels like you're holding yourself. You're giving yourself a big hug. You're reminding yourself that you're okay. But I also loved what you said. It's OK to not be okay. I just had a really interesting conversation. I'm part of a, a, a women's mastermind group and oh, we had, we had a really great conversation about mental health and at, at work and how the mental health is now a common term. And it should have been a long time ago. But it is, it's okay to not be okay. And, and I think as a leader, listening to this number one, tell that to yourself. And, you know, we, as people leaders give all this love and advice to other people, but how about starting that advice with us? Right. And allowing yourself to say, okay, I'm not okay right now. I don't feel like I am able to handle this properly. I don't feel like I'm equipped with the, the things that I need to be equipped with today. And that is OK.
Jasmine (31:34):
Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think there's like, there's a level of being human and of being humble that comes with that. I think that as we grow in our careers and especially as people leaders, there's this expectation that we put in ourselves that we have to have the answers we have to set the tone. We have to be the example. And, and, and yes it's always good to lead by example, and at the same time leading by example in a human way, there's much more for you and your team than leading by an example in an inauthentic way. And so as you show up as yourself, and you say kinda what you were just saying, I don't have it today. I don't feel like I have the adequate tools to get through the day today. You're sending the message to your team that it's okay. It's to use voice and say, I'm feeling a little burnt out. Is there anything that you can take off my plate?
Jasmine (32:31):
And that's the type of culture that you wanna build within your team is you want them to be able to have a safe environment where they can express how they're feeling, and you can, to the best of your ability, protect them in a way to take whatever needs to get off of their plate, to give them the resources that they need to refresh themselves and regroup themselves to ensure that they have, you know, the days that they, regardless of how many days they may or may not have recruit, or if it's unlimited PT, like they have the time and the space to take care of themselves, because otherwise you kinda end up building this false narrative that we are a team. We have to show up perfectly 24/7. We have to be on top of this, that and the other. Yes. Those things can be true. But at the same time, what can also coexist is I'm not feeling okay, I need some additional time. I need you to take these things off my plate. And as a leader, that's our role to help foster and cultivate that type of environment.
Erin (33:28):
Oh my God, I love it. Cause you're right. And it's all those, those sayings of like, you know, negative and positive can exist in the same sentence. It really can and take any adjective and the negative and any adjective and the positive and those things can exist. And that's okay. And that is where we're, we're going with. The way that people are showing up to work. The four day work weeks are becoming a thing. Prioritizing just balance. There's, there's never balance. I say, blend, prioritizing against a blend and allowing people to just leave at five o'clock. If they have to go to their kids' soccer game or leave, if they're not feeling great and need to take a moment for themselves and just lie down and binge Netflix, whatever it is. Yes. Whatever it is, it's yes. They, they can't show up and do the work. If they're not in a space that feels safe enough for them to be able to say those things. So what I wanted to know, and I would, I know our audience will wanna know too. What are you, what are your practices now for your mental health? What are you doing now to protect your mental health, to keep you in this, this vibe? Because this I, this is, is just all the high vibes. So
Jasmine (34:45):
What
Erin (34:46):
Vibes, what do you do? Protect the vibes.
Jasmine (34:51):
I's so CEL, CEL,
Erin (35:02):
Dre, Fran Drescher from the nanny, probably. Yeah. That's it's
Jasmine (35:06):
Maybe a little bit, maybe a
Erin (35:07):
Little bit nasal twice. There
Jasmine (35:08):
Was just some of that.
Erin (35:09):
I'm gonna tell my husband that, because one time at my friend's wedding, I took the microphone and started singing my go to karaoke song is like a prayer. Anyway, he goes, and he is like the best. Most I like empathetic human. He was your voice is heinous. And so <laugh>, I say that with love John. Anyway, thank you. I will, I will continue this, this Celine Fran Drescher duo forever. This is all I got. So I have <laugh> OK. So what, what do you do? What does, cause I know we've got the crystals. I know you're into energy, which I'm such a big proponent of what are, what, tell us what you do to keep the vibes like this. And I'm sure they're not always like this, cuz I, I run it this pace, but then it's like at the end of the day I crash real hard and I'm like, okay, I gotta talk to the wall. I gotta stare at the wall and just that's stare at the wall for a minute. So, so what do you do?
Jasmine (36:07):
You know what, in my heart, I would love to respond and say, I journal mm-hmm <affirmative> I do yoga. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> I meditate. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> that's what I want. I wanna be one of those people that say that I do so bad, but, but those don't resonate with me. And that's OK too, but I, I, I, I know that those things work. And you know what, just, before I answer this question, I think it's really important to have some type of sense of self when you're out, what you, because what works for some people not work for you. And that's been such a struggle for me because it's, you should do this, that the other. And I'm like, I'm trying it, but it's not, it's not, it's not there. That stop, it's not it's so what I do you know, what I about, you know, walking away sometimes and just laying stillness does a lot for me. And it's not necessarily that I'm meditating or I'm doing any type of yoga, it's just sitting and letting myself rest.
Erin (37:13):
Yes, that's it?
Jasmine (37:14):
Yes. Does wonders for me, deep breathing does wonder you know, there's something called square breathing. That's very common. I don't always follow that per se, but just catching my especially when things are really hectic at just literally away from the sitting somewhere and just all of the chaos in my mind go yes. And then coming back refreshed because in all actuality, we all don't have time to step away and do a class of some sort. And so what are like those quick wins that you can get to just kinda center yourself back something else that works for me as well is taking a walk, just being outside with nature, even if it's just for five, 10 minutes, just putting things back into perspective of realizing that. Yes, I love my job, of course. And at the same time as we talk about co I do get stressed out.
Jasmine (38:15):
Sometimes I do get overwhelmed sometimes and I do need to bring myself back to what matters because work does matter. Yes. It pays the bills. Yes. and it's not my world. Right. What my world is, is aligned to who I am at my core. And I'm bigger than just my job. I'm bigger. And I was brought into this universe to do much more than that. So how do I make sure I keep my line of sight on the bigger goals? And in order to do that, I need to reconnect. And in order to reconnect, that's when I take a walk, that's when I do the deep breathing, that's when I sit and still this. So those are things that are just really quick realistic practices that work for me. And if yoga works for you and you know, some of the other more popular and common ones, like that's awesome too. I, so like I wanna carry a yoga mat and I wanna cute yoga and I wanna be like, I'm going to yoga. And then in
Erin (39:18):
Paris, in Paris, in, in Paris, yes. In
Jasmine (39:21):
Paris, exactly. My, my home country. Right. And then, you know, be like, my life has changed forever and I will maybe be that person one day. I'm just not at this moment.
Erin (39:30):
I, I, Hey and that, but see that's okay. And I think what you just said is so important because people are like, get up and exercise meditate. I mean, I'm not gonna lie. I have, I have found things for me that work for me,
Jasmine (39:45):
Love it,
Erin (39:45):
But it doesn't work for everybody. And it's like, you can share what works for you, but you can take little bits and pieces and create, you know, choose your own adventure kind of a deal because is it's so important to make it feel comfortable, natural, and calming for you and walks in nature. Oh my God. I mean, just walking sometimes at lunch, I'll go outside for 10 minutes. I feel like a new person. I feel like a new person stepping away breathing like the breathwork is a huge thing. And I haven't read the book. I have it on my nightstand or at my nightstand table. Breathe. Have you heard of that book breathe? Oh,
Jasmine (40:24):
No,
Erin (40:25):
I haven't. Well, I have not read it. So I'm not gonna sound like I know what I'm talking about, but there's like a whole book on breath and how it can comfort us and how it can just get us in this space and how we can almost like a child self suits, how we can as an adult self Soo ourselves through this press work
Jasmine (40:42):
Love.
Erin (40:43):
But I think
Jasmine (40:44):
Amazon here
Erin (40:44):
I come here. It comes Amazon and the well, and the, in the, so let ask you this. What's, what's the piece of advice you've ever received. What's the,
Jasmine (40:58):
The best piece of advice I've ever received is use your uniqueness as your strengths.
Erin (41:08):
Mm.
Jasmine (41:09):
And I have done that more than ever. When I was younger, I always felt out of place. I always liked the things that no one else was into. I was really insecure about certain things and I was so emotional because I was always absorbing everyone's energy and everyone was like, you're so sensitive. You're so sensitive. And I'm like, I'm sensitive. And now <laugh> here we are. Yeah. And I use it as a strength because I'm able to, and especially my career, you know, in HR, it's like the ability to be able to connect with people in an authentic way and empathize with them. Although you don't know what it's like to be in their exact journey, you can assimilate in some way and feel this is what, or at least close to what they must be feeling right now. And so that allows me to make decisions based on how I think that other person will feel.
Jasmine (42:10):
Yes. And it has been such a strength for me because not a lot of people leaders out there that can really get the work done and they also know how to connect. They have the IQ and the EQ. And so I wanna be that, that's what I aspire to be. As I continue to grow my career, I wanna be one of those few leaders that knows how to be, you know, that people person, but I so can drive the work and we can get the work done very well. And I wanna be known as someone that's really smart and connected. And here we go with it either or, cause I find a lot of times in the people space it's either, oh, they're so great. They're so they're so, oh, you can talk to this person anything. Or, I mean, they're, they're not the nicest, but they're so smart. I mean, you can talk to them about anything, give them any problem and they'll figure it out. But very, very rarely do we hear these, both these both coexist in the same sentence for the same person and I really wanna be one of those people. So that's definitely what I'm striving to words.
Erin (43:15):
I think you are one of those people. You have, you, are you not well be you are, this is I'm hugging you so cool. And, and no, and it's, it's just really interesting because you talking in the beginning about you being an empath and you know, that was you taking on those emotions and now you figured out a way to harness that superpower and really understand what somebody's going through at the same time, offer that emotional support. And also just any other support that may be needed, but you're doing it through this lens of, I care about you and sometimes you're right. That either or that's, that is a tricky thing and they can exist together. Yes they can together. I love that. Okay. Jasmine, what's the worst piece of advice you've ever received?
Jasmine (44:01):
<Laugh>
Erin (44:02):
What's the worst
Jasmine (44:04):
Fake it till you make it.
Erin (44:07):
Yeah. Yeah. I don't
Jasmine (44:08):
Like it. I really, I struggle with that. I have been told that so many times in my career because I'm not, I, I don't know. And I will say, I'm not sure, or this isn't my expertise. I don't care what level I'm at. Who do I have around me who can teach me because learning never stops. Right. And it goes back to the conversation we talked about earlier, where, you know, people assume that once you get to a certain level, you're supposed to know everything. You've experienced everything. And at the end of the day, that's not true. That's why you build a around you because they're experts in their own. And so if I Don the answer to something who my, my, can I go to educate me so that I can be better. And I prefer that route rather than I'm gonna pretend that I know when I actually don't know. And I'm going to eliminate the opportunity to showcase my team who ISED in this. And I'm not, that's actually not only a disservice to it's a disservice to the people that I brought in intentionally because they have these skill sets that I don't
Erin (45:15):
That's right. And OK, one thing I failed to mention is so you work at thanks, but you've also in the past, what year it's been a year from human connection. Tell them, yeah.
Jasmine (45:28):
I mean, yeah, something like that. I mean, yeah.
Erin (45:30):
A year and a have fish two wish I dunno. I'm just, I'm, I'm shoot hitting from the hip, but tell, tell the improvement fam outside of thanks what you have built and the team, cuz you have two teams essentially, right? Like you have your thanks team and then you have this human connection team. Tell them about human connection.
Jasmine (45:49):
Yes. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. So, so human connection is an HR consulting firm that my co-founder and I founded and the, the premise of it is really to understand that employees are humans first. And it kinda goes with this whole theme that we've been talking about today, where, you know, employees, yes, that's our secondary role. But our, our primary role is that we are our people. We are humans. We feel we experience, we have lives outside of our jobs. And so as, as organizations, how do we show up for our humans in the right way so that they can in turn, show up for employees, for us. And, and so that's kind the mindset as we're working with different organizations, you know, we work with very large organizations, small startup organizations. We, we really bring that lens to say, OK, what is the gap that you're experiencing within your organization?
Jasmine (46:42):
How have you been currently addressing it? And let's kinda switch our, our perspective a bit and figure out how can we be more relatable? How can we build the connectivity between gap in the people who it affects so that we can be strategic and successful in implementing whatever that you need. And so it's been great. We've gotten so much interest and things have just, you know, it was something that we originally started and we, we found this and we were like, let's it. And then next, you know, word of now started spreading and we have so many clients and it's been such a blessing to be able to connect and learn about different industry types, meet amazing people and get experience doing things. Go ahead, say it one more time
Erin (47:34):
Was like,
Speaker 4 (47:34):
Lemme give it OK. People keep going, keep
Erin (47:38):
Going, keep going. Sorry. Sorry. Keep going.
Jasmine (47:41):
Oh my gosh. And, and, and to, and what's what we were saying earlier. Also get that experience of things that I wasn't in so that I can bring that back to my team. And again, the learning doesn't stop. And so I will never quote unquote, forget where I come from and, and there's always gonna be things that I don't know. And that's OK. That's part of being a human
Erin (48:03):
And connecting at human and connection.
Jasmine (48:07):
Yes. Connect young human
Erin (48:09):
Connect yone. I love the spelling of it too. Connect yone. Okay. So we'll put the link to that as well in the show notes. So if anybody wants to reach out to Jasmine, as you should, it will be there for you. So click away, click away. Okay. Click away, click away. All right. So we are gonna get to this final question and it's a series of questions. This is our fun lightning round. Jasmine. Okay. Now
Jasmine (48:35):
I'm nervous. No,
Erin (48:36):
It's so fun. So in improv we say there are no mistakes. There are only gifts. I have this beautiful sign up here on my, in my podcast closet that says fail. Yeah. Okay. Love it. So I'm gonna ask you a series of questions and I just want you to, with a one word answer. And if you say more than one word, it could be hyphen we'll allow, I will, I will say fail. Yeah. And this like creepy voice. And if, if you nail it, I won't fail. Yeah. But it's more fun, you know, either way we just wanna know your answers to these questions. Okay. Are buddy jazz man for the fail? Yeah. Lightning round.
Jasmine (49:11):
I am ready.
Speaker 4 (49:13):
OK.
Erin (49:14):
One word to describe your early career
Jasmine (49:18):
Naive.
Erin (49:19):
<Laugh> one word to describe where you are now in your career.
Jasmine (49:24):
Evolving
Erin (49:25):
One word to describe your people management style
Jasmine (49:30):
Human.
Erin (49:31):
One word to describe your work fashion style,
Jasmine (49:36):
Fly duh as I, my hair <laugh>
Erin (49:41):
And then one word to describe this interview.
Jasmine (49:46):
OK. Just because I wanna hear this amazing sound. I'm going to say it is that's two word. Totally three. Amazing. And in honor. Ooh, I did seven words
Speaker 4 (50:00):
Dar. Yeah, but I'll take it.
Erin (50:03):
I nailed it.
Speaker 4 (50:05):
<Laugh> oh my
Erin (50:05):
God. It no youre. It is an honor to have had you on the show to have you share that story, to help so many people to change lives, which was our intention when we started the show. So tell the improvement fam, if they wanna reach out to you, we'll put the link to human connection. What else? Where else can they find you?
Jasmine (50:25):
Yes, they can find me on LinkedIn. I would love to connect with as many people as possible. I'm always doing really fun stuff. And so to extent that you all can check me out there, that'd be great. And then also like Erin was saying, check out human connection. We do amazing things. And thank you. Thank you, Erin. You are amazing. Thank you to your listeners. You all are. I am now going to be an avid listener, I must say. Oh,
Erin (50:50):
Okay. Well, welcome to this amazing family of people. And I just gotta say, Jasmine, you're a gem, literally figuratively and the world. No
Jasmine (50:58):
Pun
Erin (50:58):
Intended, no pun intended, but the world really is so much better from hearing this story. I feel like this was something that someone needed to hear today. And I feel like paying attention to your intention is just so impactful. And we are enough. You are enough. You matter the, the, the world needed to hear this. The working world needed to hear this. So thank you so much for you for sharing and just for shining your light on us, because it is bright. And don't don't doll. That sparkle do not doll that sparkle because we need this Jasmine in our world, you are such an amazing human being. So thank you so much for being here.
Jasmine (51:43):
Thank you so much. I'm so grateful and I will make sure I sparkle sparkle, sparkle,
Erin (51:51):
Sparkle. I'm giving you a hug. This is me hugging my computer. Do you see there's
Jasmine (51:55):
There's a hug. Can you see me? I'm I'm I'm back
Erin (51:59):
To my microphone right? Here we go. We're going out, Jasmine. Thank you so much.
Jasmine (52:05):
Thank you.
Erin (52:15):
Improve it. Fam what a woman, right? I knew that today's episode would be phenomenal. I wasn't even aware of how phenomenal it could be and it blew my mind. It blew every expectation I had. So I just wanna share again, a thank you to Jasmine for sharing that story with us, for being vulnerable and sharing a real journey that some people also might be going through. It's okay to not be okay. That's one of the takeaways that I have from this episode. It's okay to not be okay. And as people leaders, we need to allow that to happen with our team members, but also with ourselves. And so I wanna say this, if anyone listening has any triggers or knows anybody who is thinking of an attempt, there is a suicide prevention lifeline. I wanna share that number right now, just in case it's 1 802 7 3 8 2 5 5 again, 1 802 7 3 8 2 5 5.
Erin (53:27):
That is the national suicide prevention lifeline. So please speak with somebody. If that is something that is going through your mind or the mind of a loved one, that, that Lincoln, that number will be in the show notes as well. So at, as Jasmine said, you are enough. You are not alone. The past few years have done a number on all of us. And to say that our mental health is perfect is a lie. It's always a work in progress. So I want you to find something that brings you joy for Jasmine. It's taking a walk outside, doing some deep breaths, taking a walk outside for me, it's being outside. It's, it's exercising outside it's meditation. I really find a lot of comfort in that. And I know that if that is a part of my day, that I've set my day up for success, your homework, your takeaway today is to find something that brings you joy.
Erin (54:32):
It could be any of those things, but I want you to write now, write down whatever it is you for probably listening to this on your phone, text yourself, send a text message. You can literally do this. If you've never done it, send a text, a text message to you. And I want you to write down that one thing in a text message. So it's there as a reminder to do that thing today, then I also want you to go in your phone and I want you to go to the alarm section. If you got an iPhone, if you got the Google phones, whatever, I don't know what the Google like, but on iPhone, you go to alarm and I want you to put an alarm for a specific time of day to do this thing. That brings you joy. Take a moment for you today.
Erin (55:21):
You matter, you are important. You are enough. Give yourself the space and the time to just be with the amazing human that is, you improve it. VAM. I just want to say thank you so much for listening to today's show, you know, the drill, keep failing, keep improving because this world it needs, it needs that special. It that only you can bring, I'll see you next time. Hey friends, thanks for tuning in to improve it. I am so happy you are along for the ride. If you enjoyed this show, head on over to iTunes to leave us a five star, our review and subscribe to the show. So you never miss an episode. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Now, if you're really feeling today's show and you've improved it even just a little bit, please take a screenshot and tag me at keeping it real deal on Instagram and share it in your stories. I'll see you next week, but I wanna leave you with this thought, what did you improve today and how will that help your future successful self? Think about it. I am rooting for, for you and the world needs that special. It that only you can bring see you next time.