LIVING WITH AND MANAGING DEPRESSION & ANXIETY IN THE MIDST OF OWNING A SMALL BUSINESS
Photo by krakenimages on Unsplash
Just over fourteen years ago, I really didn’t
consider working in the capacity of an Entrepreneur nor did I believe that owning a small business was my destiny. But, if I was going to take a huge leap into this thing called Entrepreneurship, I quickly decided to reinvent myself! Afterall, my plan was to launch Powerful Play By Robert Manolson Experiences, Positive Workplace Mental Health... For Teams! as a bonified business. At that particular time, I was employed in the field of career & employment training, helping Albertans to find the work they love. I was a workshop facilitator, delivering workshops on career planning, work search strategies, and finding the right postsecondary education. I eventually took some time off to contemplate my next move. I wanted to do something that was fun, inspiring, and driven by creativity. I decided to start my own business, Powerful Play Experiences, based on something that inspired me in my college and university years Cooperative Play.With the amazing support from the Edmonton Chapter of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS), I launched my business with the intention of helping individuals and teams create positive change while having fun doing it. Very quickly, my clients began describing me as “The Play Guy” who facilitates workshops based on
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Cooperative Play. Two years later, this changed and my clients then described me as “The Fun at Work Guy” who inspires workplace teams to have more fun at work. Today, fully engaged with my business for just over 14 years now, fun at work continues to inspire all who play with me but my business has evolved and so have my intentions. I’m all about pushing the message that positive workplace mental health for teams is quite easy to attain at work but when, and only when Leaders commit to more fun at work, and more happy & engaged teams! Navigating my life as an Entrepreneur has never been a simple journey nor a straight line journey from point A to point B. Yes, there exists 4 generations of mental illness in my immediate and extended family. And Yes, I am very open to sharing with you my story of living with and managing depression and anxiety.
But, I’m also very open to sharing with you my conviction to calling myself a Mental Health Champion. In fact, quite recently, a colleague of mine in the Field of Career Development facebooked me. Cindy,who also lives with and manages depression and anxiety, wrote a most poignant definition of a Mental Health Champion. “Defining the Mental Health Champion! We face adversity. We find ways to deal with it. We use the support we have around us. We speak our truth when things don’t go well. We function in the wacky world of work where disappointments can be inevitable. We move on. We validate our feelings. We
