S1 Ep. #8 Why we need to destigmatize mental health in adland and hire more diverse creative leaders.

The mental health epidemic is no secret these days. Our insights from The Rosie Report found that 80% of traditional full-time marketing employees say their work affects their mental or physical health. 62% of traditional full-time marketing employees have suffered burnout in their current role, compared with only 36% of freelancers. During the COVID-19 work-from-home mandate, our research saw an increase in the percentage of employed marketers who say they are exercising and sleeping more, have been practicing better self-care, and have felt less work-related stress since working from home. This data provides insight that flexible talent models allow the space, time, and freedom for these practices to benefit our work and our overall mental health. In this episode of the Rosie Report podcast, Steph sits down with Laurel Stark Akman, a Creative Director and Copywriter – and member of the Rosie community – to discuss the importance of destigmatizing mental health in our industry and why we need more diverse creative leaders.

Laurel is known for her passion for starting hard conversations and facilitating change using creativity, empathy, and honesty. This is clear in the work she does as co-founder of Next Creative Leaders, a portfolio competition through the collaboration between The 3% Conference and The One Club that identifies, celebrates and gives a global platform to talented women and non-binary creatives who are making their mark on the world with both their work and a unique point of view on creative leadership. Laurel is also co-founder of Our Silent Partner, a crowd-sourced reflection on mental health where creatives in our industry can turn their struggles with mental health into a public portfolio of creative work in order to encourage us all to talk, open and honestly.