I had always prided myself on being resilient, high-performing, and able to push through anything. But once burnout took hold, everything changed. I couldn’t just ‘power on’ anymore. Something was breaking, and I needed to understand why.
Mental health advocacy at work wasn’t even on my mind then. All I wanted was to make sense of what was happening and find my way out. It was confusing and lonely. On the outside I looked fine, but inside I was exhausted, anxious, and constantly questioning whether I was failing.
As I began to learn – through therapy, reflection, and research – I realised how little support or conversation there was around employee mental health. I hated the thought of others going through what I was experiencing and not finding the help they needed.
That was the beginning.
One step at a time, I started to speak up.
From Struggle to Advocacy
When I first ‘hit the wall’ with burnout, I connected with a couple of colleagues from across the globe who also felt there was a need for more support and understanding around mental health, and together we co-founded an employee resource group called Mental Health Matters. At first, it was small – a handful of us sharing articles and resources. But slowly it grew to more than 3,000 members. People appreciated the non-judgemental, safe space to open up about struggles that were affecting their mental health at work, and find support and understanding from others in the same work environment who understood.
As a member of the Mental Health Matters leadership team, I thought it would be a good idea to become Mental Health First Aid accredited. So I did that – and I got so much out of it that I decided to become a Mental Health First Aid instructor myself. This gave me the skills to be able to share the knowledge further, and equip colleagues to recognise the signs of mental health distress and respond in supportive ways. I partnered with our Health and Safety team to facilitate this training for Salesforce employees, using my volunteer time. It was so rewarding to be able to help improve mental health literacy not just in my workplace, but in the broader community too.
I also championed wider workplace mental health initiatives that brought visibility and community into the workplace – R U OK? Day, the Beyond Blue Big Blue Table, the Push-Up Challenge, and the Coastrek fundraising walk for Beyond Blue. These events gave people a way to connect, share stories, and feel part of something bigger than themselves.
On top of that, I created and ran sessions that were deeply personal. I built a presentation sharing my own burnout story, mapping it against the 12 stages of burnout so that others could see how easy it is to slide down that path, and how important it is to recognise it sooner – to avoid reaching stage 12 at all if you can – and how burnout recovery is possible.
I also developed a session on team wellbeing, focusing on the role managers, team members, and individuals each play in building more mentally healthy teams. These sessions were especially appreciated by teams who had been seeing high rates of burnout in their employee survey results – and were desperate for something practical and hopeful.
Eventually, I was honoured as a recipient of a Woman of Impact global recognition award for this advocacy. It was bittersweet – recognition at the highest level, followed by redundancy not long after. But even though my time at Salesforce ended, the ripple effect of what we built didn’t stop.
There were so many different initiatives I worked on, and the truth is – the more I did, and the more positive feedback I received about the impact I was making, the more I wanted to keep going. That drive is exactly why and how I came to be doing everything I’m doing now with Nostos Nest.
I know not everyone has the capacity to do all of this – and you don’t need to. But it’s just like with donations – not everyone can give $10,000, but if 10,000 people give one dollar, they still create a massive impact.
The same goes for mental health advocacy at work.
Even if you only do one small thing, it can ripple outward and make more of a difference than you realise.
The Ripple Effect
What I learned is that you don’t need to be in HR or have a fancy title to make an impact. One person can start a ripple. That ripple touches another, and another. Soon, it multiplies.
The surprising part was how quickly people joined in once the door was opened. It wasn’t just leaders listening – it was colleagues supporting colleagues, managers trying new approaches, and quiet voices beginning to share openly. Change didn’t come from one person at the top; it came from lots of us taking small actions at the same time. These initiatives were all employee led.
I started because I was desperate to understand my own burnout. But what grew out of it was something much bigger than me. And the truth is – you can do the same in your workplace.
How to Start Mental Health Advocacy at Work
If you’ve ever wanted to make a difference, you don’t need to overhaul your organisation to get started. Even small steps make a difference.
Here are some practical ways you can begin:
- Start with a check-in: Open your team meetings with a quick wellbeing check. Something as simple as, “How’s your energy this week?” can break the ice. You can use the weekly mental health check-in that I do every Friday on Social Media, or you might like to check out my “Team Culture Playbook: 250 Ways to Build Connection, Wellbeing and Growth in Weekly Meetings” for lots more ideas.
- Share resources: Send an article, a podcast, or even a hotline number to your team or a colleague. Sometimes information is the spark that gets someone to reach out for help.
- Create a safe space: Suggest a Slack or Teams channel dedicated to wellbeing, or mental health specifically. It doesn’t have to be formal – just a place to drop reminders, resources, or encouragement.
- Encourage training: Recommend Mental Health First Aid to your organisation, or sign up yourself if it’s available. It equips people with practical tools that save lives. Let me know if you’d like to know more about that, I am a licensed MHFA instructor.
- Model vulnerability: If you’re a leader, share your own challenges honestly. If you’re not, know that peer-to-peer honesty is just as powerful.
- Make it visible: Put up posters, share helpline numbers, or add mental health resources to your company intranet. Visibility reduces stigma.
- Host a conversation: Invite someone to share their mental health story at a team meeting, or run a panel during Mental Health Awareness Month.
- Build partnerships: Connect with HR, DEI, or your Health & Safety team. These teams often have limited resources and are always looking for champions to support their efforts – your voice could help them reach further.
- Celebrate progress: Share wins – even small ones. A colleague opening up, a leader joining a session, or more people attending than expected. Recognition builds momentum.
- Normalise breaks: Encourage stepping away from screens, taking real lunch breaks, or even a short walk outside. Culture shifts when habits shift.
These are just a few ideas, of many. You don’t have to do all of these. Even one small action can change someone’s day – or their life.
Why This Matters
Burnout isn’t just an individual problem – it’s a workplace issue. Yet so often, organisations don’t have the bandwidth to respond in the ways people need. That’s why individuals stepping up makes such a difference.
When you start an initiative, however small, you give people permission to be human at work. You create psychological safety. You show that it’s ok to talk about mental health, to ask for help, and to support one another. That’s what shifts cultures from silence to openness.
That’s why mental health advocacy at work isn’t just a nice-to-have – it’s essential for long-term workplace wellbeing.
Final Thoughts
When I look back, what began as my own survival strategy became something that changed not just my career, but how others experienced theirs. Burnout forced me to slow down, but it also pushed me to step up – and to speak out.
If you’re wondering whether your voice matters, I can tell you this: it most definitely does! Every action counts, no matter how small. Culture shifts don’t happen overnight, but they begin with moments of courage and compassion.
So, who’s with me? Let’s do this!
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