How Mike Veny’s pandemic pivot helped workers deal with mental health issues
When the Covid-19 pandemic took root in March 2020, Mike Veny initially feared that his work as a motivational speaker on mental health issues would be paralyzed.
“Most of my speaking engagements, which were in person, were canceled,” said the Orange County-based Veny, who holds accreditation by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training and whose client base includes major organizations such as Microsoft, Ford Motor Co. and Aetna. “I actually thought this might be a year of reflection, but I would later learn that mental health was going to become a dominant issue during the pandemic, so I actually thrived.”
Veny quickly pivoted from working with corporate audiences to targeted employee wellness issues, often working one-on-one with people remotely through virtual platforms. He also made mental health resource information for free to anyone seeking his assistance.
“I told my team to run the business like a charity ”” we just needed to give away as much as we can because people were really struggling,” he said. “And so, I ended up so busy in 2020 that it was not funny ”” it was just one of the busiest years I”™ve ever had.”
During the pandemic period, Veny found many people stressed out from multiple issues, ranging from the abrupt societal changes brought by the public health crisis to the contentious political environment and the upheaval created in the new push for social justice following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
“Many of us were overwhelmed, unlike ever before,” he said. “Parents had to become teachers and be a parent at the same time and work a job. And people were, for the first time, stuck together in a household for longer periods of time than they were used to.
“The other thing was anxiety ”” there was so much fear,” he said. “One of my most significant challenges was addressing loneliness, because there were a lot of people who were feeling loneliness. You might have a relative in a different country that you can”™t visit or someone in a different state and your state is on lockdown ”” what do you do? So, I really worked hard to give people tools to help them as best I could.”
Veny acknowledged that many people experienced physical issues during the pandemic, especially those working extended hours remotely. He offered clients strategies to encourage as much motion as possible, such as taking phone calls outside rather than staying moored to a desk all day.
“The physical body and the emotions are interconnected, so it”™s really important to do activities not just for your physical health, but to connect with what you”™re feeling,” he said.
Today, the successful rollout of Covid vaccines has forced the pandemic to recede, and many companies are starting to encourage formerly remote workers to come back to their office.
But many people are still apprehensive of falling back into pre-pandemic behavior, and Veny recommended patience and diplomacy to bring people out of their fears of interacting with others.
“I think it can be done in a gentle way,” he said. “We don”™t need to attack each other for it. But everyone has a different perspective and everyone”™s perspective is valid. The important thing is to clarify expectations and don”™t attack others for wearing a mask or not wearing a mask.”
Veny added the same thought process applies with people who feel vaccines are unsafe or unnecessary and refuse to be inoculated.
“I think it”™s important to have conversations that are healthy around this and maybe ask where they got their information from on this and where they”™re learning about these conspiracies that they”™re talking about,” he said.
“That”™s a great opportunity for conversation, because what happens nowadays is people just have their point of view and say, ”˜I did my research and you”™re wrong.”™ That”™s an unhealthy conversation.
“I think it”™s important to get into dialogue about it and ask people where they got their information from ”” and do it with an open heart, not to change their mind, but just to understand their perspective. I have some good friends that aren”™t getting it and I have to honor their choice.”