Building a Company While Battling Depression | HBR IdeaCast

16 Feb 2023

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Melissa Bernstein, cofounder of the toy company Melissa & Doug, spent decades hiding her struggles with depression even as she launched and led a booming business focused on bringing joy to children and raised six of her own. She finally opened up to her family, colleagues, and the public and recently launched an organization to give people better tools to discuss and manage their mental health. Bernstein explains what managers and organizations can do to help workers facing depression and other illnesses. She’s the author of the book LifeLines: An Inspirational Journey from Profound Darkness to Radiant Light (https://www.amazon.com/LifeLines-Inspirational-Journey-Profound-Darkness/dp/1735439703) This episode originally aired on HBR IdeaCast on March 30, 2021. Listen to more HBR IdeaCast episodes here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzAU8TPKsJuaxff5Cp0P2DKE_tFyaWOOa You can also listen to this episode on HBR.org, and wherever you listen to podcasts: - HBR.org (transcript available here): https://hbr.org/podcast/2021/03/building-a-company-while-battling-depression - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/building-a-company-while-battling-depression/id152022135?i=1000515036866 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ppWDEXRQ3grWDAlgQnDhY?si=DSp2ap85TTOa-8bDPJIFxg - Stitcher https://www.stitcher.com/show/hbr-ideacast/episode/building-a-company-while-battling-depression-82791307 - Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLmhhcnZhcmRidXNpbmVzcy5vcmcvaGFydmFyZGJ1c2luZXNzL2lkZWFjYXN0/episode/dGFnOmF1ZGlvLmhici5vcmcsMjAwNi0wNS0wODppZGVhY2FzdC4wNzg2?sa=X&ved=0CAIQuIEEahcKEwjQu6mx-5f9AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQLA Series Description: A weekly podcast featuring the leading thinkers in business and management. About Harvard Business Review: Harvard Business Review is the leading destination for smart management thinking. Through its flagship magazine, books, and digital content and tools published on HBR.org, Harvard Business Review aims to provide professionals around the world with rigorous insights and best practices to help lead themselves and their organizations more effectively and to make a positive impact. Learn more at www.hbr.org. Chapters: 00:00 – Intro 1:44 – Origin Story of Melissa & Doug 3:14 – How Melissa & Doug Became a Success 4:17 – Running a Successful Company While Depressed 7:44 – Being Honest with Yourself about Mental Health 10:47 – Opening Up to the People Around You 13:21 – Reactions in the Workplace 17:32 – Destigmatizing Mental Health in the Workplace 21:29 – How to Improve Mental Health Benefits 25:32-– Outro Follow Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/harv... https://www.facebook.com/HBR/ https://twitter.com/HarvardBiz https://www.instagram.com/harvard_bus... Sign up for Newsletters: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters #HarvardBusinessReview #business #management Copyright © 2022 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved.

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