The Mental Health Advantage

Embedding Wellbeing into Culture: Insights from WTW’s Wendy Poirier

In this episode of The Mental Health Advantage, Stephen Sokoler, Founder & CEO of Journey, sits down with Wendy Poirier, Managing Director at Willis Towers Watson and leader of WTW’s Canadian Health Management Practice.
For over 30 years, Wendy has been helping organizations reimagine health and wellbeing strategies, introducing Canada’s first pharmacy coalition, pioneering benefit marketplaces, and leading the shift toward inclusive and diverse practices. Her work highlights how employers can move beyond reactive benefits to embed wellbeing directly into culture.
Together, Stephen and Wendy will explore how organizations can go beyond crisis management and compliance to build cultures that truly support wellbeing, engagement, and performance.

The Interconnectedness of Wellbeing: Where Mental Health, Family Responsibilities, and Financial Stress Meet

In this episode of The Mental Health Advantage, Stephen Sokoler, Founder & CEO of Journey, sits down with Nicole Stec, Vice President at Lockton and the firm’s Wellbeing Consulting Leader. Nicole brings over 15 years of experience helping employers design and implement holistic health strategies that put employees’ full lives , mental health, caregiving responsibilities, and financial pressures, at the center.
Stephen and Nicole explore the critical and often underappreciated intersections between mental health, family demands, and financial wellbeing. Through real-world insights and proven strategies, they unpack how these domains compound stress, or alleviate it, and how organizations can respond with more intentional, human-centered solutions.

Designing Wellbeing That Works: A Global Strategy for Every Stage

In this episode of The Mental Health Advantage, Stephen Sokoler, Founder & CEO of Journey, is joined by Abinue Fortingo, MPH — a globally experienced strategist in employee wellbeing and population health management.
Abinue brings a rare cross-industry perspective to the conversation, having advised Fortune-listed companies, multi-nationals, and emerging organizations on how to create sustainable, high-impact strategies that tie employee wellbeing to business performance.
From benefits redesign to global strategy, his data-informed and human-centered approach has helped organizations navigate complexity, cut through noise, and prioritize care in a way that resonates locally and scales globally.

Empowerment & Boundaries: Reimagining Wellness at Work with Kathy-Jo Payette

In this episode of “The Mental Health Advantage,“ Stephen Sokoler, Founder & CEO of Journey, sits down with KJ Payette, Partner at Revelares and former Chief People Officer at Panera Bread, CHRO at Cumberland Farms, and HR executive at CVS.
With decades of experience leading people teams at household-name brands, KJ now devotes her work to helping individuals and organizations embrace healthier, more human-centered ways of working. From burnout and boundary-setting to cultural change and leadership accountability, she shares powerful insights into how companies can stop treating people like cogs in a machine and start designing workplaces where wellbeing is truly part of the business strategy.
📅 Recording Date: 8/12/25
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Learning as a Lever for Wellbeing: A Conversation with Deloitte Canada’s Chief Learning Officer

In this episode of The Mental Health Advantage, Stephen Sokoler is joined by Neil Hunter, Partner and Chief Learning Officer at Deloitte Canada. With a rich background in strategic leadership, human capital development, and operational oversight across sectors, Neil brings a uniquely people-centered perspective to the power of continuous learning in the workplace.
Together, they explore how development and education programs can go beyond skill-building to promote employee wellbeing, reduce absenteeism, and foster a culture of psychological safety, growth, and support.
 
📅 Recording Date: July 15, 2025
 
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Engagement by Design: A Conversation with Nathan Counts

In this episode of The Mental Health Advantage, Journey's founder Stephen Sokoler sits down with Nathan Counts, a nationally recognized Total Rewards executive with experience at AT&T and Amtrak.
Nathan reveals how to build benefits programs that not only look good on paper but get used — by everyone, including frontline and deskless employees. He explains how simplicity, trust, and transparency are the foundations of engagement, and how leaders can track ROI through increased usage and reduced medical costs.
If you’ve ever wondered how to reach underserved employee populations and turn benefits into a true driver of culture and performance — this episode is for you.
Key Takeaways:// What actually drives engagement with Total Rewards programs// How to reach deskless, global, and underserved employee populations// The link between mental health strategy and medical cost savings// Why transparency builds trust — and trust drives usage// Engagement isn’t a buzzword — it’s a design decision
Enjoyed this episode?Subscribe, rate, and review The Mental Health Advantage to help more leaders discover the power of proactive mental health at work.
📘 Grab your copy of The Mental Health Advantage: https://www.amazon.com/Mental-Health-Advantage-Companies-Performance/dp/B0DTC2BJ1Y💻 Request a demo of Journey Proactive EAP: https://get.journey.live/demo/?utm_source=podbean&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=q3_25_podbean_podcast

Culture eats Strategy for Breakfast: A Conversation with PMI’s Chief People & Culture Officer, Kaleen Love

In this episode of The Mental Health Advantage, Stephen Sokoler sits down with Kaleen Love, Chief People & Culture Officer for PMI U.S., to explore how culture can be engineered as rigorously as any transformation program.With experience at Oxford, McKinsey, and Capital One, Kaleen unpacks how data, empathy, and storytelling combine to build a workplace where joy, belonging, and performance are possible — even in times of change.
Key Audience Takeaways:
Culture change must be treated like transformation: with structure, ownership, and milestones
Storytelling is essential to turn data into belief
Empathy and analytics are not opposites — they’re partners
HR must guide AI adoption with clarity and humanity
Great workplaces are communities of choice, not just perks on a page
Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe, rate, and review The Mental Health Advantage to help more leaders discover the power of proactive mental health at work.
📘 Grab your copy of The Mental Health Advantage💻 Request a demo of Journey Proactive EAP

From Crisis to Culture: Reimagining Mental Health in the Workplace with Randy Martin, Ph.D.

In this episode of The Mental Health Advantage, Stephen Sokoler sits down with Randy Martin, Ph.D., Clinical Director of the CopeNYP Employee Assistance Program at Weill Cornell Medicine, to explore how mental health has shifted from reactive crisis care to an essential part of organizational culture.
A contributor to The Mental Health Advantage book and a pioneer in both corporate and community mental health, Martin shares how the pandemic lifted stigma, why family systems matter, and how proactive EAP models can drive real organizational ROI.
If you're an HR or benefits leader rethinking your approach to workplace mental health — this episode is packed with strategy, empathy, and insight.
Key Audience Takeaways:✔ How the pandemic accelerated mental health openness — and what’s next✔ Why inclusive care must support employees and their families✔ The value of community-based mental health models in workplace settings✔ How proactive care leads to measurable outcomes and ROI✔ How to support culturally diverse and multigenerational workforces
Enjoyed this episode?Subscribe, rate, and review The Mental Health Advantage to help more leaders discover how proactive mental health can transform today’s workforce.
📘 Grab your copy of The Mental Health Advantage💻 Request a demo of Journey Proactive EAP

Real Mental Health Strategy for High-Growth Teams

In this episode of The Mental Health Advantage, Journey's founder Stephen Sokoler sits down with Amy Reichanadter, Chief People Officer at Databricks, to explore what it takes to embed meaningful mental health strategies inside one of the fastest-growing tech companies in the world.
With a background in clinical psychology and over 25 years of HR leadership experience, Amy shares how Databricks supports 8,000+ employees across dozens of global offices through intentional culture-building, psychological safety, and founder-driven leadership.
If you’ve ever wondered how to sustain wellbeing while scaling fast — this one’s for you.
Key Takeaways:
// How psychological safety strengthens culture in high-growth companies// Why executive leadership sets the tone for mental health success// What proactive mental health strategy looks like at scale// How Databricks ties mental health to employee retention and ROI// The ripple effects of intentional leadership on engagement
Enjoyed this episode?Subscribe, rate, and review The Mental Health Advantage to help more leaders discover the power of proactive mental health at work.
📘 Grab your copy of The Mental Health Advantage💻 Request a demo of Journey Proactive EAP

The Global Evolution of Total Rewards & Employee Mental Health

In this episode, Journey founder Stephen Sokoler sits down with Dominic Cole-Morgan, Group Reward Director at WPP, to explore how mental health and total rewards intersect on a global scale—and what companies can do to support employees across diverse cultures, systems, and needs.
With a background in psychology and a career spanning multinationals like Goldman Sachs, Prudential, and Scotiabank, Dominic shares a compelling perspective on the evolution of workplace mental health, why line managers matter more than meditation apps, and how global organizations can drive meaningful, measurable change.
Key Takeaways:
// How mental health benefits vary across regions—and why one-size-fits-all doesn’t work// The role of line managers in creating psychologically safe, high-performing teams// Why mental health should be seen as a business imperative, not just a benefit// Common barriers to engagement—and what actually works in driving adoption// What the future of total rewards looks like at WPP and beyond// Journey’s take on proactive mental health—and how it drives 10x more engagement
Enjoyed this episode?Subscribe, rate, and review The Mental Health Advantage to help more leaders discover the power of proactive mental health at work.