Tony Bacigalupo talked to Laura Shook Guzman of Soma Vida on the importance of mental health awareness.
A Vehicle for Change
Coworking has become confusing to the consumer market. People often associate coworking with real estate development. This is because the differentiation between the coworking industry and movement is unclear to most. However, without the coworking movement, there would be no industry. Coworking as a movement has potential to be a tool for societal change.
Mental Health and Wellness
Laura got into coworking because of her personal experiences with mental health as an entrepreneur and her desire to support others. She is passionate about advocating about it so entrepreneurs do not feel there is as much of a stigma about speaking out on their needs. Space owners are not trained therapists but they have certain responsibilities to be transparent and encourage members to share or ask for help. Owners have power to create an ethos for vulnerability within their space as they build their communities and micro communities. How they speak about vulnerability surrounding health and wellness is going to exemplify it to their members.
Awareness
Awareness is one of the most important things when it comes to discussing mental health. There is nothing more powerful than being connected and in a community to be resilient with mental health. People who have a hard time with these things are usually feeling a disconnection either with themselves, the larger community, or both. Coworking has the ability to connect people and create genuine relationships. People value being able to connect over not being perfect, making mistakes, and learning.
It is easy to implement a program that touches on topics of mental health and wellbeing and open the floor for discussion. Similar programs or events typically have a strong response because people want to have this kind of realness.
Lastly, Laura wants to be at the forefront of these conversations and has taken her passion to the next level. Anyone can visit her website Conscious Ambition at https://www.onsomaticground.com for a free consultation. Simply go to the “Work with Me” tab and book it.