As a female-owned PR agency that operates in the media and tech industries, it’s crucial to come together with industry leaders and discuss topics that are affecting women, as well as men, and address the real issues that can sometimes be overshadowed. Last month, Kite Hill PR held its first Women in Media meetup at dailymotion’s offices, with a focus on preventing burnout in the media industry.
Moderated by Lauren Johnson, Senior Advertising Reporter at Business Insider, the panelists for this meetup included Denise Burrell-Stinson, Content Director and Head of Storytelling at WP Brand Studio, Devra Prywes, Chief Product Officer at Applicaster and Jodi Coppernoll, SVP of Integrated Strategy at VaynerMedia. Each female executive shared insights into her experiences and journeys maintaining work-life balance, as well as tips on how to prevent burnout in such a fast-paced industry.
As the discussion progressed, several key topics emerged, including how HR has changed and adapted to best help employees, along with how being in a field where everyone is considered a creative can be both a blessing and a curse.
How to avoid burnout?
“I’m guilty of having to be constantly available to the team,” said Burrell-Stinson. “The ability to say ‘no’ is a success.” She went on to describe the struggles she faces while on vacation, wanting to do something as simple as check a Slack message or answer questions in a quick note. While these feelings haven’t necessarily gone away, they are no longer as prominent, and she can now enjoy her days off, trusting her team to handle anything that arises.
Coppernoll had the same approach to avoiding burnout, changing “work-life balance” to “work-life management.” Life isn’t entirely about balance, but rather a constant cycle of trying to manage continuous changes and stressors, working with them instead of against them.
There was a general consensus in the room that boundaries need to be set and if you don’t honor them yourself, no one else will. Establishing these earlier on will give you the framework to fight burnout from the start. Whether it’s dialing into a call while walking outside or scheduling a doctor’s appointment for Tuesday afternoon because that’s the only time available, it’s important to make sure work life and personal life can coexist without overruling each other.
How is HR evolving to work for us?
HR has had to change its ways, and as our workforce becomes more diverse in thought, the way employees are managed and treated has evolved. No longer is HR seen as the “office police.” While this department still ensures that forms are submitted and training is completed, HR has become the team that anchors culture and looks out for its employees’ wellbeing.
It’s now more about empowerment, making sure employees are in an environment where they can not only check the boxes but achieve professional and personal goals, as well. “People need to have time outside of work,” said Prywes. “If I need a haircut, I block out an hour on my calendar, and people just work around the one-hour block.”
HR teams have helped to implement programs that give us greater flexibility, allowing us to work on our own schedules - within reason. With that greater flexibility, when things do come up, we’re not forced to choose and can have both. Prywes also went on to discuss how HR is now a place that is constantly reminding you to connect with people in the office in real life, instead of through platforms like Slack and other internal messaging systems.
What are the challenges of being creative?
“Yeah, I can make [big ideas], but I might not be able to make right now,” Coppernoll said while discussing the topic of being in a field where almost everyone is required to be creative all the time and are even labeled as “a creative” in meetings.
When facing creativity blocks, Burrell-Stinson advises people to “make space for wild conversations.” Talking to someone about the most mundane things can help light a spark that can turn into a fire of creative ideas. Burrell-Stinson also advised that “sometimes it is just okay,” when suffering from a lack of ideas and giving yourself the time to breathe, regroup and work out new ones.
At the end of the day, we all encounter burnout and have our own way of coping with it. There is no formula or blanket answer that will work for everyone. However, it’s clear that we need to be talking about these issues more. Whether it’s struggling to churn out new ideas, or finding the bandwidth to accomplish everything on our personal and professional to-do list, we need to continue to talk about the realities we face when managing our lives.
Interested in attending the next Women in Media Meetup? You can join us here.
- Tiffany Guarnaccia, Founder and CEO