The Redesigning Wellness Podcast

225: Job Loss During a Pandemic with Chrissy Ball, Michelle Bartelt, and Scott Dinwiddie

In April of 2020, as the coronavirus forced the first major shutdowns in the US, unemployment rates in every state soared to a level not previously seen since data collection began in 1948. Among those affected were today’s guests Chrissy Ball, Michelle Bartelt, and Scott Dinwiddie – highly skilled wellness professionals with over 40 years of collective experience (check out their full bios below).

In this episode, our panel of guests discuss the tumultuous experience of job loss including processing the emotions, resisting the temptation to doubt yourself, and the lessons they’ve learned through this experience. They share plenty of advice for others experiencing job loss, as well as tangible tips for professionals tasked with letting employees go.

This podcast episode is brought to you by Resilience Reboot for Leaders.

In this 4-week session, your leaders (or potential leaders) will watch short Resilience lessons before each class. In the weekly, live Zoom meetings we’ll break into small groups, using the resilience skills learned to apply to each participant’s unique situation.

This group will be made up of leaders across multiple organizations, so you can send only the employees you want to pay for.

First group starts Feb. 16th – each employee is $125 with discounts for 2 or more employees.

Interview Highlights (with timestamps):

[7:30] Receiving the news of job loss
[20:37] Processing the resulting feelings
[32:43] Allowing job loss to question your worth
[38:46] Lessons each panelist learned from this experience
[43:03] Possible future career paths
[49:03] Each panelist’s superpower
[53:22] Tangible tips for employers tasked with letting staff go
[58:52] Potential patterns in the wellness industry as a result of job loss

Mentioned in this episode:

Full Bio:

Chrissy has 15+ years of experience in supporting organizations with their employee well-being programs. As an accomplished and dedicated professional, Chrissy has a comprehensive background in developing effective and engaging holistic wellness programs that drive positive health outcomes and improve work cultures. More recently, Chrissy spent 6+ years at a global organization developing, deploying, and monitoring their well-being program for 10,000+ employees across US, Canada, and in Europe.

Chrissy holds a B.S. in Public Health Studies with a concentration in Worksite Health Promotion. She is certified by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) in Exercise Physiology, and a certified Health Coach through the National Society of Health Coaches. Chrissy is currently studying for the Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) exam through the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing.

Chrissy is from western North Carolina and has lived in the Charlotte area for the past 8 years. She enjoys spending quality time with her two children, William (6) and Elise (4), and her husband, Jeff. In her spare time, you can usually find Chrissy hiking with her family, running, attempting watersports at Lake Lure, working on her latest backyard/gardening project, or cuddling with her two rescue kittens Lucky and Luna.

Chrissy is passionate about incorporating healthy habits into everyday life, and even though the COVID-19 pandemic has brought-on tough times for her family, as it has many others around the world, she views these challenges as opportunities for growth among ourselves and our society.

Michelle received her Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology and Exercise Science from Northern Illinois University.

Over her professional career, Michelle has held wellness management positions in corporate and manufacturing settings working with a variety of industries. Under her leadership, the client wellness programs have received numerous awards including the Healthiest Employers, Healthiest 100 and Workplace Health Achievement Index.

Michelle’s most recent position was serving as the National Director of Onsite Wellness for Interactive Health. She provided wellness program service delivery through talent management, strategy, engagement, and outcomes reporting showcasing desired results and best practices working with small and large client base, multi-site, and multi-state locations. She partnered with clients starting with a successful initial implementation phase and continuing through the on-going operational phase using innovative, integrated, customer focused approaches.

In her spare time, Michelle enjoys spending time in the outdoors and hanging out with her husband and their two boys.

Scott Dinwiddie is an independent consultant with nearly a decade of experience conspiring with employers and vendors to build better wellness programs. Scott’s recent work has focused on the Employee Experience, the emerging new operating model for HR that promises to redefine and revitalize the discipline of corporate wellness.