Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Opinions expressed in this episode are personal. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this streaming platform.
[00:00:14] Speaker B: Good day, everyone, and welcome to an edition of let's be diverse. I am your host, Anthony Stoughton. This episode is dedicated to all my loved ones who have supported me through this journey.
An interesting thing that popped into my head, and I know it's not something that is old, but it's something that people deal with on a regular basis, and it's called autoimmune disease. Now, I know people think of this as something that people would go through outside of work, but I wanted to delve into it for people who deal with this on a daily basis, and they have to work as well or run their businesses and deal with this as well. So I thought this would be an interesting topic to delve into. And I'm so lucky to have Anna as my guest to help me to talk about this topic. Robin Engelson, now, Robin is the founder and CEO of Impactu. She's an autoimmune expert, nutrition educator, lifestyle transformer, speaker and podcast host of the Robin Engelson podcast.
She is on a mission to help corporate moms improve their mindset, nutrition, fitness and accountability so they can be the best versions of themselves and make their unique impact.
Through her healing journey of thyroid immune disease, hashimoto's and hypothyroidism, she stopped at nothing to find a healthy solution. Now she helps empower hundreds of corporate moms, retain their mindset and model of positive change, lose weight, increase energy, gain clarity, and live a healthy, active lifestyle. She inspires corporate moms around the globe to take their health and happiness into their own hands and compress healing time with her signature coaching programs. Robin is one of those individuals that you just, I feel like you just, if you haven't met her, I feel like you just have to meet her. She just has this insatiable personality and she just resonates with every word that she says. And I feel like when you meet her, you gravitate to her quickly. So I'm super lucky to connect with her and we're super lucky to have her on today. Welcome to the show, Robin. I am so happy to have you on as a guest today.
[00:02:48] Speaker A: Thank you, Andrew. I am so excited and delighted and honored to be a guest on your podcast and help impact corporations to understand how to help and serve autoimmune issues and autoimmunity within their employees and staff.
[00:03:06] Speaker B: I'm super excited about this because I do feel it's something that is out there, but I do a. I don't think it's talked about a lot, and I do feel it's not talked about in the workplace or business environment. So I really feel like it kind of went hand in hand here, and I'm super excited to delve into that. But before we do get into that, I want to know, how are things with you? What's new? What's going on in your world? Give us the story. What's going on?
[00:03:30] Speaker A: Well, thanks for asking. There's lots going on, always. And, you know, I've recently been able to take a lot of family trips going cross country, another one next weekend up north. And, you know, it's really.
I take that as a value because having an autoimmune disease, you might think you can't travel. You're not going to be able to get the sleep you want, you're not going to have the food you want. But I have found solutions to be able to do that. And I'm just super elated and excited to be spending time with family and friends and also creating cohorts with other corporate moms in the workforce to see what they're doing, how they're doing it, so we can come together as a whole and really help impact those at large. So it's been a fun ride so far this year, and I'm just excited to continue impacting other people and especially helping people from their hearts.
[00:04:26] Speaker B: I love all that. I think it's super important that we cohorts. I think it's super important that we remember that and that we combine as a team. I think we, you know, we're all doing our own stuff, but I think that we. It's important to.
To talk to people, build relationships, and work together. I really feel that's super important.
[00:04:46] Speaker A: Absolutely. I think the key to helping people is creating the relationships, because without creating the relationships, you're just another person that they're talking to or see on social media. So being able to connect with them and truly, when I say connecting, you truly connect heart to heart and understand them as a person and how you can help them moving forward is key to everyone's success.
[00:05:13] Speaker B: So before we begin, I always have a fun question to ask my guests to get things going. Are you ready for your question today, Robin?
[00:05:24] Speaker A: I am ready. Bring it on, Andrew.
[00:05:28] Speaker B: So my question to you is, if you could only communicate through song lyrics for the rest of your life, which band of artists lyrics would you choose?
[00:05:40] Speaker A: Pitbull. Hands down, Pitbull.
[00:05:42] Speaker B: Oh, okay. And what song and what lyrics would you use.
[00:05:45] Speaker A: There's so many. That's a hard one because I'm die hard. Pitbull fan just went to the concert on my birthday in November and so hard to pick one.
So there's a quote that Pitbull says and numerous psalms and it says, every day above ground is a good day to live. Every day above ground. And I interpret that as, you know, every day you wake up is a blessing, especially with an autoimmune disease, because you never know how you're going to feel, right? So you get to get up and you get to conquer your life. You get to be grateful, and living in a state of gratitude makes you happy. So every day above ground is a good day. We thank you for those words.
[00:06:30] Speaker B: I love that every day you get to conquer your life. I love that. I think that's something that I think we all need to take in. We have our good days. We have our not so good days. We have to remember the good days and remember that there are going to be those days that are not so good. And then, but we do have to appreciate the good things that we have and that we're around to enjoy the things that we enjoy. That is super important. So yes, there's good days, there's bad, but it is part of, it's part of life. For sure.
[00:07:06] Speaker A: Absolutely. For 100%. Something that I share with people is my quote that's related to what Pitbull says is that, you know, yesterday is gone, tomorrow's unknown, but today is the gift. So live in the present.
[00:07:21] Speaker B: That is awesome. I love that. So what I would like for you to do to get things started off here is by you telling us a little bit about you, your story, and also I would like to know your why.
[00:07:34] Speaker A: Absolutely.
So thank you for asking. Because I think once you understand my story and my why, you'll understand why I do what I do and what my heart work is. So, my story, I'm a mom, I'm a wife, I'm a daughter, I'm a sister, I'm a cousin, I'm an auntie. And my son now is 15.
At the time, when he was three and a half, we were trying to, husband and I were trying to have our second child, and I couldn't get pregnant, but I have a child, so something didn't make sense. So I went to a specialty doctor, infertility specialist, and got all sorts of blood work done. And one of the tests I went in for blood work and I got a phone call the next day that my antibodies were off the charts, and I need to go see an endocrinologist as soon as possible. I didn't even know what that meant. Like, I was like, wait, what? I was like, okay, so I. First you go. First thing you do is go online and look it up, and. Which is the worst thing you can do. So what happened is that the first doctor I saw, and I say first, was I went through multiple doctors. The first doctor I saw told me that I have hashimoto's thyroid autoimmune disease. And Hashimoto's, it's not life threatening, but life changing. Here's some medication. Have a nice life. And I started taking the medication and became severely sick. I wasn't sick before I got diagnosed. At least I didn't think I was, which is very common with most people who get diagnosed with autoimmune diseases. And so I went back to the doctor. He said, it's not the medication.
Come back in six months. Well, I knew it was the medication because I wasn't on the medication prior, and I felt fine. So I went to another doctor, and he told me the same thing. I went to a third doctor, and he said, well, maybe you're allergic to the fillers that are in the medication, because the main medication they prescribe, which is leprathyroxine, which is the generic for the main medication, has fillers in it, and some people are allergic to it. So he put me on the hypoallergenic version, which is tirasen. And not many doctors do this because I don't know why. It's a really great question. Probably don't get paid as much to prescribe it. And that was a changer for me, because I started to feel back. Feel good enough, right, that I could function, because what was happening was that I started sleeping ten to 12 hours a night, couldn't get out of bed. My body was fatigued all day.
My body ached. I couldn't work out at the level I was working out at. I couldn't take care of my son, who was three and a half at the time. I would have brain fog. I'd be in the car driving with my son, trying to go to one store and end up at another. And I have no idea how I got there. What happened in between? My hair started falling out. My nails started breaking.
I just was not myself. And so by going on hypoallergenic medication, I started to feel a little bit better. When I say a little bit, that was just getting me back to square one, where I was when I got diagnosed.
Then the fourth doctor I went to, I said, you know what? Enough is enough. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. I don't deserve this. I didn't sign up for this. And if it's meant to be, it's up to me. And I found a functional doctor. Now, a functional doctor is very different than a traditional doctor because a functional doctor looks at your body as a whole. It's holistic medicine. A functional doctor, you go to an endocrinologist for endocrine system. You go to a gastroenterologist for that issue. You go different issues for different doctors. Functional doctor, you go to them for everything. And it's really amazing because they can help you in so many different ways. So this doctor literally saved my life because she told me that I was deficient in t three. Because your thyroid is composed of t three, t four, tsh, and come and reverse t three. So what was happening is that my body wasn't producing the reverse t three. And you need that to function. And what that does is give you energy and make you feel good. So she prescribed me the hypoallergenic medication on a lower dose and then added a compounded medication of t three. So then I slowly started to feel better and better and better and also put me on supplementation because my body was deficient in zinc and magnesium and iodine. I mean, zinc, the DHEA, the list goes on and on. And a traditional doctor doesn't test for that, nor do they care about, because they don't get paid on. Functional doctors typically pay out of pocket. Some of them are treated as primary carers and take your insurance, but mostly you're paying out of pocket. And so that was an investment I made in myself, and that was the first time I invested in myself for health.
That was out of insurance. And I realized, what a game changer, right? What a game changer. As I started to feel good, I started to feel better. And in that process, I met somebody while I was walking my dog one day in my neighborhood, and we started talking and chatting, and she happened to be a health coach. And I was like, what does that mean? What do you do? And she said, well, I help people feel good and energized with proper nutrition. And I was like, well, that's amazing. Sign me up. So I started to change my nutrition. I started to educate myself on nutrition with her mentorship and health as a coach. So that was the second time I invested in a coach in myself. So first was a holistic doctor. And second, was a health coach.
And then I started to feel better, but this whole process took two and a half years. But then I got to a point where I was like, oh, my gosh, I feel better than I did before I got diagnosed, right? And so my why is to help people, because I changed my life as a model of positive change, right? By increasing my energy with proper nutrition, fitness as a hashimoto's autoimmune disease overcomer. So my goal was to. And my why because of that, was to help other corporate moms do the same. Why not? Because you don't know what you don't know. And it kind of happened organically because people started to see what I was doing and how I felt. Because when you feel like crap, like really, really bad, it's. You don't really want to be around people. You don't want to talk to people. You just want to be by yourself, right? And it's really depressing. It's really lonely. But then when you start to feel good and you have energy, then you want to share it with the world and scream it off, you know, the top of the skyscrapers, right? And so people were like, what are you doing? Even people that didn't have an autoimmune disease. And I slowly started organically sharing my story because I felt like people needed to hear the story. Because if I had heard someone's story when I was going through this, it would have been a game changer, and it would have compressed my time for two and a half years to maybe three months, right?
And so, you know, I just. My why is to help other corporate moms be energized, compress time and start living instead of existing. Because when you have an autoimmune disease and you feel horrible and no one gets it because you don't get it unless you get it, then you just, you know, you don't want to be around people, and you're just existing. You're just physically existing. And I truly believe, as part of my why we were not put on this earth to wake up, go to work, and come home and do nothing, right? And then that's your life. So my why is to help other corporate moms feel as good as I do, teach them simple solutions to help them with their nutrition, fitness mindset, and be their accountability buddy so they can thrive with autoimmunity. And you know, that why evolved over time. My son is always my why. And the reason why I got healthy. And then the why evolved even more into helping other corporate moms.
[00:15:21] Speaker B: Wow. So I just love that, that story so much to pack in there. First off, it's amazing how you stuck with it. So I feel like there's a lot of people that are stuck out there. They don't know how to figure stuff out. They don't know where to turn. So it's amazing that you not knowing what was available to you, that you stuck with things. You realize, this is not how I want to be. I'm not happy. I need to kind of figure stuff out. The second thing that is amazing to me, and this is, I'm big on leadership, and this is a leadership quality that I feel like you were actually talking to a lot of people, and you were telling them what was going on, and it took that last person to not just come up with, not listen to give you a solution. Did they come up with a solution? But they weren't listening to you to give a solution right away. They were listening what I would like to call with Paul, and that is basically listening to hear what the person has to say, hear what they're dealing with, and understanding what they're dealing with, rather than halfway through them talking, saying, oh, I know exactly what you're talking about. This is what we need to do.
They actually sat down with you, took the time, listened to you, and they you together, you guys developed a plan to help you to get better. So I love that they did that because there's not a lot of people that are out there to do that, and I think it's super important. And that just doesn't just go in the workplace. I think it goes outside of work. I think we just need to take time to listen to what people have to say and understand. Am I listening to give feedback, or am I listening with pause to let them say what they have to say?
[00:17:10] Speaker A: I love that. And I think you know what you said about listening with pause to leadership quality. All people want to do is be heard. People just want to be heard. And the only way to do that is to listen. And I spot on with that, Andrew, because when you listen, you actually hear what people want to say.
[00:17:29] Speaker B: Yep. I totally agree with you 100%. So tell us, Robin, what is autoimmune disease and how can it affect you in the workplace?
[00:17:40] Speaker A: Sure. So, an autoimmune disease is a condition in which the immune system, which is designed to protect the body from harmful invaders such as bacteria and viruses, mistakenly attacks its own healthy cells and tissues. So this immune system dysfunction can lead to inflammation and a variety of symptoms. Depending on the specific autoimmune disease. And there's 80 known autoimmune diseases, and they range the gamut, such as hashimoto's, which I have, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, type one diabetes, celiac, and others.
And they can affect different organs, tissues, and systems in your body, leading to a wide range of symptoms and health challenges.
So, in terms of in the workplace and what this means for someone who has an autoimmune disease is that it can impact them in many different ways, depending on the job conditions, specific symptoms, or experience, the nature of the individual's job. But here I have a list here that I'd like to share that are the top ones, if you will.
Fatigue.
Many autoimmune diseases are associated with chronic fatigue. Individuals may experience extreme tiredness, which can affect concentration, productivity, and ability to perform tasks efficiently. So if someone seems tired, it's not because they're just tired. It's their body is physically shutting down, and it's not their fault. Right. It's not like they just didn't get enough sympathy, pain, and joint issues. Conditions like, you know, rheumatoid arthritis, hashimoto's, all of that. They can. The autoimmune disease can cause joint pain and stiffness, making it difficult to perform tasks that require, you know, physical efforts or period of sitting. I know for me, sitting for a long period of time is like a no, no, no, because I'm so stiff that I can't, like, my brain shuts down. And so I stand most of the day because I need to stand in an office setting, having a standing desk, or having periods of time where employees can walk around and take a break. A quick break actually will make them more productive.
Fluctuating symptoms. So there's flare ups, and then there's remission. So fluctuating symptoms can make it challenging to predict when an individual may need additional support or accommodations at work.
Then there's the emotional impact. So dealing with a chronic health condition can be emotional and have psychological effects because the stress and anxiety related to the illness may affect the individual's overall well being and work. And I just want to share an emotional experience because you know that the emotional impact is so far beyond having the physical, because having autoimmune disease really takes a toll on your mental capacity, your psychological capacity, the capacity to just really have a conversation at the level you need to have it at in the work environment with one of your coworkers, and then the next one is sensitivity to environmental factors. So some individuals with autoimmune disease, they may be sensitive to environmental factors such as temperature, lighting, and air quality. So there may be some accommodations put in place. For example, lighting, definitely having something way too bright is detrimental to someone who has an autoimmune disease, because it just, like, we shut down, we just shut down. It has to be a certain type of lighting in order to be able to function at our highest level and temperature. Some people are freezing all day long, and some people are hot all day long. I know for me, I'm freezing all day long, you know, and then someone else, like my husband next to me is hot all day long. He doesn't have an autoimmune disease. He's so hot, and I'm freezing at the same temperature. So just being aware for that is also really important.
And then, you know, when you actually take into effect all of these issues that could happen for someone with autoimmune disease, like fatigue, pain and joint and I issues, fluctuating symptoms, emotional impact, sensitivity to environmental factors, if you actually take an effect to all of these, you can actually promote a supportive work environment for the individuals that have the autoimmune diseases and make proper accommodations so they can be more productive and be your best employee in the workplace. So the key is the communication, understanding, and collaboration between employees and employer to have an effective solution.
[00:22:15] Speaker B: Well, I could go on for days talking about stuff that you just talked about there, but one key thing I love is that you're promoting a supportive work environment. So a lot of people talk about work life balance, and I do talk about that, but I use myself when we talk about that, I talk about a safe work environment. So basically what you're saying there is exactly what my thinking is on. That is supportive. So when you have a supportive work environment, for me, that's a safe work environment, which means that you're walking into an environment that is not harmful to you, whether you're dealing with autoimmune disease or you're not dealing with autoimmune disease, any facet of whatever you are dealing with, you're going in, and all you're able to do is be creative and be an impactful employee in the office. So I think that's super important. The other thing that you mentioned to me there is, from all the stuff that you had said, you said, mentioned communication, which I think is key as well. So I think that comes into when you're first off, when you're doing in your onboarding process, I feel getting to know the employee right from the get go, that one, that first day. So not only telling them the plans, welcoming them to the company, telling them what the plans are for their training, whether it's a week or two weeks, but also getting to know them and saying, you know, we're happy to have you aboard here. Is there anything that you can tell me about that we need to help you with, that we can accommodate you with that can help you to be a successful employee. And that's when you would tell, you know, if you decide you want to talk about that, we'll talk about that a little bit later. But, you know, this is time when you want to get to know that employee a little bit better so you have a better understanding. And I talk about the safe work environment. This allows you as the leader to create that safe work environment so that they are, they feel comfortable and they don't fear going in when they wake up in the morning going, oh, my God, I got to go into that place today. They are, like, excited to go into that place when they wake up in the morning, and they're like, oh, I got to get to. I get to do this today. And I'm working on this project with so and so. You want that create that excitement, not fear?
[00:24:47] Speaker A: Absolutely. And, you know, hey, listen, communication is key in life, you know, so with anything that, especially in the workplace. And I love what you said, andrea, about the onboarding and just having that open communication, because first off, you're going to make the employee feel comfortable and welcome and that they're in the right place and they made the right decision, and then also allowing them to feel safe to let you know, because some people may not be open to sharing, and then they'll just suffer. And we don't want that. We want people to feel comfortable in the safe work environment, share what's going on in confidence so they can be accommodated appropriately, and then you're gonna have the best employee employer relationship, and everybody's gonna win.
[00:25:31] Speaker B: It's all about that trust and respect factor, as far as I'm concerned. So when it's, when it goes both ways, when you got trust and respect both ways, you have a cohesive unit, and the productivity is just gonna skyrocket for sure. So I know we kind of talked about it a little bit, Robin, but I kind of want to delve into this a little bit better because I think it's super important. How do you explain autoimmune disease to others or people who don't understand it? I know you kind of gave a definition of what it means. But how do we simplify it? Or how do we explain it to somebody who doesn't understand or, you know, kind of say, thinks, oh, they're just not in because of this or whatever, so they kind of have a little bit of a deeper understanding of what the person sitting beside them goes through.
[00:26:17] Speaker A: Absolutely. And thank you for asking, because, you know, most people have no idea what it is or how to relate to it. So the way I explain an autoimmune disease to others is that it's the invisible disease because you can't see it. It's internal. It's how you feel. For everyone and every autoimmune disease, the symptoms are different. But for me, with Hashimoto's thyroid autoimmune disease, I used to be so exhausted and sleep half the day. My body and joints ached. Nails were brittle, hair fell out. Everything was an effort. Just getting out of bed, getting dressed, and brushing my teeth was an effort. Never mind trying to make it through the workday. Simple, everyday chores and tasks were hard. Everything is hard, and you don't get it until you get it. So really understanding that if the invisible disease, you can't physically see it. So you may think that, oh, they're just making excuses, or, oh, my gosh, how are they always so tired? And why don't they show up for work on time? There's reasons why people do things, especially with an autoimmune disease. I didn't choose to not be able to get out of bed and get to work on time or have to call or text my employer that I'm going to be late again. Right. And so that goes back to having the safe work environment and the open communication from the start. I'm going to be late because my body's not functioning well today, but it doesn't matter because I'm still going to get the work done and stay until the work is completed. I just need flexibility to flex my hours on the days when I wake up and my body just doesn't and can't physically get out of bed. Mm hmm.
[00:27:59] Speaker B: Mm hmm. And I think, love what you said there, Rama, because I think that, you know, especially, like, if we're talking about in the workplace, I don't think that people will.
I don't think you're gonna fully understand, and I don't think you're gonna understand any, fully understand any situation, regardless of what it is, of what somebody is going through, you're never gonna fully understand. But what I think is important is especially well, anywhere, but especially in a work setting, is that empathetic compassion and understanding. So all you want to do is have that understanding that, hey, you know, I don't really fully understand what you are going through, but I sympathize with you. And if I, if there's anything that I can do to, to help in any particular way, let me know. And that goes with, like I said, a co worker or, you know, if a coworker sees that you mentioned staying late, if a coworker sees you're staying late and let's say you stayed late for four days because you, in a row because you were, you know, you had trouble getting up and you, you know, was slow for you to get in, so you wanted to stay a little bit later. It's that care and compassion from your co workers to say, hey, you know, if there's anything that I can do to help you so that you don't have to stay later, let me know. Or I've heard in situations team members have said, oh, so and so is staying late. What do you have to do? They've huddled around their desk and they've said, oh, you got to stay late because you got to do this. They've all taken off their coats and said, I know we're going to, we're a team. We're going to stay and we're going to finish this and help you so that we all get to leave the same time. And it also goes to the leadership as well for full check in. So I feel like, yes, they're busy, they have a lot of stuff going on. But I do think a simple check in to see how things are doing, how things are going. And it's not even just, you know, we do, like, have our review processes. And I'm not saying you have to do it every day or every week, but there should be a simple check in just to see how people, things are going. And if there's something, if, and just telling them, hey, reassuring them, if there's something that I can do, let me know and I will find a way to fix that for you, either myself or with the team. So I think we just talked a little bit about before that communication comes into play there, and I think it's, you know, all of that goes hand in hand, for sure. I talk about cohesive units. This is another great example of creating a cohesive unit.
[00:30:45] Speaker A: Absolutely. And it goes right back to what you mentioned, andrew. Communication is key. Right. And having that open communication from the start and allowing other people to be empathetic, compassionate, understanding, and sympathize is all that we can ask for. Right? That's actually more than we can ask for, because you're right. They're never going to get with anything. You don't get it unless you get in anything in life. But to have those other qualities and traits and just to dive in if you're staying late and to help you is everything we could ask for, for sure.
[00:31:18] Speaker B: So again, I know we kind of went into a little bit, but again, I want to delve into this a little bit. So the biggest topic right now is work from home, either hybrid or remote work. So what I want to know from you or get your opinion on is what are reasonable accommodations on autoimmune disease?
[00:31:40] Speaker A: Absolutely. And so there's a lot of different accommodations you can do, but until you actually have that open communication and talk with the employee because it's different, you won't know because it's different for each person. But overall and overarching accommodations, I would recommend a flexible work schedule, like I mentioned before. So adjusting start and end times, offering telecommute hybrid, you know, work from home options, ergonomic workspace, so providing different furnitures that would be ergonomic for that particular person. I know for me, when in my position, I need to have my computer screen at a certain level so my neck doesn't hurt, because if that hurts and I'm slouching down, then my whole body becomes fatigued, and then I can't function at the level I want to need to function at. So, ergonomics make a big difference. Allow rest and breaks, so allow for short, quick, frequent breaks to alleviate the fatigue and pain. As I mentioned prior, you know, sitting for long periods of time is not ideal. So maybe if you're in a meeting that's going to long, just having breaks or allowing that one person, everybody's in communication before they're meeting that person. They get up, do a lap around the room, or leave the room for a minute and come back. It's not that they are being rude or interrupting. They just need to stretch their muscles and their body in their brain workspace modifications such as lighting, noise, temperature, assistive technology. So some people, it's better for them to have speech to text or text to speech software so they can be more productive.
Job restructuring. You know, I think it really depends on the job and non essential tasks, but it may help that person medical leave. So providing a flexible and understanding approach to medical leave when necessary. So, for example, it's not saying that you know, having endless medical leave. But I if one day the person wakes up that has an autoimmune disease, and they're having a flare up and their body shutting down, but there's, like, this major meeting that's happened, they were supposed to be part of having.
Just being able to be okay with. Maybe from that day they call in and they're doing the meeting from home, they're doing it and just being okay. Like, they're not missing anything. They're not not doing their job. They're absolutely 100% doing their job. They just physically can't get to the building today to do that job.
Accessible facilities. So ensuring the workspace is physically accessible if they need a ramp versus stairs, if there's an elevator or whatnot. Education and training. So just educating other employees about autoimmune disease and the specific needs so they're all on the same page, and they can have the empathy and the compassion and the communication around it.
Health and wellness programs, I see these popping up a lot lately, and I think they're super important, because when you have a health and wellness program, it could benefit the individual's health, and also offer accommodations for medical appointments and treatments, and really just give the employee another opportunity to really feel welcomed and in a safe place with this employer to be more productive at work. And the health and wellness program can also benefit people without autoimmune disease. Right. Because everybody needs to be healthy. Right. And then when you have healthy employees, then your productivity is higher. And so I've seen this quite often lately happening, and businesses are doing much better because they're providing this resource for their employees. So, again, the list that I have here for reasonable accommodations for autoimmune disease includes flexible work schedule, ergonomic workplace rest and breaks, workplace modifications, assistive technology, job restructuring, medical leave accessible facilities, education and training, health and wellness. And keep in mind, we don't have to do all of these, just some of them. Or when you talk to the employee on the onboarding, you know, take a survey of your employees and what would be the best for them. But implementing some of them will definitely make that employee with autumn disease feel better and more comfortable and also make you be a better employer as a whole for your entire employee pool.
[00:36:06] Speaker B: So the one thing that kind of jumped up at me is, you know, like you said, trying. You know, all these things are great. The one thing that kind of makes me think is that, you know, we need to figure out, like you said, everybody is different, so you need to figure out, what are these options or what? Which one of these options are going to benefit or help the employee the best so that they can be productive or the most productive throughout the day. I do like the text and speech software option because I truly think that's something that could benefit a lot of people, you know, especially if you can, you know, for example, have an email and you're, you know, you're reading it, you know, to have the tech software read out that email to you towards certain people could be a benefit to them because they could be, like you said, instead of sitting in front of computer, they could probably turn that on. And if they had to stand up for 2 seconds, especially if it's a lengthy email, they could actually stand up and walk around and have the volume up. And as they're walking around, they could actually be listening to it and maybe, you know, they'll be able to process it a little bit better rather than sitting there in, you know, possibly an excruciating pain or, you know, the lighting or, you know, it's burning, you know, that's causing them to have headaches and stuff like that. So, yeah, I could definitely see those two things kind of jumped up at me, out at me, for sure.
[00:37:40] Speaker A: Excellent. I'm so glad it resonated with you, Andrew, because like I said, you know, just choosing one or two of them is going to make a huge difference. You know, we don't have to implement all of them. And, yeah, offering the text to speech so they can walk around and just feel more comfortable and not be in pain. 100%. Only the biggest.
[00:37:58] Speaker B: Robin, if you could choose one word to describe yourself, what word would that be?
[00:38:03] Speaker A: That word would be love.
And I'd like to share something. Sure, Andrew. So I would love it that I always share. These are my words. So I say, I am love. I am loved. I am lovely. When you have an autoimmune disease, your mindset shifts and you have a different perspective on life, but you get to choose that shift in perspective. I choose to lean in deeply, in to love myself unconditionally so I could love others, release my past and rewrite my stories so I can help others do the same. Start living instead of existing so I could show other corporate moms with autoimmune diseases how to do the same. Love.
[00:38:45] Speaker B: I admire that. I think that is such a great word. I think it's super important. I think that it's something that I see mentioned way more than I'd seen maybe two, three years ago, and it's super important. And I feel like, we talked earlier about supporting one another, and I feel like when you feel like you're not alone and you're, you know, let's say you're in a hole or you're just spinning like a mouse on a wheel, you feel like you are by yourself. And when you feel like that, there's no way out. So when you have the support, it's the total opposite. You feel like you can conquer and crush anything that you want to do. So I am a true believer in that. I really feel that support is super important. I am a true believer in building rapport with people and being, you know, living in a genuine nature. And I feel that's those things are super important. And when you portray yourself that way and you show support for people, then other people gonna feel that, and then maybe they will turn their cells and they will turn to support someone else down the road. So it's kind of like a pass forward type thing. But I do feel that I admire what you said. I think that's super important.
[00:40:07] Speaker A: Thank you so much, Andrew. And I love what you just said, too. You know, pass forward, paying it forward. That's exactly right. You know, when. When you show up as your authentic self and you build that rapport with people and you are genuine in nature, it's like energy goes where energy flows, and so you will always be able to pass forward or pay.
[00:40:30] Speaker B: Any final thoughts today?
[00:40:33] Speaker A: Sure. You know, first, I want to thank you for having this interview with me. It really sheds light on what's happening with corporate moms or employees, people that have autoimmunities in the workplace. And so my final thoughts are, you're not alone. Have that open communication with your employer because you deserve it. Self care is not selfish. It's necessary. And if you think it's impossible, the mere word impossible says, I am possible or I'm possible. So go for it.
Cheer yourself on. You're your number one fan, and if I can do it, you can do it, too.
[00:41:18] Speaker B: I think that was super amazing what you said. I love those final thoughts. Robin, I wanted to thank you for coming on as well. So, from the first moment that you and I had a phone conversation, I don't know how well you remember it, but for me, what I took from that is, again, I talk about building rapport with people and working with people. So, a leader taught me years ago that if you build rapport with people and if you're genuine, they're going to be more willing to work with you. And then maybe down the road, buy from you. So that's how I. That stuck with me for years and years, and it will always stick with me. And our first conversation that we had, you didn't know me at all.
But the message that I got and the message that I felt during that conversation is exactly your words that you said just now, which is our you are not alone. And I felt with you that I was not going to be alone. And I felt, and I felt that since that first conversation, we've continued to talk, we've continued to collaborate, we've continued to have conversations with that. And that first conversation allowed me to see that this was how it's going to go between you and I, and it has continued. So I wanted to thank you for coming on to have this conversation. I certainly thought it was important.
I feel like it was important for people to have a little bit of a. If people can have a better understanding after listening to this, just a smidgen of an understanding, I feel it's super important, and I feel like it was beneficial, and I think it's a win for both of us.
[00:43:03] Speaker A: Absolutely. I do remember our first conversation, Andrew, I did not know you at all, but I appreciate you reaching out and wanting to connect in your genuine self. And that conversation, I remember getting off the phone, looking at my son as he was there doing his homework, and I said, he's such a nice guy. I just got off the phone with such a nice guy. And it's very unusual to have that feeling from somebody, from a stranger.
And so we're not alone. We're never alone. We're always together.
And having the understanding is key to being a better person. Right. And so I appreciate you, and I'm grateful for you for having these conversations and really shedding light on autoimmune disease in the workplace, because it's not talked about at all.
[00:43:57] Speaker B: No.
[00:43:58] Speaker A: And I want to say at all, or enough, but it's really not talked about at all. So thank you for what you do and enlightening all of us and allowing me to come on and share what autoimmune disease is and how to help people who have autoimmune disease in the workplace, because it's an important topic and we're all going to be better once we understand what it is and how to help. So thank you, Andrew.
[00:44:25] Speaker B: You were very welcome. On behalf of myself and my guests, Robin, I would like to thank you all for listening today. And until next time, be safe. And remember, everyone, that if we all work together, we can accomplish.
[00:44:45] Speaker A: You have been listening to let's be diverse with Andrew Stout. To stay up to date with future content, hit subscribe.
