Podcast Episode 25 is out: Paul Smith from JAAQ at Work

Podcast

By Lukas on 8 Nov 2023

How is your mental health right now? According to MIND, 1 in 4 of us will experience a mental health challenge this year. For this episode, we meet Paul Smith, MD of JAAQ at Work. JAAQ is a free online platform that provides access to experts in mental health, wellbeing, disability, diversity and many more topics. Founded by Danny Gray, the platform also features the stories of high profile celebrities, sportspeople, and music stars – opening up about their struggles with mental health. Paul discusses:

How he feels his was a ‘lazy’ child and that it was quite a surprise that he ended up being a radical thinker
His passion for football and his burgeoning career as a professional for Reading FC and Ipswich
Rob’s first career as a professional actor and how that compares to pursuing professional sport
How identity is tied up with our careers and the problems with that
Paul’s career in recruitment and what led him to found his own company with two of his colleagues
The story of JAAQ. Changing the world of mental health one question at a time
JAAQ’s founder Danny Gray and his struggles with body dysmorphia
The offering of JAAQ at Work, improving mental health for workplaces
His struggles with transitioning from founder to employee
The user experience of JAAQ
The importance of getting the right expertise and the JAAQ advisory board
The opportunity for businesses that prioritise wellbeing
The scale of the challenges facing HR leaders
The importance of intersectionality and the importance that the platform can help people ask questions they wouldn’t ask in the workplace for fear of embarrassment
How he feels that no one business has really smashed it out the park on mental health yet
The JAAQ video that’s made the biggest impact on his life