Hannah Cowan
I’m Hannah -a strength enthusiast, mentally and physically!
I spent over 20 years working in a Corporate environment within Financial IT and over 15 of those years in leadership and management positions. I witnessed first hand the impact of ever declining mental health across the workforce and whilst help was provided to those who were suffering, there was little thought given to how to prevent issues for others apart from mindfulness activity. After suffering a period of depression and anxiety due to work related burn out, I turned to self-compassion and learning to be kind to myself was life changing. I wanted to do more to help myself to live a more fulfilling life and to help others in the process so with a mission of ‘helping to improve workplace wellbeing from an organisational and cultural point of view’ in mind, I left the Corporate world, immersed myself in Positive Psychology and with the partnership of a like minded friend and ex-colleague, Strengths @ Work was born.
Catherine Shipley
My name is Catherine, and, at 50 years of age, I have spent a considerable amount of time in the world of work.
I have observed, and been frustrated by, the effect the company (or even team) culture has on people – their morale, their motivation and, most importantly, their mental health. Seeing people negatively affected led to my seeking out qualification as a Mental Health First Aider, which, in turn, led to my growing awareness that the general direction of travel in workplace mental health was towards encouraging individuals to “fix” themselves when they started to notice signs of mental ill health, rather than working to create a culture and environment where people thrive.
Our mission with Strengths @ Work is to make thriving workplaces the norm, using our own character strengths to help others to find and unleash theirs
