Professionals in the business events industry can vouch that it is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. But growth comes with a cost. A career as an event coordinator has been cited in the top five most stressful careers since 2016 and one in three event professionals will experience poor mental health in the form of stress, anxiety, depression and burnout.
Almost 50% of event professionals will have changed careers or job scopes due to stress and poor mental health – many more than once. They say that the younger generation is our future but it’s hard to digest that in the world of events, younger professionals are more likely to experience stress than their older peers. This is not just a human resource concern but one that may severely impact the future success of this industry.
It’s more important than ever to address the mental health issues faced by event professionals. In this episode, Kimberley Tan speaks to Vera Pillai, a clinical psychologist at Thrive Well, and Mona Manap about their personal battles and how each manages stress, anxiety and burnout especially during one of the most stressful moments – COVID-19.
Statistic taken from https://eventwell.org
Mona Abdul Manap
CEO, Place Borneo
Mona is a marketeer by training and a birdwatcher by passion. Her experience ranges from door-to-door sales, high-school English teacher, marketing strategist in a bank, tour operator, and even a muffin-and-cookie maker in a cafe! Mona believes in and has passion for guerrilla marketing and inbound marketing. She claims she gets marketing ideas in the shower. When pried off work, she loves birdwatching, camping, reading, playing the guitar, listening to the Beatles, and anything to do with the VW Beetle.
[Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing & Management – Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia] [Masters in Business Admin (MBA): Entrepreneurship – Excel College, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia] [Professional Conference Management Course – SACEOS | Digital Event Strategist (DES) – PCMA]
Vera Pillai (M.Clin.Psy.)
Clinical Psychologist (CP1-0315)
Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Columbia Asia Hospital-Miri
Vera is a Chinese-Indian born and raised in Sarawak. She has experience in spearheading support groups for fellow mental health practitioners as well as working adults during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. She also spearheaded the community outreach leadership-project for at-risk youths residing at the PPR community (low-income community). She has experience in working with clients of various population such as children, university students, domestic violence survivors, abuse survivors, and refugees (Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, & India). She provides psychotherapy on anxiety disorders, depression, complex grief, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and neurocognitive developmental disorders (ADHD, autism, learning difficulties).
She is passionate about advocating mental health to the general public and have provided numerous talks and trainings on various topics regarding mental health. She believes that everyone has their own story of struggles and deserves to heal from their pain