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The power of mindfulness & community

feat. Marie Szuts, VP of People at Figma

In this episode...

Marie Szuts wasn’t trained in HR or people, but gradually moved into the field. After a 3 day and night solo camping trip in Death Valley, her perspective on mental health and mindfulness shifted. Find out how this trip helped her move towards some important conclusions about the value of community, and the nature of inner strength.

Marie also discusses why we should learn to sit with discomfort, and how building resilience can help us to be much happier overall. She explains why doing nothing is sometimes more fruitful than taking action—and why when it comes to worrying, it’s better to be a colander than a sponge. 

In the second part of the interview, Marie talks about Figma’s revamped, personalised mental health benefits, and how having employees see a company leader not from HR share their own mental health journey made a huge difference.

About the guest

Marie is VP of People at Figma. Born and raised in southern California, she attended Yale University and went on to become a writer & editor. Along the way she became interested in the values of organisations. Since 2014, she’s been helping companies develop innovative people processes from the ground up.

About Oliva

Oliva is the UK & Europe's #1 rated employee mental wellbeing benefit.

We help companies respond to the pivotal moments that impact mental wellbeing at work and beyond—driving employee retention and exceptional effort.

We do this by:

  • Empowering individuals to take control of their mental wellbeing
  • Developing manager emotional intelligence
  • Helping HR teams create org-wide psychological safety