Battling the drinking culture of high-pressure industries

Nick still remembers the video a teacher played at school. While triumphant Olympians grinned from the podium, the silver medal winners sobbed alongside. For Nick, the message was clear: coming second meant failure.

At first, the rewards for Nick’s professional dedication were thrilling. But as he worked his way up the career ladder, loneliness descended. That loneliness soon fell into alcoholism. It wasn’t until he found the courage to open up to his new wife that things began to change.

You’ll hear about the normalised drinking culture in high-pressure industries, why Nick’s drive to succeed took a toll on his mental health, and how he’s now using his experience to help leaders open up.

Nick Jonsson is the Co-founder of Executives’ Global Network, a peer-to-peer community helping leaders open up about their own wellbeing. With experience across the advertising, fashion, and healthcare industries, he understands the complex wellbeing challenges people face in high-pressure roles.

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