Mental Health Awareness with Lea Stewart & Melissa Jacobson
We WANT TO NormalizE talkING openly & honestly about mental health, BECAUSE WE ALL CAN BENEFIT FROM GETTING COMFORTABLE WITH THESE CONVERSATIONS. Let us channel this post-pandemic era, starting with awareness today.
Over the course of an hour, on Tuesday evening, May 25th, at 7pm Central, our very own Lea Stewart, and her colleague Melissa Jacobson, went live to chat about mental health as creatives and women. They spoke to their own journeys, giving advice they have learned along the way. They proposed that good mental health is connected to doing good work. Male-dominated workplace stressors, interview pressure, and imposture syndrome are among the impacts on mental health affecting Women in ID. They discuss tools and resources that have helped them.
“Today is about bringing awareness to mental health. I do want to acknowledge that our lived experiences are not everyone’s lived experiences. I realize that we are two white women, we’re of a similar age, we are not representaive of all of the thinking in the world about mental health. So, it’s really about bringing awareness—The more we can all show our vulnerability and have the courage to show it really helps with mental health, and just general health overall.” Lea & Melissa
Vulnerability and empathy are beautiful; they make us better designers. Watch their open and transparent talk here.
These couple of quotes are only a small dose of many of what came out of our dinner-time chat. Feel free to connect with our speakers on Instagram and LinkedIn; they are happy to chat about mental health and anything else design.
“We only scratched the surface of this topic with the intent of bringing awareness and encouraging others to continue the conversation. Thank you @wiid_chi for the platform and bringing in mental health to the ID conversation!”
*Lea Stewart @leadesigns
“When its hard allow yourself that grace to not judge yourself. It is a thought, and we can change our thoughts by changing our behaviors.”
*Melissa Jacobson @melissaj49008
Melissa Jacobson, CPE, is Manager of Usability and Experience Design at Newell Brands in Kalamazoo, Michigan
Photo provided by Melissa Jacobson, CPE, Manager of Usability and Experience Design at Newell Brands.
Melissa is a User Experience Research Manager at Newell Brands, overseeing research for Home Fragrance, Baby, Writing, and Outdoor brands. Within the company, she has many leadership roles from advising career development, mentoring associate researchers, collaborating with the user-experience leadership team for the brand internally, and more. Prior to Newell, she owned 56seven8 design, an ergonomics and user research consultancy based in Seattle, Washington, for almost fourteen plus years from 2002-2016. Before opening her own studio, from 1997-2000, Melissa was an Ergonomics Lab Researcher for Microsoft Hardware. As an empath, introvert, and life-long learner, her interests and studies include the physical, mental and emotional health and well-being of herself and others.
Melissa is a Certified Professional Ergonomist. She received a Bachelors of Science in Engineering, BSE, in Ergonomics, and Industrial & Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1995; and a Masters in Ergonomics in Environmental Health Sciences from the University of California, Berkley in 1997.
Lea Stewart is Senior Manager, Industrial Design, of the Baby Divison at Newell Brands in Kalamazoo, Michigan
Photo provided by Lea Stewart, WIID Board Member and Senior Manager of ID in the Baby Division at Newell Brands.
From her 20 years of experience, Lea can tell you that the common theme to winning design is to be empathic, focus on the consumer and apply a world-class aesthetic. Beyond her core role in industrial design, she’s been a design educator, a blogger, a public speaker, a mom, and even a model maker. She is currently a Senior Manager at Newell Brands, Baby Division, leading up a team of industrial designers to create car seats, strollers, bottles, and other products to bring sanity, safety, and joy to families.
Here at WIID, Lea is our Lead Blog Curator and a fierce advocate for Women In Design. Over the past year, Lea has been involved in many events and talks within the design community. Here are a few from the past year:
Women In Design Generations panel with Lucia N. DeRespinis & Amelia Kennedy for IDSA Northern Lakes; Lens by Advanced Design moderated by Hector Silva, speaking to the “The Secrets to ID Career Happiness”; Featured on Russell Cluff’s podcast, The Variable talking about “Creating World Class Designs”; Led an Offsite by Advanced Design Session in Design Thinking Methodologies; A speaker at the 2nd annual Blurred Lined event by the trio of IDSA chapters in Ohio: Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati.
Lea received her Bachelors of Science in Industrial Design from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 2002. During her undergraduate studies, she pursued programs overseas at the Konstfack in Stockholm, Södermanland, The Glasgow School of Art in Glasgow, Scotland, and Altos de CHAVÓN La Escuela de Diseño in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
“I lead a talented, global team of designers and engineers supporting Newell Brands Baby Division. I am responsible for Graco, Baby Jogger, Century, and Nuk brands. I create value for the company and for our consumers through design solutions.”
Thank you for joining us for our first Instagram Live and a huge round of applause to our two speakers Lea Stewart & Melissa Jacobson. We hope you enjoyed this event as much as we did because this is just the start of what is to come. As we begin Mental Health Awareness Month 2021, help us normalize talking about mental health within the design industry and our own lives.
We’d love to hear from you! If you have any thoughts to share, mental health initiatives, or ideas you would like us to cover or collaborate, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Email us at hello@womenidchi.com, or fill out our contact form here.