Chloe Hooper.
AdNews presents, with the industry’s social enterprise MOOD tea, a mood uplifting series, celebrating those who have been behind bringing MOOD to life. MOOD is a purpose-driven tea brand created by the Australian media, marketing and creative industry to help fight youth suicide.
There are some seriously talented humans who the team at MOOD couldn’t do without.
Chloe Hooper, Founder, BareFeat
- What is your favourite moment you’ve shared over a cuppa?
Sitting with my beautiful nan whilst she asks me a million questions about my life. - Why is supporting mental health so important to you?
I became passionate about mental health when I returned to the UK to support my mum through her mental illness in 2018. Mum is still a tremendous driving force; however, over the years, I have had conversations regarding mental health with thousands of people, and you realise how many people are impacted.
The world has a long way to go when prioritising our mental health. We need to move towards a lifestyle where we are comfortable enough to prioritise our mental health as much as our physical health. - What’s your top tip for lifting your mood?
I don’t think there is a top tip; you need a personal resilience toolkit to activate different elements depending on what you need. I have many healthy tools in my toolkit, spending time with my sister, growth mindset, reflecting, reframing and trying new things. Every person is different and needs to know what coping mechanisms work for them best.
I must admit if I’ve had a shit day I will turn to the colonel– there is nothing a bucket of fried chicken won’t fix for me. - What is your connection to MOOD, how have you contributed?
I have been running Mental Health First Aid for almost two years, fundraising for Mood. We have trained more than 440 people together. I have met some incredible people along the way and loved the experience.
We have a big mental health event planned for February next year, fundraising for MOOD.
We have also recently launched Tea Breaks, which set out to proactively drive conversations around mental health within the workplace and equip teams with the skills they need to look after their mental health and well-being. - How can we as an industry do more to support MOOD?
The answer to this is two-fold.
1) Do what we do best and help to market the tea offerings to the nation.
2) Integrate the tea into our businesses, encouraging people to take a break with MOOD Tea.
- Why is it important as a business to stock products like MOOD that give back?
Selfishly, it just makes you and your team feel good Life is so busy that we often don’t get the time to volunteer and support great causes as often as we would like. This is a really simple, low-cost option to help others within the comfort of your home/office. Having MOOD tea around is a daily reminder to all of us to look after our mental health and well-being. - What does your company do to foster a Mentally Healthy Workplace?
For my clients…
There are two sides to my business:
1. Business consultancy: Helps organisations to build their marketing, business development and employee experience strategies.
2. Training organisations in mental health and well-being.
Both are seen as entirely different offerings, but I love how they impact one another deeply.
If I am working on a business consultancy project, the mental health and well-being of the people involved are at the front and centre of my mind; that is why we can get results. For example, when building a business development strategy, I will always ask myself - how can you take a mentally healthy approach to sustainable growth?
Or when I have been invited to speak to a team about mental health and well-being directly, I will always think of their current business challenges and how they can make work a place where they thrive because I am focussing on the bigger picture.
For BareFeat….
When setting up Bare Feat, I made sure I was clear on what success looked like. I made the decision that I wasn’t trying to build a business that would grow; I wanted to create a business that would provide me freedom and allow me to learn. I love being part of business conferences or team away days, as these are the moments when significant change is born. It makes me so happy to be part of people’s best days at work, and I want to continue to do that - so my model needed to focus on that. My mental health was at the heart of my business model – I started with the question of ‘what would make me happiest?’ and let that lead to every decision. - What is your favourite MOOD brew?
Happy Days
This Jolly Good series is in celebration of the English Breakfast tea launch, Jolly Good, by name. It’s full-bodied and full of amino-acids, to help you start the day sharp, perky and ready to worky. If you’d like to become a MOOD office, reach out to us at hello@mood.org.au.