59: On Aon’s Better Being Series - Part 4: Managing Loss and Grief with Rachel Fellowes and Julia Samuel

Grief is rarely discussed at work, yet it affects all of us at some point. In the fourth episode of our Better Being Series, host and Aon’s Chief Wellbeing Officer, Rachel Fellowes, is joined by psychotherapist, author and podcaster Julia Samuel for a discussion about the impact of grief in the workplace. Together, they discuss ways managers can support their grieving team members, the power of leaning into collective grief and resources to help anyone experiencing or supporting others through the grieving process. 

• [2:08] Julia’s personal experience with grief and how it shaped her professional life
• [5:02] Defining grief and loss in both life and death
• [7:07] The individual and universal aspects of the grieving process
• [12:13] The role of work and structure in managing grief
• [21:36] The value of compiling resources to help with the grieving process
• [22:43] Collective grief as it affects the individual and a group
• [28:25] Additional resources to help support anyone through times of grief

Additional Resources:

Aon’s website

Aon’s Human Sustainability Index (HSI)

Rachel Fellowes LinkedIn

Julia Samuel’s Additional Resources:

• Julia Samuel’s website
• About Julia Samuel 
• Instagram
• Grief Works: Self Care & Love app
• Therapy Works podcast

Julia Samuel’s Books:

• This Too Shall Pass: Stories of Change, Crisis and Hopeful Beginnings
• Every Family Has a Story: How We Inherit Love and Loss
• Grief Works: Stories of Life, Death and Surviving

Tweetables:

• “In our family, we talked about everything that didn’t matter and, it turns out, nothing that did matter. And that shaped me profoundly.” — Julia Samuel
• “We need to understand what grief is so that we’re able to manage ourselves when it does happen to us.” — Julia Samuel
• “Work and structure is actually a really useful and important part of how we manage grief.” — Julia Samuel
• “In collective grief, it is very important to allow our differences.” — Julia Samuel
• “When someone dies, the thing that matters to us and supports us the most is the love of others.” — Julia Samuel
• “Grief often feels like fear and a sense of overwhelm… and the thing that most helps with that is exercise.” — Julia Samuel