After suffering through his own mental health challenges, Mike Veny has made it his mission to upskill employees through delivering engaging learning experiences on soft skills, wellness, and DEI that can be implemented quickly and consistently. His presentations are highly sought-after due to his high energy, audience engagement, and the actionable takeaways that he provides. To learn more about Veny, read the Q&A below where he discusses all things career, mental health, and wellness.
Tell me a bit about your background. How did you become interested in wellness and motivational speaking?
I started my career as a drummer and became a drummer because of my own mental health challenges. I had been battling with depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder since I was a kid so I know what it’s like to really struggle with mental health, especially being a person of color. Drumming turned my mental health around, with my acceptance into a performing arts high school. And while it didn’t take away my mental health problems, it made them more manageable.
Fast forward to my drumming career when I started playing drums in New York City, which eventually evolved into drumming in the workplace. Someone pushed me into doing it and at the time I thought it was a little weird, but later on, I realized it was an aspect of wellness and team building. And it wasn’t until I developed a relationship with Corporate Wellness Magazine that I realized, I could do this.
How do you approach creating a positive and engaging atmosphere when you speak while also touching on these tougher subjects?
Language is so important. Some people may not understand the terminology, so I find using language that’s simple enough for a fifth-grader to understand simplifies things for people. I also come to it with humor, and love, and don’t feel the need to put in every detail about what happened in my journey. For example, if you’re at work, and you want to tell your supervisor you’re going through a difficult time, all you need to say is I’m struggling with a mental health concern and leave it at that.
Is there a memorable speaking event that you had that had a specific impact on you or the audience?
I know it sounds cheesy, but everyone is memorable, even if it’s just seven people in the room. I did get to speak in a women’s prison once and that was memorable. It was a totally different audience from me, and I wasn’t used to that, but I was grateful for the opportunity to get some real dialogue. Any opportunity I have to help someone else, even if it’s you and I just having a conversation in the park, is equivalent to a big presentation because it’s an opportunity to serve another human.
How do you tailor your different presentations to different audiences?
It’s a game of trying to learn your audience as best as you can. I had to do a women’s conference as the keynote once and I was very concerned because it was a women’s conference. I expected some pushback, so when I got up to speak, the first thing I did was address the elephant in the room. But I did say that there was common ground between us when it comes to mental health. At that moment, their eyes gravitated toward me, and I knew I had connected with them, and it was so amazing to see.
Are there any specific challenges or obstacles you encounter when delivering your message and talking about mental health? How do you overcome them?
Yes, absolutely. Sometimes there’s just resistance. For example, in a faith community, or in the Black church community, there’s a lot of resistance, but I think the way to go in is not to fight with anybody or push anything, I remind people that they have a choice, they can take what they need and leave the rest. We all learn in different ways and at different paces so I actually embrace the resistance when it comes up and think it’s a really good teachable opportunity for the audience.
What strategies or techniques do you use to inspire and motivate individuals to act and make positive changes in their lives?
Everything is in baby steps. Sometimes we think I need to have more boundaries, whether it’s a relationship or work, but we can’t decide to start tomorrow to have boundaries. I always remind people that it’s really important to start small. Take self-care for example. Someone who claims they have no time for self-care doesn’t do anything to take care of themselves, so maybe it’s learning to set your timer on your phone for two minutes and do nothing for two minutes is learning self-care for you. That might be really hard to do every day, when we start experiencing victories in life, we want more. If we start losing those first 10 pounds, it’s an encouragement to keep going.
How do you balance your own well-being while constantly engaging with and supporting others in their wellness journeys?
I got better boundaries than I had years ago, I’ll say that. I get up and I move slowly. I don’t need to get my coffee right away. I go find a place to meditate, sometimes in the park, and I do that so I can start my day at a slow pace. What’s really interesting about me is I am a productive person, but I start my day slowly so I can take care of myself.
