I got a chance to sit down with Mark Mohammadpour, a PR executive turned health and wellness coach and trainer. I knew that this stark career change had to have been due to some extreme shift in perspective, and I was curious to learn how Mark’s life experience could help you and me.
As I always say, “you’ve got to put your oxygen mask on first before you take care of others.” This interview surely confirmed that but in more ways than I expected.
No Boundaries and No Balance
Mark began our time together by telling me about who he used to be. Mark was in his 7th year working in public relations, with frequent promotions and what looked like success. But behind the curtain, with no work-life balance and no set boundaries between the two, Mark was losing control of his health.
He recalled that, although he was working for “one of the largest PR agencies in the world” and “working on big tech accounts,” he wasn’t taking care of himself the way he needed to be. From sleep apnea to significant weight gain to constant worry about his future, Mark realized he was miserable. Then the realization came.
“What really started the process was when I got engaged to my now wife Christine, and she said yes and I realized, okay, now I’m not only living for myself. I’m living for her and living for her family, my family, my colleagues, [and] everybody around me,” Mark recalled.
A New Way of Living
“And so over the course of nine months, I lost 110 pounds.” […] No shakes, no pills, no diets, no staples,” Mark said, but rather a change in mindset and bad habits is what made the difference. Mark had stumbled upon a method that worked.
Instead of a recipe for weight loss, health, and wellness, Mark found that “it’s making little decisions and then seeing the results” that kept him going. No specific workout regime or weight loss fad– instead, he found that that challenging himself to focus on “quantifiable, measurable objectives” every single day, even if the changes seemed too small to matter, was the key.
Mark recalled, “I became a certified personal trainer through the American Council on Exercise. I became a certified health coach through the same organization, and by 2018, I was still trying to think about what [to] do with this. And then it […] hit me. Our own profession in public relations is one of the most stressful jobs out there ranked alongside surgeons, air traffic controllers, airline pilots, military police officers.”
That’s when Mark realized that coaching and training those in his former line of work, public relations, might just be the way he could pass on the valuable knowledge and life experience he’d had. In other words, it was time to apply a PR concept– “specific, measurable, and attainable”– and apply it to work-life balance and overall wellness. His goal, “to help [his] own people,” became his purpose.
Practical Application: How to Merge PR and Wellness Objectives
I was curious about where Mark went from there. How could he break into such a regimented and seemingly unchanging field and expect PR people to place a priority on their health and wellness? Since launching “Chasing the Sun” in 2019, Mark has been busy offering group coaching and wellness workshops that help professionals meet their overall health objectives… and it’s making a difference.
Mark asked, “When we talk about sedentary lifestyles, how many “walk and talk” meetings can you host a week? When you’re having brainstorms with your team, do you all have to be sitting around in a conference room? For those of you out there, your next meeting, your next engagement, does it have to be what’s typical in order to meet your goal?”
I have to admit. Some of Mark’s questions made me think. Why haven’t I considered doing things differently? Why does a three-hour meeting have to be conducted around a boardroom table? It seems that the status quo is only the status quo because we’re so busy pursuing our career goals that we sacrifice our mental and physical wellness. Is it even possible to have a successful career and be mentally at peace and physically fit?
Mark made me realize that it surely is possible. He said, “Brandon, you as a leader in your company are setting a standard that the people around you, not only your peers or your managers, but the next generation of leaders, will look up to.” In other words, Mark made me realize that my focus on my own health and wellness would trickle down to those I lead, even though I may not recognize it.
Mark also gave me an example of one of the methods he uses with his clients: a calendar audit. “So we examine the last seven days and we look at the meetings, the times, and we [ask], ‘was this something of value? Was this something I needed to do? Was this done in a way that incorporated health and wellness? If not, could it have been?’” I loved this genuine, practical look at the individual. I agreed that there was no better way to recognize our bad habits or the time we’re wasting than to get a 7-day dose of reality.
The Truth About Unplugging
A little further into our interview brought us to another chronic issue in the PR world. Mark told me of a survey he conducted where he found that, shockingly, only “one in five people said that they are taking all of their PTO and sick time.” And even when people do take some time off, they don’t seem to ever truly disconnect. This got me thinking. Does this “always plugged in” lifestyle hinder us from experiencing the mental and emotional recharge time that all of us so desperately need?
According to Mark, each of us needs to take time off in order to thrive, but we must also have a sustainable plan for “how to deal with devices and the challenges that go along with them.” Instead of giving in to the impulse to pick up the phone at every ding, Mark suggests planning out how, when, and with what frequency you’ll interact with your devices, social media, and the work emails that seem to keep coming at all hours of the night.
Starting off on the Right Foot
As our interview came to a close, I asked Mark if he could give us some insight into how we can be proactive in prioritizing our own health and wellness when it comes to work. He suggested that potential employees should be proactive by opening up a dialogue about the work environment during the interview process. Before we take on a new role, we should find out what the day-to-day operations look like and what the expectations are. We can even ask potential employers to give us some examples of how the business manages work/life balance and advocates for overall employee health.
To Learn More About Mark Mohammadpour
Mark continues to pursue this new role as a coach and mentor. In fact, in January 2020, he plans to continue his group coaching sessions and workshops, speaking wherever he can to tell his story to others and empower them to take control of their health. Want to hear more about what he’s got coming up in the new year? Check out his podcast, “Chasing the Sun,” and subscribe. Check out episode 60, where he interviews me.
