As part of Radio Ink’s Mental Health Awareness Month series, we continue our conversation with Beasley Media Group HR and Culture Consultant Deb Barrett, who also serves as President of DH Barrett Solutions.
With a background in executive coaching across industries from consumer goods to defense, Barrett brings a wide-angle view of leadership development, workplace dynamics, and emotional well-being. In this second installment, she shares insight on supporting talent in public-facing roles, bridging the Gen Z divide, and the mental health practices that matter most in radio today.
Radio Ink: For on-air talent, the line between public and private life can be especially thin. In a profession where your identity is your brand, what are some practical ways for talent to manage vulnerability and maintain mental well-being while living such a public-facing life?
Deb Barrett: I think a lot of us identify with work, but it’s even harder when you’re showing this public persona. Some folks I’ve met really are that on-air personality. But I’ve also met people where it’s a very different persona.
Giving them the chance to be vulnerable and process things is key. One thing I’ve learned is a lot of these big on-air talent folks have big personalities. They’re extroverts, and they process by thinking out loud. So if they catch themselves doing that on air, a lot of times they come off and think, “Oh… how do I put a couple things together?” because they just said it out loud.
So I think having a place to help them process is critical. I’ve been an executive coach since 2011, and sometimes I’m more of a sounding board for people. I help them on the path of self-discovery to figure out how they’re going to do self-care, how they’re going to evaluate what they do, and what boundaries they set up.
Giving people space and time to process and be reflective is really important. In today’s world, there’s so much tension – especially in the US right now, politically. We’re avoiding talking about things. We’ve become so politically correct that we’re not talking about certain things, and as a result, we’re going underground with those emotions.
Radio Ink: Many sales managers cite challenges over the generational gap with Gen Z and integrating them into their teams. How can leaders effectively connect with and support this generation as they enter the industry, while also learning from what they bring to the table?
Deb Barrett: I do a lot of recruiting, and I’m trying to find young, early-20s talent. The life perspective is so different for these 20-year-olds than it was for 20-year-olds a decade or two ago, with Millennials.
But we said the same thing 15 years ago when it was Gen X and Millennials. And then 15 years before that with Gen X and Baby Boomers. There’s always been a bit of strife, right? So, how do we think about it?
I think, first of all, we’ve got to figure out how much of this is just people being young, and how much of it is shaped by what formed that generation. And right now, I think it’s more of the latter with Gen Z. They grew up, many during their most formative years, through COVID, and that had a huge impact.
They’ve interacted with social media and technology very differently from other generations. They’re social media natives. They know the digital world. They’ve spent their whole lives in it. And so I think there’s a lot we can do to learn from them. I think they could help us crack the code on digital a lot easier than the forty- or fifty-somethings trying to figure it out. There’s something to be said not just for mentoring the next generation coming up, but for reverse mentoring.
Whenever I’m mentoring someone in their twenties, I ask them how I can help, and I try to share tips and ideas to improve their career. But I always make time to ask, “What can I learn from you?” You know, “What can you teach me? What shortcut have you figured out? How can we do something better based on your vantage point?”
That way, they truly feel like a contributing member of the team—even if they’ve only been there six months. We’re going to listen to their opinion, and we’re going to tap into some of those really good ideas.
I think a lot of this comes down to respect. When I see the generational divide getting bigger and bigger, it’s usually because there’s a lack of respect, and people stop listening to each other. That can be painful, and it can also turn people off from working altogether.
And with today’s gig economy, someone can say, “I’m not going to work at that radio station anymore. I’m going to go drive for Uber,” or, “I’m going to make my own beaded jewelry.” There are so many other opportunities now. People can say, “I don’t have to do it the traditional route. I can make a living my own way. I don’t have to do it how my parents did.”
So I think we have to consider that not only as employers, but also in how we think about our audience. I’ve heard that not as many Gen Zers are listening to the radio. Maybe we weren’t ready for that in the same way we were with Millennials or even Gen X. But there’s still a market out there that we can capture through digital or other platforms to make sure we’re addressing them as consumers, in addition to as employees.
Radio Ink: [In part one,] You mentioned some great mental health maintenance practices. What are two daily practices you find especially valuable – one that you personally use to manage your mental health, and one you think is essential for anyone in radio, regardless of their role?
Deb Barrett: I think of myself as a very glass-half-full kind of person, very positive. And one of the things I do is make sure I’ve got time every day to reflect. Now, if you look at my calendar, you might ask, “Where do you have time to do that?” I actually put it in my calendar at least once a week. I block out an hour, and it’s just called think. And it’s a chance for me to take a step back and really say, “What am I trying to accomplish? What are my goals? How far did I get this week? What did I do right? What did I do wrong? What do I need to define for next week?”
It’s just this after-action review that I put in place a long time ago – a discipline that forces me to examine and be more intentional about actions. A lot of people talk about slowing down to speed up, right? And for some people, that might mean positive self-talk. For others, it could be prayer or meditation. Whatever it is, think about intentionally living your best life so you’re really helping yourself get where you need to be.
To illustrate that: one of my favorite things I read early in my career was The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey and his adage about sharpening the saw.
There’s a story about a couple of workmen who cut trees down all day. One of them goes away for an hour every day at lunchtime and still cuts more than the other. His counterpart says, “How is this happening? I work an extra hour every day, and you still cut more than I do.” And the first guy says, “I take that hour to go sharpen my saw.”
So I think for all of us, taking a step back to sharpen our saw – to get a different perspective – is critical. Instead of just going at it, hitting our heads against the wall, we need to pause.
And I think the most important daily practice I’d recommend is: listen to those around you. We’ve got big personalities – running markets, on-air talent, and such – but if we can really stop and listen, we’ll often find the best ideas come from people closest to the work.
Sometimes people assume the older, wiser folks have all the answers. I’ve gotten some great ideas from the younger generation. I think all of us need to take a step back and listen. When we do, we take the pressure off ourselves to always have the answers. That kind of pressure can be very stressful.
But if we know everyone on the team can contribute to the solutions, if we listen to them, encourage that, and create the right environment, I think that improves our mental outlook, too.
This is the second part of our Mental Health Awareness Month conversation with Deb Barrett. Find the first here. We appreciate the assistance of Heidi Raphael in organizing this interview.
Find more from the series in our two-part interview with workplace mental health expert Cal Beyer. The first part is available here, with the second here.
Find Mental Health Awareness Month coverage in the May issue of Radio Ink Magazine – out now.
