Experts in Conversation: Reading and its Positive Impact on Mental Health with Padmasree Warrior, Founder and CEO of Fable
Padmasree Warrior, Founder and CEO of Fable, a reading platform designed with mental wellness in mind, speaks to Colleen Saringer, PhD of HLWF™ Alliance.
In this five-question interview, not only do we learn the “why” behind Fable, we uncover how Fable as an employer has built mental health and well-being into their organizational culture.
The Birth of Fable
Q1. Was there a specific incident or point in time in your career as an executive that made you realize there was a need for reading to support mental health and well-being?
After we took my previous company NIO public in the NYSE, I got interested in the growing mental wellness crisis. Mental wellness was on a global decline even before the pandemic. Studies show that in the decade leading up to the pandemic, instances of anxiety and depression increased by as much as 20% percent. The pandemic made a bad situation even worse and triggered a 25% increase in rates of anxiety and depression worldwide. These figures represent a large-scale human tragedy which many now refer to as the “second pandemic.”
There are economic consequences to these trends. The World Economic Forum projected a $16.3 trillion loss in economic output between 2011 and 2030 due to mental disorders — and that was before the pandemic.
Many people may not be aware of the incredible mental health benefits of reading.
- Reduces stress, anxiety, and depression.
- Nurtures concentration and patience.
- Boosts memory and reduces the risk of dementia.
- Increases self-esteem.
- Extends your life by as much as two years.
All these benefits can be realized by reading for just 15 minutes a day!
These statistics influenced my decision to start Fable, a reading platform designed with mental wellness in mind.
Q2. On Fable’s website, you state that books were your refuge from boredom and stress. How have you taken what you “experienced or received” mentally from reading and built it into Fable?
The magic of words moves me. Stories take me elsewhere, with captivating plots, intriguing characters, and imaginative locales. Reading has always been the best form of stress relief for me. I never feel lonely or depressed when I am reading. Ever sit next to someone on a plane, who laughs uncontrollably while reading? I am that person.
I have always been an avid reader. As a kid growing up in India, I scoured public libraries in search of Maurice Sendak, Lewis Carroll, Agatha Christie, C.S. Lewis, and Tolkien. I am not alone in my love for reading. Luminaries like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet attribute at least part of their success to setting aside time to read and think. Hollywood celebrities like Reese Witherspoon, Emma Watson, and Oprah Winfrey are all ardent readers.
At Fable we built a social platform for people who love stories to read together. We help you discover great books with personalized recommendations, give you automated tools to organize all your reading into lists, and find people who share your interests so that you can read together with friends. We help you make reading a daily healthy habit in service of your mental wellness.
Q3. The pandemic put an overdue spotlight on mental health in the workplace. For the employee who is time staved, how could a community like Fable support their mental health and wellbeing?
Today’s exponential pace of disruption puts organizations in a period of unprecedented change (Accenture). Rapid advancements in technologies such as AI/ML are transforming industries in new ways; they are also enabling new business models and reshaping the traditional ways we work and live. The pace and depth of disruption is unparalleled: From 2017 to 2022, levels of disruption increased by 200%, compared with only 4% from 2011 to 2016. At the same time, 77% of workers reported experiencing work-related stress in the last month (Forbes). This has resulted in shifts in how leaders rank their biggest people-related challenges.
In this period of accelerated disruption, organizations must focus on:
1. Building a culture of Belonging
Creating high-performance teams with a culture of belonging and deeper connections is critical for business success. Companies that focus on culture are 5x more likely to achieve breakthrough performance. (BCG)
2. Developing Talent
When companies invest in talent, they boost the bottom line, attract and retain great people, and become better at managing change. Leaders get results when employees align with the organization’s plans and strategies. Focusing on leaders to drive this behavioral change is a highly effective approach. (McKinsey, Dr. John Kotter, Leading Change)
3. Improving Employee Mental Wellness
Studies show a 25% increase in anxiety and depression post-pandemic, globally and across all ages. An estimated 12 billion working days are lost every year to depression and anxiety at a cost of US$1 trillion in lost productivity (WHO). An added benefit of building a culture of belonging and developing talent is the positive impact those investments make on the mental health of employees.
Fable is a community-powered platform for discovering, reading, and discussing books that creates deeper employee connections, drives professional upskilling, and improves employee mental wellness. With one easy-to-use platform, Fable helps organizations meet all three of these critical business priorities, with better ROI.
Mental health and well-being at the forefront of Fable’s workplace culture
Q4. Can you share how Fable, as an organization, allows employees to put their mental health first and/or supports their mental health and well-being?
At Fable, we are a distributed team. We allow people to work from anywhere and give them flexibility on when they work. We focus on their contributions rather than rigidly enforce when and where they work. We have a transparent culture and share company strategy, key metrics, priorities, and goals every two weeks at a company meeting. This allows every member of our team to feel invested as an owner of the company. We take an hour every week where we do a fun ritual as a team. We encourage people to take micro-breaks during the day for their mental wellness. All of these, in addition to reading daily, support our culture of mental well-being at Fable.
Q5. For new business owners/Founders interested in building a business with multiple employees/team members, is there one key piece of advice you’d provide to them on how to build a workplace culture that supports mental health and well-being?
My one piece of advice — build a culture of belonging with real human connections and develop your talent. Fable can help you. Email us: contact@fable.co
A Final Word, (and Invitation!), from Padmasree Warrior:
I invite you to get started on Fable by joining my book club, Read With Padma by visiting https://links.fable.co/padma or scanning the QR code below.
Colleen Saringer, PhD (Follow me here and on LinkedIn)
HLWF ™ Alliance
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