154. Coming out and the new normal with Matthew Clements

Adversity to Advantage

“When I came out…..I had completely unconditional support and love and I realised that’s sadly not the case for everyone”

I feel very privileged to interview Matthew Clements. Matthew is the Senior diversity and inclusion advisor at Herbert Smith Freehills and i have had the pleasure of working with him through the partnership between Medigold and PVL where i have been supporting the Mental Health strategy and training of HSF.

We discuss Mental health and his Matthew goes deep on his own experience of mental health and coming out to his family and friends.

We cover other topics such as:

• Challenges of mental health in the workplace
  
• HSF Thrive Strategy
  
• The evolution of how businesses understand mental health
  
• Promoting an inclusive culture
  
• Mental health champions
  
• Adapting to needs during the pandemic
  
• The build up to coming out to family and friends
  
• No longer being able to hide / the loss of control
  
• The benefits of coming out
  
• Looking back on yourself with kindness
  
• The ripple effects of shared stories & experiences
  
• Creating impact through authenticity
  
• Diversity & Inclusion in the workplace
  
• The mental health silver lining in the pandemic
  
• The need for organisations to step up mental health strategy
  
• Agile & remote working
  
• Non-negotiables around self-care
  

Connect with Matthew on Linkedin and hear more about our mental health work at Petra Velzeboer Ltd.