Candy Ikwuwunna
We spoke to Candy Ikwuwunna at Mind about self-compassion and setting boundaries. As always, please note that although Candy’s experience at Mind informs this interview, these views are her own, not the views of her employer.
Candy Ikwuwunna is a passionate mental health advocate with a background in publishing and currently Digital Marketing Officer at Mind. When studying Law at university, a representative from the publishing industry came to explain the different departments, and from that moment the industry was in Candy’s sights.
'After university, I got a six-month Creative Access internship in the operations team at Little Brown which allowed me to get a 360° view of publishing and then a full-time role as an assistant publishing administrator.'
Candy’s manager sponsored her interest in marketing and communications, encouraging her to support the Little Brown imprint Atom’s marketing team where possible. This helped Candy to get a full-time marketing executive role at Transworld Publishers where she stayed for two years before leaving to take her current role at Mind, where she has now worked for three years. As a Digital Marketing Officer at Mind, Candy runs a variety of digital campaigns – from brand campaigns to boost public mental health awareness, fundraising events, promoting surveys where the results are used to campaign for mental health reform, and promoting Mind’s subscription box ‘Pause’.
'You are obligated to do a job like any other. A job which you are allowed to step away from at the end of the day.'
As someone familiar with the unique pressures of publishing and whose current role promotes better mental health, how should we be protecting ourselves?
There's a huge amount of passion and excitement in the industry. People really care about the books they’re bringing into the world and the authors whose careers they’re launching. It’s amazing, and invigorating, but it can also be tough. Bookshelves, retailer spots and bestseller lists are competitive spaces, and teams all over the industry strive to do their very best to reach them. I know that at times that can feel very intense, especially in busy periods. I think many have the inclination to ask themselves (or get the email that asks!) what more can you do, what stone haven't you upturned? It’s important to remember that you may not be able to sustain this 100% of the time, especially in a situation like a global pandemic when so much has changed and so much is unstable.
Publishing is unusual in that people usually enter it because of a love of literature. And that kind of love is the type that forms a huge part of one’s identity, often from a young age. It’s amazing for that love to have endured and morphed into a career. But sometimes it might be helpful to take a step back from that passion and remember that you are obligated to do a job like any other. A job which you are allowed to step away from at the end of the day.
'We all have limited reserves and working many hours on one project might mean you won't necessarily have capacity to work on the next.'
With this in mind, one thing people can do to look after themselves is setting firm personal boundaries. It’s important to know when you have done enough – both in the working day and on individual projects – and that you don’t have a bottomless well of energy, time or capacity (especially in a global pandemic!). You may be able to identify this line in the sand for yourself, or you could try talking to your manager about codifying it. We all have limited reserves and working many hours on one project might mean you won't necessarily have capacity to work on the next. To be able to do this, it’s good to try setting realistic expectations for yourself about what you’re able to achieve within your working day or week. I would also recommend having an end of day ritual, which can be as simple as closing your laptop or walking around your block.
'If you wake up on a Saturday knowing that you have to send an email or edit a manuscript, that is not the same as waking up psychologically free of work.'
On the subject of limited reserves, I find it very tempting to work late or log in at the weekend, and I justify it as making life easier for my future self. What kind of toll does that take on our mental health?
The thing with a cost-benefit analysis is that you have to think about the cost to your present self as well as the benefit to your future self. If you feel that you have to log on to do a few emails, it is important to be cognizant of what that is costing you if you do it over a long period of time. If you wake up on a Saturday knowing that you have to send an email or read/edit a manuscript, that is not the same as waking up psychologically free of work. Plus, you may be robbing yourself of other experiences – reading for pleasure, rest, spending time with your loved ones, even if it’s over a grainy zoom call. It’s hard advice to take because at the end of the day, your workload is your workload and a deadline is a deadline. There will be periods of time that demand a lot of you. But it’s important to remember that your mind and body need time to recuperate and recharge, regularly, every day, in order to work efficiently. Being ‘always on’ won’t benefit the quality of your work and the quality of your life long term. Where you can, strive for balance.
'Being kind to yourself and learning self-compassion can help bolster you and help you maintain high standards.'
How can people recognise when they may need professional help, and where should they turn?
Signs and symptoms vary depending on what the problem is and the individual in question. But generally, things to look out for are a persistent low mood, stress and anxiety that is present even outside of situations that may spike these feelings, a change in your sleep pattern (sleeping too little or too much), feeling restless or irritable, feeling excessive guilt, feeling empty, finding no pleasure in the things that you usually enjoy, a dip in your confidence or self-esteem, feeling hopeless or feeling suicidal.
If you are noticing a pattern like this, please do reach out for help from a professional. The first port of call will generally be your GP, who can offer you support and treatments, refer you to a mental health specialist and/or recommend local support options. Charity helplines can also give you a trained listening ear and put you in touch with local support. In a work capacity, some employers subscribe to the Employee Assistance Programme and your HR department can let you know how to get in touch with them.
Even if you are not feeling like this, it’s good to keep an eye on maladaptive thought patterns; constantly berating, comparing or putting pressure on yourself. If left unchecked these can hamper your mental health in the long term. If you make a mistake at work and call yourself an idiot, and really berate yourself, that can be damaging to your self-esteem. If you can, try practising positive self-talk. It can sound a bit trite but all it really means is talking to yourself as if you are a person of intrinsic value. Even aiming for neutral self-talk may be helpful. Anything that avoids lashing yourself and berating yourself constantly because that really does lower your self esteem and your sense of worth. It also blocks out actually learning from your mistakes because you're so caught up in the emotional barbed wire. Being kind to yourself and learning self-compassion can help bolster you and help you maintain high standards from a place of learning and growth rather than panic and fear.
'One of the clearest signs that someone needs help is a change in behaviour.'
Lots of people will recognise those times where we are our own harshest critics. How can managers empower teams to look after their mental health?
Building a general mental health check-in into your weekly or monthly catch-ups can help you to keep track of how everyone is doing, particularly in this virtual world. One of the clearest signs that someone needs help is a change in behaviour and that can be hard to recognise when we are all in a time of great change; the safest thing is to assume everyone’s mental health has worsened in some way. Look out for uncharacteristic behaviour: missing deadlines, being disengaged or going very quiet. If you routinely create a space where people can be honest about how they are feeling it will make it easier for people to ask for help. At Mind, we are encouraged to complete a Wellness Action Plan, which allows employees to reflect on how we act when we are struggling and what we need from managers to maintain a healthy workplace. Employees can share as much or as little as they are comfortable with.
It’s important to state that if someone is struggling with their mental health, their manager will likely not be equipped to give them the support they need and may need to refer them elsewhere. But support can come in allowing flexibility for mental health appointments and other reasonable adjustments that the employee may need.
'The more you can lead by example by looking after your own mental health and establishing your own boundaries, the more you will empower your team to do so.'
I would also recommend taking some form of Mental Health First Aid training, so that you are able to spot issues and to talk about them in a helpful way. Not all organisations will have a budget for this, and there are free resources that are excellent at explaining the different and common mental health issues that arise in employees.
The more you can lead by example by looking after your own mental health and establishing your own boundaries, the more you will empower your team to do so. I don’t want to put too much pressure on managers who have a lot to do and think about, and can’t always control what is expected of them. If you are going through a period of working surplus hours, it may be helpful to delineate between expectations of yourself and expectations of your team. The assumption will be that people should mirror your behaviour so it is better to over-communicate your expectations, especially to more junior team members who are forming their opinions about work.
What’s been getting you through lockdown?
Mainly romance fiction – I have tried to read some non-fiction which I would normally enjoy but at the moment I only want to read about romantic tension! I’ve been listening to old episodes of the Thirst Aid Kit podcast which is so funny all about crushes and desire, and scrolling the hilarious loveofhuns instagram account.
I’ve had some unexpected successes with my writing too, which has been wonderful. One of these has been having a short story of mine published in a Dear Damsels collection called What She’s Having.
Finally, could you tell us about another woman in the publishing or wider arts industry who inspires you?
Eishar Brar is Editorial Director at Knights Of Publishing. Every time I go to her for advice she is kind and compassionate but also pragmatic and astute. She’s got such great vision for her books and authors, has great taste in literally everything and is generous with her time even though she works incredibly hard and is very busy. She’s also incredibly well-read and so knowledgeable about the industry. She’s the best.
We found our conversation with Candy so enlightening, particularly on the temptation to romanticise the industry – the cost of loving our jobs can be our ability to take a proper break, often to the detriment of our wellbeing and therefore the work itself. There are a (large!) number of resources to explore on the topic of mental health. We hope this list helps you navigate them according to your needs and are sending you all love and support, whatever you are dealing with this week.
