Keynote Session: Poppy Jamie on How to Relieve Stress and Prioritize Mental Wellness
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SDSU marketing professor and session moderator, Nita Umashankar, led the discussion with Jamie, who also found herself struggling with perfectionism and life purpose before founding her company in 2015.
“If you’re in this room — just to be at this university — you have to be an overachiever,” said Jamie, who was named among Forbes’ 30 Under 30 for 2018. “But every single person is even more vulnerable to mental health problems because you are overachievers, and you are more vulnerable to perfectionism. Your foundation is more likely to break.”
Jamie then discussed her own struggles with mental health as a teenager. She said these struggles were a result of not setting boundaries for herself and “trying to do it all” until she reached the breaking point.
“I woke up one morning and I was unable to move,” she said. “I ended up going to the hospital and after all these tests, the doctor told me that I was ‘just burnt out.’ I thought ‘I can’t be suffering from exhaustion!’ But I was shocked at how long it took to recover, and I realized I had to change the way I was approaching life.”
Jamie said she realized that she had to put boundaries in place and reprioritize her thinking in order to “live a sustainable life.” She talks about her journey in both her book and her podcast Unwind with Poppy where she talks to experts about how to destress and relax.
During the question-and-answer session, Jamie responded to a question about her list of “nonnegotiable boundaries” by saying that getting enough sleep and taking time to get to know herself are the two most crucial elements in keeping balance in her life.
“Sleep is the superpower that we all have — it acts like a carwash for our brain. It washes out all the things we don’t need and keeps the things that are important,” she said. “The second non-negotiable is taking time to get to know myself. Sometimes we get so busy we really lose an understanding of who we are, and it becomes easy to adopt ‘group think.’ That’s because we want to belong so much that we make decisions to be a part of the group and we take on a shape that isn’t aligned with our true selves.”
As the discussion came to a close, Jamie encouraged the audience to have an open mind, to be creative, and to make networking contacts. “And be curious,” she said. “If you look for magic, you will find it.”
What They’re Saying:
“I felt inspired by Poppy’s keynote because of the emphasis she had on prioritizing yourself and your mental health. Being in university full-time, working, and trying to be involved in student organizations can be hard. I feel like a lot of what she was saying resonated with me because it was another reminder that it is okay to take time for yourself, that it is okay to say no, and it is okay to set personal boundaries.”
Maddie Barangan
SDSU Management Student
“I have seen Poppy Jamie on social media and listened to a few of her podcasts prior to the Women in Leadership Conference. It was a great experience to hear her journey in life and how she deals with anxiety and stabilizing her mental health. It was lovely seeing her interact with students after her session and having her sign my book was the highlight of it all!”
Jocelyn Macabasco
SDSU Marketing Student
