Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week from Bloomberg Radio. Hi, I'm
Speaker 1: Carol Masster. Welcome to the Bloomberg Business Week Extra. It's
Speaker 1: a weekly podcast bringing you a favorite interview that we
Speaker 1: had over the past week or so. And this week
Speaker 1: it's with November CEO Michelle Terry. November you know what
Speaker 1: it is. It's an annual event involving the growing of
Speaker 1: mustaches during the month of November. It's all about raising
Speaker 1: awareness of men's health issues such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer,
Speaker 1: and men's suicide. Whiles Michelle Terry told us their mission though,
Speaker 1: really is to make an impact more broadly on men's health.
Speaker 1: We caught up with Michelle. She was in Melbourne, Australia.
Speaker 1: We're here in Australia. Are lucky because we we're an
Speaker 1: island and we've got some pretty pipe boarded so we've
Speaker 1: managed to drive the CODA virus and quite low level
Speaker 1: to a We've just emerged from the Popes Strip lockdown
Speaker 1: here in the state of Victoria, so we're kind of
Speaker 1: emerging thinking into the world now, um and a very
Speaker 1: pleased to be out there and edged to socialize, you know,
Speaker 1: a very tig cautious way now. Yeah, very different from
Speaker 1: what we're seeing in certainly some of the other parts
Speaker 1: of the world and certainly in the Europe. In Europe,
Speaker 1: excuse me, in the US. So talk to us a
Speaker 1: little bit about your mission. I mean, I know people
Speaker 1: are we often talk about it at Bloomberg. We've often
Speaker 1: gone to traders who are on the floor and they're
Speaker 1: growing their mustache in honor of November. But talk to
Speaker 1: us a little bit about how you guys have really
Speaker 1: broadened out because when we think about health, we often
Speaker 1: think about physical health, but it means so much more
Speaker 1: than that. It also is about our mental well being
Speaker 1: and that's something that has really come to the forefront
Speaker 1: amid the pandemic. Yeah, it's absolutely Carol. Um. We're the
Speaker 1: leading global men's health charity and as you started at
Speaker 1: the top of the segment, we look at prostate cancer
Speaker 1: and testicular cancer, but also UM we're working very strongly
Speaker 1: in men's mental health UM and through the side prevention,
Speaker 1: and that's become even more prevalent and ever more important
Speaker 1: in the times that we're going through. UM At the moment,
Speaker 1: UM and men um really suffer from mental health and
Speaker 1: there they sitting for sorry, it's incords of the numbers
Speaker 1: of suicides and men. So this is a real significant
Speaker 1: problem we face of societies, and so we're about trying
Speaker 1: to make sure that that men are socially connected. Um,
Speaker 1: we work in the early prevention and intervention space. Insarticulous.
Speaker 1: We try and make sure that men and people surrounding
Speaker 1: men work on their mental health by reaching out and
Speaker 1: trying to spot the signs when men are doing it
Speaker 1: tough well, and you know, it's interesting. I was thinking
Speaker 1: about this and getting ready for our conversation. Especially with
Speaker 1: mental health, I think many would still argue that we
Speaker 1: are overall so behind us a society when it comes
Speaker 1: to dealing with mental health for men and women, but
Speaker 1: for men especially. Is it fair to say I'm curious
Speaker 1: in the research and the work that you guys are
Speaker 1: doing that I think men can often have a hard
Speaker 1: time to admit that they can't handle stress and they
Speaker 1: can't manage it, or that you know, they're they're depressed
Speaker 1: or stressed out. I don't know if that's fair to make,
Speaker 1: but I'm just curious the findings that you guys have
Speaker 1: come across. Yeah, that's absolutely right. There's a lot of
Speaker 1: men who are out there who labor under the stereotype
Speaker 1: that it's not manly to talk about their problems, UM,
Speaker 1: whether it's spits, cool or in the mental health. So
Speaker 1: we're trying to challenge that stereotype. It is to provide tools,
Speaker 1: UM and tips for people who are trying to help
Speaker 1: men in their lives. So, for example, we have recently
Speaker 1: released a conversational tool called Movember Conversations, which you can
Speaker 1: find on on Movember dot com. And what that is
Speaker 1: is it's really trying to help the help giver UM
Speaker 1: and it provides a number of scenarios UM that indicates
Speaker 1: difficult situations that men might be going through, for example,
Speaker 1: job in security or financial stress. And it provides almost
Speaker 1: like accuse your own adventure, theories of questions that that
Speaker 1: guide people as to how to open those conversations and
Speaker 1: really um take get to the nub of how to
Speaker 1: help men take actions at that time. So we know
Speaker 1: that opening up those conversations can be really really critical
Speaker 1: UM to unlocking conversations and saving lives. You know, you
Speaker 1: guys have I mean, it's really pretty impressive all of
Speaker 1: the work you've done. You've reached over a billion from
Speaker 1: men's health issues, and I do think about, um, you know,
Speaker 1: men's cancer specifically. You know what kind of progress we
Speaker 1: have made in dealing with that. Yeah, we have funded
Speaker 1: a global community of research which is not only by
Speaker 1: medical research, which is obviously looking into tests and treatments
Speaker 1: a little for clinical quality registers which are trying to
Speaker 1: link up the scientific and coming practition of community around
Speaker 1: the world, UM, to see what's best practice essentially, And
Speaker 1: you're right, you know, we're in a great situation now
Speaker 1: of ever improving survival rates from prostate and testicular cancer,
Speaker 1: which is wonderful. We also do a lot of work
Speaker 1: on survivorship and quality of life, so um digital health
Speaker 1: tools that help men engage who have stuftened prostate and
Speaker 1: testicu a cancer as to how they can improve this
Speaker 1: hysible and mental health as they passed through the cancer journey.
Speaker 1: You know, it's interesting too because I'm listening to what
Speaker 1: you're saying and I think about the one of the
Speaker 1: other things that has come out because of COVID nineteen.
Speaker 1: We've talked about it a lot on air, is just
Speaker 1: this whole idea that you know, it's a reminder that
Speaker 1: everybody has the same access to health care UM, whether
Speaker 1: it's a pandemic or just you know, normally, whether it's
Speaker 1: screening for various cancers. And I'm I'm assuming that that's
Speaker 1: a big part of also the work that you're doing
Speaker 1: that kind of getting to those inequities that are out there. Yeah. No, absolutely,
Speaker 1: And you know, we we support trying to address and
Speaker 1: equities and trying to put something to UM to life
Speaker 1: access to different health programs, whether that's physical health and
Speaker 1: mental health, and the particually done UM working in the
Speaker 1: mental health space to try and improve access and to
Speaker 1: work deeply with communities who have been UM impacted not
Speaker 1: only by COVID but by many events of and for example,
Speaker 1: recently held that a balk Mental Health Week. I was
Speaker 1: just thinking back to kind of our conversation and what
Speaker 1: you said to me about three quarters of suicides are men.
Speaker 1: Men are more likely to die by suicide than women. Uh,
Speaker 1: and it is the biggest killer of men under the
Speaker 1: age of forty four. I mean, those are striking, striking statistics,
Speaker 1: and I know you guys are doing a lot of
Speaker 1: work to kind of get that out there and show
Speaker 1: that there are are things that that you know, programs
Speaker 1: and initiatives to help people. I know you're also working
Speaker 1: from what I understand with Ken Burns on a project.
Speaker 1: Tell us a little bit about what you're doing. Yes, UM,
Speaker 1: so there is um ab efinition going around will Beings
Speaker 1: and essentially it's creating a documentary theories about men's mental
Speaker 1: health across the US. So we're a collaborator along with
Speaker 1: another number of problem collaborators on that theories and the
Speaker 1: intention clearly to UM shine a light on the issue
Speaker 1: and connected general population level, to UM show how mental
Speaker 1: health he has been played out boys and men right
Speaker 1: across the United States. Yeah, it really plays into you know,
Speaker 1: this whole idea of it just has to be a
Speaker 1: higher level or or talked about more. And I feel
Speaker 1: like that's the same thing. Are similar in terms of
Speaker 1: what we saw in Minneapolis with George Floyd and so
Speaker 1: many other black Americans. You know, we've got to have
Speaker 1: these conversations to hopefully get to a better situation. Same
Speaker 1: thing with with mental wellness mental illness when it comes
Speaker 1: to men. Yes, absolutely, We'll just be a similar program
Speaker 1: in New Zealand which was published called Man and Up
Speaker 1: and it was on the Prime Feeding station in New
Speaker 1: Zealand over the last two weeks and the response that
Speaker 1: we've had from that has been absolutely striking. We had
Speaker 1: that documentary theory and know its presenter on the front
Speaker 1: page again is of the broadsheets in New Zealand and
Speaker 1: it's really raised the quality of conversation there and that
Speaker 1: that's what we need to m destigmatize mental health and
Speaker 1: the fact that so many men struggle through mental health
Speaker 1: issues at some point of their lives. Um and you know,
Speaker 1: take it out months next the covers and help men
Speaker 1: get the help that they need. What about you know,
Speaker 1: I think about the role of of corporate America or
Speaker 1: global corporations in understanding that too. I mean, I think,
Speaker 1: you know, we have great companies to provide healthcare, but
Speaker 1: I think and I think there's been a lot of
Speaker 1: steps in progress in terms of also providing mental health care.
Speaker 1: But I do wonder about just like we need our
Speaker 1: leaders to talk about diversity and inclusion, they need to
Speaker 1: be talking about this as well, especially maybe you know,
Speaker 1: among the corporate communities. Yeah, look, I think that's a
Speaker 1: great point, Carolyn, and pleasingly, um, I certainly have seen
Speaker 1: a number of the c Sweek leaders that I'm connecting
Speaker 1: into at the moment, this has really raised up their agenda,
Speaker 1: and I think that's happened, um one, because I think
Speaker 1: you think people are studying much more broadly about how
Speaker 1: to engage with their communities in and indeed engage with
Speaker 1: their employees. But obviously with COVID as well. UM, the
Speaker 1: idea of social isolation and the mental health successes that
Speaker 1: have really come on to the radar of you know,
Speaker 1: the corporate world, and you know, we work a lot
Speaker 1: with corporates. Obviously there's some about our best fund raises
Speaker 1: is people gathered together and try and do something to
Speaker 1: to raise the spirits and their employees but also do good.
Speaker 1: But we also work with embedding seals and tools within
Speaker 1: corporate audiences around the globe as well. So I'm really
Speaker 1: pleased to see this coming up to the topic of
Speaker 1: corporate agenda. Could I agree, Um, it's a work. Mental
Speaker 1: health is a really really important UM subject and also
Speaker 1: really important and powerful channels. Yeah, no, totally totally agree. Hey, listen,
Speaker 1: I'd be remiss not to ask you, um and before
Speaker 1: we go, because you have a couple more minutes left,
Speaker 1: here is your November's first female CEO. And I wonder
Speaker 1: what that was like coming into it. Yeah. Look, and
Speaker 1: I could ask about this a lot and people say, oh,
Speaker 1: you know, um, is that advantage or a differ vantage?
Speaker 1: And I think it's a real advantage because, um, when
Speaker 1: we think about the mental health, some of the biggest
Speaker 1: tribbers for men to take action on their healths other
Speaker 1: women in their lives. As we talked, we talked about
Speaker 1: you know, men sometimes you know, tend to bury their
Speaker 1: head on the cubs because I don't think it's manly
Speaker 1: to to approach me the physical or mental health. Um.
Speaker 1: And women are great at inviting conversations and inviting men
Speaker 1: to to look at that and also support them in
Speaker 1: that journey. So you know, I've handed a real pleasure
Speaker 1: and obviously I find it a privilege, thrills and humbled
Speaker 1: to be leading such an important mission and global movement
Speaker 1: to have men live longer, happier and healthier life. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And listen, we talk about rate diversity of thought in
Speaker 1: terms of any organization. UM, so it's a good thing. Hey, listen,
Speaker 1: just a minute left here. And I do wonder as
Speaker 1: a leadership leader of an organization, you know, what have
Speaker 1: you had to do especially amid you know, I don't
Speaker 1: know if you've got workers who are working from home.
Speaker 1: What's been some of the struggles here And just got
Speaker 1: about a minute left. Yeah, we were very lucky because
Speaker 1: we were we were well technology and enabled, and we're
Speaker 1: a global organizations so we're used to working virtually. So
Speaker 1: that's good up fairly seamlessly. I think what we've been
Speaker 1: cognizant is about our own employees mental health and making
Speaker 1: sure that we're checking on each other and drive social connections.
Speaker 1: And then I think on the flip side, um, you know,
Speaker 1: we've been able to lean in it and pivots and
Speaker 1: get some of our mental health tools to market, which
Speaker 1: has made us really really proud, like November Conversations and
Speaker 1: another one called family Man that you can find on
Speaker 1: November home. And then lastly we're walking right in on November,
Speaker 1: the one to the hairy season. Um, so this is
Speaker 1: where we go in and we were fundraise and so
Speaker 1: we've been creating all of our products and making sure
Speaker 1: that they can be done virtually, whether that's growing a
Speaker 1: mode that's posting a moment virtually, um, whether that's also
Speaker 1: moving from Novembers. So we encourage people to get out
Speaker 1: there and run, walk, cycle or else do an epic
Speaker 1: challenge which we're calling um know your Own Way when
Speaker 1: we're people doing crazy things like skydiving in a Mancini.
Speaker 1: To raise funds and to find out more and registers
Speaker 1: you can you can go to Movember dot com and
Speaker 1: that was November CYO. Michelle Terry joining us from Melbourne, Australia.
Speaker 1: You've been listening to Bloomberg Business Week Extra for sure
Speaker 1: to check out Bloomberg Business Week Radio, airing live Monday
Speaker 1: through Friday at two pm Wall Street Time on Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 1: I'm Carol Masser and this is Bloomberg