Head Talks

Head Talks, occurring Monday, October 9th at 7pm,  is a one and a half hour Ted Talk-inspired event organized and created by Ross student Sarah Wood, bringing in influential leaders and joy soldiers that have done rewarding work in the field of mindfulness, mental health, and positive psychology. This conference will be held for the first time for free in Robertson Auditorium in the Stephen M. Ross School of Business.

The speakers will be Kara Baruzunni and Bryan Bennett from Center for Yoga Ann Arbor; Sam Orley, Ross Senior and the Executive Director of Wolverine Support Network; Mark St. George, a partner at PwC and on NAMI Board of Directors; Patrick Borchert and Lars Gruss, both exchange MBA students from Copenhagen Business School researching positive cultures and how they can be implemented in organisational contexts; and Amy Young, Ross professor and PhD of Psychology.

These accomplished people are our communities joy soldiers and are invited to Head Talks to discuss their story and research that has gone into their passion of bettering their life and the lives around them. Sarah Wood, the founder of Head Talks, explains what a joy soldier is and their positive impact in organizations. “A joy soldier is any of us and all of us- a boots on the ground member of an organization who is trying to bring joy and alleviate suffering in the people around us. This Head Talk brings together joy soldiers from all walks of life-people who have had momentous impact in their organizations with their compassion, research, or programs they have started.” The five speakers will share their personal story to bring awareness of mindfulness and mental health by engaging and starting conversation with an audience of students, professors, business leaders, and community members. The main goal is to start this conversation and create a shift in how we perceive and react to the struggles and suffering that we often have to face.

Anyone and everyone is openly welcomed and encouraged to join this conversation that is so rare to find, especially on a fast-paced campus like Michigan. There is a way to not only keep up, but be on top, in this atmosphere by taking the opportunity to learn from leaders that are pioneering a movement toward a more open perspective on mental health.