Summary
Burnout can manifest in many ways, starting subtly and suddenly leading to memory loss and other issues. Our guest on this episode is passionate about burnout and the downstream impact that it has on chronic diseases. Sumana Jeddy is a content creator, influencer, and the founder and CEO of Jeddy Wellness.
In this episode, you’ll hear about Sumana’s background in infectious disease epidemiology and surveillance. Sumana’s interest in public health began when she was studying microbiology, and she owes a credit to a professor who showed her the various directions that a healthcare career can go in.
Sumana advises listeners at the start of their careers to develop their purpose by having conversations with professors and taking courses. She shares a bit about her own episode of burnout, and unpacks how simple symptoms develop into major ones, before telling us how she strategically rebranded herself to begin her entrepreneurship journey, fighting and preventing burnout.
Sumana believes that individual health promotes community health and urges listeners to develop a personal wellness strategy in order to teach the community around them. Her final words of advice are to listen to your body, and develop self-awareness as soon as you can.
Meet Sumana
Sumana Fathima Jeddy is a content creator, influencer and the founder and CEO of Jeddy Wellness (brand name Wellness Shots) . Sumana has completed a Bachelor of Science Degree in Microbiology followed by a Master of Public Health degree, both from the University of British Columbia.
She spent 10 years of her career in infectious disease surveillance in public health (many of those years were spent in a laboratory extracting DNA/RNA from viruses) as a scientist and later in management (Manager, Infectious Disease Epidemiology)
Sumana has published 20+ peer-reviewed research articles on various infectious diseases and has presented disease research at international conferences. Her brand Wellness Shots, provides targeted outcome-based wellness strategies for healthcare businesses and individuals. She does this by identifying unique organizational barriers and provides solutions that are not only grounded in science, data, and empathy but also modern and playful.
She left her public health career in May 2020 to fully commit to her business and help anyone silent suffering in their burnout. Sumana believes that healthy people will create healthy communities. She empowers and educates individuals, organizations and communities about workplace wellness, workplace toxicity, and burnout.
She also offers educational workshops on burnout for businesses and individuals. She is mentoring MPH students and graduates on how to navigate leadership challenges to be better healthcare leaders.
Sumana has an effervescent personality and values compassion, community, empathy and kindness. She loves the outdoors, and physical wellness is a priority. She is an extrovert with many friends around the globe but she also appreciates silence and reflective hours. Her motto is to live in the present and joyfully say no to anything that does not bring you any joy.
Listen to This Podcast Episode
Key Takeaways
An introduction to our guest, Sumana Jeddy, and her rich background in public health.
How Wellness Shots provides outcome-based strategies for healthcare entities by identifying organizational barriers and providing modern solutions grounded in science.
Her background in infectious disease epidemiology and infectious disease surveillance.
When she first became interested in public health through studying microbiology.
The credit she owes to her professor who showed her the various facets of healthcare.
Advice to listeners at the start of their careers: develop your purpose by having conversations with professors and taking courses.
How her interest in the impact of chronic diseases on our communities developed.
The irreversible nature of many chronic illnesses such as Crohn’s Disease.
How a high workload, no manager support, harassment and discrimination collided together to cause Sumana’s burnout.
The simple burnout symptoms that can develop into serious and major ones.
How mental and physical exhaustion turns into cynical thoughts and depersonalization.
The start of her entrepreneurship journey following the period of burnout.
How she created a persona to promote her business which fights and prevents burnout.
A bit about Wellness Shots and the healthcare organizations that are her ideal clients.
Her focus on giving individuals research-based strategies for their wellness.
How individual health promotes healthy communities and creating a wellness strategy for yourself is something you can teach and pass on.
Advice to all listeners: listen to your body and develop your self-awareness early.
Sumana's Career Advice to Public Health Students and Graduates
Unresolved stress and anxiety that becomes chronic fuels burnout. If unchecked, burnout can cause long term diseases. You have one body, be kind to it. Prevention in better than cure when it comes to burnout.
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