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April 22, 2025 • 46 mins
In this episode of Printing's Alive, Jessica DeCola from GPA shares her journey and challenges in the printing industry, emphasizing the growing leadership roles for women. She discusses her role at GPA, focusing on sustainability initiatives and the complexities of the industry. The conversation delves into the human and cultural aspects of sustainability and the mental health mission of the LinkedIn group "Sheet for Brains." Personal stories highlight the importance of therapy, with tools like Talk It Out and meditation apps discussed. The episode also explores the connection between mental and physical health, work-life balance, and company policies supporting mental health, concluding with future aspirations for the "Sheet for Brains" community.
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Episode Transcript

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(00:09):
Hey, welcome back to the Printing's Alivepodcast, where we talk everything print and
that's everything, anything print anywhere inthe world.
And we are here just to promote print and theprinting world, because without print, there is
no world.
Today, got a great guest.
Today, we have Jessica DeCola joining us fromGPA Papers in, where are you out of?

(00:31):
Our headquarters are in Chicago.
That's where I'm stationed.
All right, out of Chicago, actually Chicago,great printing city.
It is.
Midwest is a massive hub for digital print.
I think probably one of the more saturatedregions of the country.
I think that well, that's why they used to haveall the graph expos there.
Right?
That's right.

(00:51):
Every spring.
Cool.
So quickly, how long have you been in theprinting world?
Goodness.
Well, I've been with GPA for seven years.
And prior to that worked in thermal films andprint.
So probably ten, fifteen years.
Oh, nice.
Nice.
You don't look old enough to be in it thatlong, but hey.

(01:13):
I appreciate that.
You learn how to say all the right things
and be in this So
you've worked in two different companies.
Let me just ask you outright.
As a woman in a man's industry, in an old man'sindustry, how's it been for you?
Be honest.
Be honest.

(01:33):
You want me to be honest?
Okay.
Always.
Always.
Yeah.
You know what?
I think it's interesting.
I'll say that and that's being you know how youwant me to be honest.
I think it's been interesting but I think it'sexciting.
I think it's challenging and for me I know Ilove a good challenge But I also think that
you're seeing this new wave of younger folks,of more women in leadership positions.

(01:59):
And so to be part of that transformation isreally exciting.
You see a lot more women.
I'm gonna totally plug Devin Springston fromBranded by Woods, president, CEO, woman owned,
women led company.
Rosemarie over at Blooming Color.
You have all of these women that are kind ofbreaking through this glass ceiling of the
print industry.
And so while it has historically been this maledominated industry, and it still is to a

(02:24):
certain extent, I think you're starting to seeit evolve.
And that for me to be a part of it is very,very exciting.
So
Oh, cool.
Cool.
That's nice nice to hear.
Right?
Yeah, we gotta get more young people in.
So if there's young people listening, get intoour industry.
It's really good.
It's like a giant video game, right?

(02:44):
What are you doing at GPA?
Director of Marketing, specificallyCommunications.
So anything social, event related.
We just launched a brand new initiative in thelast couple of years.
We're part of the Fedrigoni Group, which isbased out of Italy.

(03:06):
Know, that really focuses on sustainability andgetting that messaging out to our industry.
Because as you know, you talk to hundreds andhundreds of people in our industry.
And I feel like there are three silos of folkswho when it comes to sustainability and how
they think.
And there are the people who are, you know,super invested in it and recognize the
importance of it and are taking strides toengage in initiatives and implement policies

(03:30):
and procedures in their organizations.
Then you have people who say just give me acouple buzzwords and you know here we're doing
one or two things just to make sure that we cansay that we're doing something and then people
who quite frankly don't give a crap.
And they just are kind of like, you know what?
I've done this for fifty years.
I've done this for sixty years and it served mewell.
And I don't need to get on board.
And so I think for us and part of my passionproject over the last couple of years in my

(03:55):
position is simply bringing awareness to whatsustainability is and what it means for our
industry because it's not just recyclabilityand the environmental part of it.
There's a massive social part of it that I Ibelieve so strongly in and I think people need
to be more aware of.
Yeah.

(04:15):
I'm just sitting here and my head is kind ofspinning because the whole sustainability, it
is it does have so many different, you know,sections to it or factors to it and and the
doers and the not doers.
And I I only wish that more people were on thesame page.
The people that want it are willing to pay alittle more for it because too many people that

(04:38):
want it still give work to the guy who hasn'tdone all the sustainability initiatives in his
company.
Yep.
So we need it to start I listen.
Where I live, and I've said it before, I don'trecycle my garbage.
Why?
Yeah.
Not because I'm lazy, maybe a little, but moreso because I know that the garbage company is
not recycling it.
Right.
So I'm not gonna take my time, energy andseparate and all of that stuff.

(05:00):
If I knew everyone was doing it, it's not aboutthe fine they're gonna give me for not doing
it, it's about wanting to participate in what'sreally happening.
You know, and then there's the wholegreenwashing.
So for me as a printer, to be honest, when Ihad my company, excuse me, everything that we
would try to buy was as clean as possible.
The paper, you know, most of the paper today ora good part of it is FSC or PFC or SFI or one

(05:25):
of those acronyms that we don't all remember.
But that was good enough for me to tell ourmessage that way, to be honest with people.
I didn't really I used to spend the money onthe certifications.
Yep.
But after a while, nobody even wanted the logoson their product because they took up space and
they were ugly.
Yeah.
I mean, to be real.
Right?
Sure.

(05:45):
Sure.
Yeah.
But I think and I think you you literally justwalked into my entire, you know shtick here is
it's not just about the environmental part ofit.
That is that is one pillar of of whatsustainability means.
Because at the end of the day sustainabilityalso includes your people and your culture and
sustaining you know, a workforce that wants tobe present and making sure you're taking care

(06:11):
of them.
It's about people and planet.
So I think at the very core of any goodorganization are is the culture and the people.
And if you're not taking care of your peoplethen who cares about your product because
you're not gonna have people to run yourbusiness.
Oh.
And so I think there's it's there's there'sdifferent sides of it.
So you know, to your point though, everyonethinks about the FSC and the ESG and the, you

(06:35):
know, the SGP, all of the acronyms.
There are thousands that that go along with theenvironmental part of it.
But I think for me, the part that I'm superpassionate about is the people part of it.
Yeah.
Well, you mentioned the people and the culture.
So I guess for me, I don't put them togetherbecause when I had my company and we started it
and I was doing what I was doing, it was peopleand culture first.

(07:00):
So by the time sustainability became asomething, I had a great team of people.
It was like, I'm more concerned with peoplefirst and then sustainability.
And if you have good people, you just wanteveryone cleaning up and picking up after
themselves.
I'm not gonna worry about who believes whatthey believe because I already got enough
things on my desk to worry about.

(07:21):
Sure.
As long as everybody respects the system andthe process that's put in place.
Yep.
And I don't see them throwing garbage out thewindow of their car when they drive away, then
I'm I'm good because it's a fine line to push.
And how many things can you ask of peoplewithin your company?
So my first thing is always, you know, you tryto get the right people in best possible.

(07:41):
Absolutely.
You always treat everybody right.
People work together more than they spend timewith their families.
And it's not really a big effort for everyoneto be kind to everyone.
No.
It's not.
But it does exist.
Right?
Those things do like unfair policies or youknow not everyone has an amazing culture.
I mean I'm thankful to work in an organizationwhere I love coming to work.

(08:05):
I enjoy, I wake up, I enjoy my team, I enjoywhat I work for, I love what I do And I don't
think everyone can say that.
And so when laser in on what from a globalstandpoint what ESG means I'm throwing another
acronym out there but it is that holistic viewof what makes people in planet successful.

(08:28):
And that's at the core of it for me is the isthe people.
But you're right.
Not everyone runs a business like you, Warren.
Well, I was not even like me.
I just I well, obviously, I didn't I didsomething wrong because I'm not in it anymore.
But along the way, I, you know, everything thatI did, I tried to learn from others that had
done things better than me.
And I mean, I learned early on in life,everything is about the people.

(08:52):
Not only that, we're on this planet for a shorttime.
Let's make the best time.
I really try to minimize the aggravation in mylife.
I don't need more than I already have, and eventhat I don't need.
Yeah.
Right?
And I
try to do that, and I I try to keep that inmind with other people, not to create more
drama.

(09:13):
Right?
It's like that's what TV's for, drama.
That's exactly right.
Right?
But yeah, but sustainability is important andwe have to own it because the end customers are
pushing it also.
Yeah.
I mean, brands and that chain of custody andwho your supply chain partners are matters to

(09:33):
those brands.
If Well, I need the brand.
I need
the less printers are working for, right, arethese brands.
Right.
But if the brands are listening, you need toown it and pay a little more because it costs
money to do that.
Correct.
Period.
Yes.
You know?
And and the funny thing is everyone complainsabout certain pricing, but I don't drink
coffee.
Right?
So I'm pretty, one of the odd few.

(09:53):
But I don't understand how people spend $6 on acoffee to get their name on a cup every
morning.
I'm a tea drinker, so I'm I'm with you, Warren.
I drink I drink
I'm I'm a tea drinker too in my YETI cup, whichis stays with me all day.
I just keep refilling it.
But, yeah, but people, people, people, and andevery industry, it's about the people, so you
wanna do it right.
So that's cool.

(10:14):
So one thing I wanted to bring up, becauseeverything else we talk about, everyone else
talks about.
But you and a couple other folks started aLinkedIn group.
And the LinkedIn group is, it basically shitsfor brains, right?
If I
give you the English version.
Something like that.
Sheet, you know, paper, sheet for brains.

(10:37):
Yes.
So myself, John Bailey from Precision Proko,Dave Rosendahl from Mindfire, and Chris Min
from Infigo.
When we got together last year at Dscoop, JohnBailey got up on stage and he of, he gave this
beautiful, very vulnerable, heartfelt speechabout giving his board chair position, handed

(11:03):
it over to David Bennett over at BennettGraphics.
And it was just, it was a very authenticmoment.
And one that after the fact, we kind of came,Dave, Chris and I came back to our booth spaces
where we were exhibiting and said that wasreally powerful.
There was something there that resonated interms of vulnerability and mental health and

(11:24):
wellness and just being transparent.
And we get back to the people part of things,right?
I mean, like the people at the core of it.
And we kind of took a step back and over thenext two days individually, we'd all had
conversations with John at some point in somesocial event somewhere.
And after the fact, we had this oh, it was analmost two hour call.

(11:45):
And we said, there's something here that we canbuild around mental health and wellness as a
pillar of sustainability from the socialperspective of it.
And so we created this grassroots group calledSheet for Brains and we're super proud of it.
We've had three sessions where we've brought indifferent types of professionals to talk about

(12:08):
resilience in the workplace.
We've talked about our last session was withMan Up, Man Down.
They're a UK podcast group that focuses onmen's health.
And we talked about suicide awareness.
All very, very sensitive topics but ones thatare really important to talk about.
They're real.
They're real.
It's real.

(12:28):
And it's things that people want to talk aboutor are afraid to talk about.
And so we created a private LinkedIn grouppage, obviously Sheet for Brains.
And we've got quite a few people there.
And we kind of post different articles andthings for people to think about.
But also it's a place where people can come andjust say and express whatever they're thinking,

(12:52):
whether I'm stressed out because work is hardright now or I'm a working mom of three and
shit is hard right now.
And I just need a place to like talk about whatit's like to be a woman in the print industry
and a mom of three kids and the stress thatthat is.
And it has become a really, really great place.

(13:15):
I mean, we partnered with Dscoop in Long Beachthis spring and we're gonna have a trade show
booth there just simply to bring more awarenessto it.
We have another session lined up for April thatwe'll share in kind of a release next month.
But it's become it has become somethingincredibly powerful.

(13:36):
You know we have folks from all over theindustry from every walks of life.
You know private messaging us asking us to be apart of the group.
The women in print alliance, Elizabeth LionsBlack, she did a feature on the group.
And so you know it's something that's gainingmomentum but I think something that this
industry really could benefit from and isbenefiting from on a small scale.

(14:01):
You talked about how this print industry ismale dominated.
It is.
Men don't talk about their feelings.
I do.
Let's okay.
But you're, you know, you're not, you know,you're not the normal, Lauren.
You're not.
But it I mean, in in the the kindest and mostamazing sex.
Oh, by that, I've been told lots of things.
Don't worry.
I have thick skin.
It's okay.

(14:21):
But but, you know, I mean, the but the fact ofthe matter is is people don't talk about the
things that are really important.
And if we can't build a culture that's open andinclusive and accepting, then then to our point
when we were talking before the cameras cameon, what the hell is the point of it?
If we can't if we can't be those people.
So so, yeah, the four of us, I mean, we'rewe're going strong.

(14:43):
It'll be one full year this spring, and we'resuper pumped about it.
It keeps growing and evolving.
And I don't know.
I just I I couldn't it's the proudest thingI've ever done in my career.
Well, you know, hats off to everybody whostarted and who's involved in it.
I think it's amazing.

(15:03):
I've always been pretty open talking aboutthings because I don't know where that comes
from, but it just came.
And I always know that when you talk aboutsomething, feel better after you feel a little
lighter.
Yeah.
Even if nobody responds just to let it out.
But when you could let it out in a group or,you know, and then you're getting feedback or
you're listening to other people and it's niceto know that you're not alone.

(15:23):
Yeah.
Right?
Too many people sit there.
You know, we look at so many people, you'relooking at me.
I mean, I look, well, just said I'm not normal,but I look relatively normal like a human
being, but you don't know what's going oninside the spot here, right?
It could be filled, it could be hollow.
I hear some water, maybe there's a fish inthere.
But it's really tough, it's really tough andI'm amazed.

(15:48):
I've always been part of business groups,entrepreneur organization, and then some peer
groups.
And Yep.
Within groups, you get into different kinds ofconversations.
And then some people, you know, as soon as acouple people are really open, you see those
that have a harder time opening up.
Yep.
And then you feel good because you got them toopen up, and then they feel good because they

(16:09):
opened up.
But the more people around you makes it better.
And then I find or I found that people thatkeep everything inside, it's even it's hard for
them, but it's even hard for them when theywork, when they're with other people.
Right?
Because they're always thinking of something orstressing out.
You know, I went through my own miseries abunch of years ago and and and hired an

(16:33):
unbelievable life coach, right, who's really alife coach.
Today, you see they're offering certificates tobe a life coach on every social media platform.
That doesn't cut it.
You need to have some real experience.
And I give her credit for putting me in theheadspace that I'm in today.
Yep.
Right?
Because I'll just tell you quickly a couplethings that I learned.

(16:54):
Well, the main thing I learned in the beginningwas our thoughts become our beliefs.
Our beliefs become our habits, our actions,same thing.
Most of the time, most of our thoughts are noteven accurate, but we keep spinning with them.
Right?
So you have to ask yourself, is that real or isthat true?

(17:15):
Right.
And the minute you say no, put it in the drawerand move on.
Right.
Because when we feed our subconscious, right,and I felt like I'm trained in this stuff.
I just paid a lot of money to learn it on myown experience.
But when you learn that your subconscious isreally there to take you down.
Yeah.
So it's not promoting you and pumping you upinside.

(17:36):
It's giving you all that other stuff.
Right?
So so when you learn about asking yourself, isthat true?
Then you go, you move on, and you make betterdecisions.
And then you have to make some new habits.
Right.
Right?
And you have to make conscious efforts to Ibelieve you have to make conscious efforts to
try because no one's changing for you.
Right.
No.

(17:56):
Absolutely.
It's
And do you
Tell me tell me if you have any stories of withno names of people, of course, but, like, of
just something really cool or amazing that'shappened or something somebody said?
Gosh.
I mean, we have a, you know, like I said, it'sgrown exponentially in the last year.
And and we have, folks from diff everydifferent kind of walk of life.

(18:20):
And, like I I mentioned, our last sessionfocused on specifically men's health and
suicide awareness.
And it was a very very powerful session.
I mean it's because it's things you don't talkabout.
I mean you don't recognize that someone is onthe verge of suicide until it's too late right?
Or they attempt and they weren't successful andthen you have the opportunity to try to help

(18:43):
them through that.
And so we had one of our Sheet for Brainsmembers reach out to us after the and say, this
was incredibly powerful.
Not only did I lose someone to suicide in mylife, but it wasn't very long ago that I was

(19:03):
literally on the verge of it.
And I didn't know that I wasn't alone.
I felt very alone in that moment.
And this group here has made such an impactover the last several months and just knowing
that there are people out there that areexperiencing what I'm going through.
That I have a sounding board to kind of connectwith people who are like minded, who understand

(19:28):
the pressures of our industry, the pressures ofbeing a leader in this industry and on top of
the personal things that you have to deal with.
And and we've received several notes like thatafter we've had certain sessions and things.
And so for us you know the mantra for us hasalways been it's not about the mass.

(19:49):
If we can reach one person and that personfeels like they've benefited from it or they
feel better about themselves or their place inthis world in this industry in their own
personal lives then we feel like we've done ourjob.
And it's you know it's not a paid thing.
Mean we're doing this I mean, we're creatingall these things, me with a glass of wine at

(20:09):
night, we're writing press releases and kind ofputting these things together in our free time
because we so strongly believe that it's soimportant to have these kinds of spaces.
But little things like that Warren have broughtus to tears because it just you don't know the
power of voice until something like thishappens?

(20:33):
Yeah.
I'm thinking there's a couple things.
If I go back a bunch of years ago, I had one ofmy best friends.
I was actually best buddies with two guys, andI was with one of them and we were going skiing
actually that day.
And the phone rang in his car and it wassomeone saying that our other buddy tried to

(20:53):
kill himself that day.
And as happens, he cut his wrist and then hethrew himself in a garbage bin behind a church.
And it was so cold that he didn't die.
He lived because the blood didn't flow.

(21:14):
Jeez.
And then, you know, then the hospital and thenwhatever.
In in the end, tried it two more times and hesucceeded.
Maybe fortunately for him because he felt whathe felt, but there's the whole other side of
people having to deal with it that didn't knowand haven't ever been through it and never knew
somebody who's been through it.
And it's just, wow, I'm sitting here and I gota little bit of the shakes when I think about

(21:39):
it because I don't really go back and think toodeep into it because it's really, it's hurtful,
but I'm thinking of the people who are affectedby it.
Definitely.
Right?
That should be part of the group just to hear.
There's a lot of people who are not theirfault.
They just don't know or no one's ever spokenabout.

(22:01):
Right?
And and I like the idea of of reaching morepeople because as you reach more people and
people feel it, it could change the way theyact in their own lives towards people.
Right.
You know, you could be an angry guy, andthere's lots of angry guys out there.
But all it takes is something, you know, maybesomething small and meaningful to to give you a

(22:22):
different spin on life and just make youappreciate things a little more.
Because I know that's, I mean, and I'm not sorighteous.
Right?
But but I have enough thoughts that keep mepretty grounded most of the time.
Right?
And so, yes.
No.
I I love the whole thing.
I mean, I sat wish I sat on all of them.
I sat on a couple of them, and I'm sittingthere and peep when they're talking, I just

(22:44):
wanna start banging in whatever I've beenthrough, whatever my experience, whatever I'm
feeling just to share.
I love when people share with me their stories.
Right?
They're meaningful.
Yeah.
And that's I mean, that's the whole point ofthis community because, you know, if if we
can't be open and vulnerable and, again, it allstemmed from D Scoop last year when when John

(23:05):
was vulnerable because you don't see that.
Don't you get people get up on stage at theseconferences and these conventions and they give
very scripted speeches about whatever topic itis that they need to talk about.
Right?
And he got up there and was like screw thesescreens.
I'm gonna talk about these three things thataffected me and impacted me in the last several
months.

(23:26):
And it you know, it took courage to do that.
And it was kind of it was like the perfectsegue for us to kind of grow something like
this.
And so you know we're super proud of it.
Dave and I when we first started this thingRosenthal and the four of us got on a call and
we kind of looked at each other I'm like, okay,we can't be vulnerable with each other, the

(23:47):
four of us here, then this isn't gonna work.
And so we got on a call, it was after workhours and we're all sitting there and we're
staring at each other on screen and we're like,alright, who's gonna go And Dave and I are like
we've been in therapy for years we'll start.
We're not quiet about our journey and Dave andChris or I'm sorry Dave and or John and Chris

(24:08):
kind of took a they leaned back and they saidtherapy's in a pint of beer you know in a pub
down the block.
That's not we don't talk to people.
That's not you know and we start talking andthey're like oh well we've got this you know I
talked to this guy once a month and you knowhe's kind of like a life coach but we talked
about all these different things and we kind ofleaned in and said you know that's a therapist

(24:28):
right?
You talk to a therapist once a month that's notthat's not a way.
And there was this light bulb that said okayyes I talk to you and when I talk I feel better
about myself, about my place in the world, andabout you know life.
And so it was in that two hour call where wekind of just unmasked everything and it was

(24:52):
this beautiful moment.
But yeah to your point, mean when one persontalks it just kind of waterfalls and then other
people feel more comfortable talking.
And it unfolds into something that people maynot have realized they needed when they walked
into the room.
I think everybody needs a therapist.

(25:14):
I agree.
Right?
And I've had therapists, I haven't had apsychiatrist yet, but I've had like the
therapist and the life coach and it's just wow.
It's I mean, you just what you hear yourselfsaying, how you feel after.
Yeah.
And I've got some amazing friends but youcannot you wanna talk to someone at any time

(25:39):
you're feeling anything where there's no biasor judgment.
Yes.
That's the trick.
Yeah.
If you feel you know, you don't talk to yourfriends because it it it's not a safe room.
Right.
Well Right.
There are things that that live deep inside ofyou.
Right?
That, you know, you're you're afraid to unearthbecause you're you fear judgment and you fear

(26:02):
that they won't understand where you're comingfrom.
But I 100% agree with you.
I started my therapy journey thirty years agoand you know and it's maybe not quite thirty,
either way twenty five years ago.
And you know it's a place where you can saywhatever you want without judgment.

(26:26):
Chris Bears Brown, he was our second speaker.
He's the up in your Elvis.
He's been a speaker at a couple of different dscoops.
Remarkable speaker.
But he and his team just created this app.
It's called Talk It Out.
And it's almost like a self care therapy app.

(26:46):
So you you know you download the app and youjust talk into it for twenty minutes every you
know at the end of the day or every Friday.
And you just it transcribes it for you and itlike sends you back this feedback about kind of
because once you start talking it it kind ofunearths your subconscious and you start
talking about things that you might nototherwise have have you know thought about

(27:11):
initially.
And it's a very very interesting very cool appbut it's the same thought right?
You're speaking with to someone withoutjudgment.
You're not speaking to anybody you're speakingto yourself and into this app But what it does
is it allows you to get that out.
And so it's kind of a cool app.
But he was our second speaker for Sheet forBrains and introduced that to the team.

(27:35):
And it was we had a few people feedback andthey said it was it was really, really helpful
and they're continuing to use it.
So again, just providing people with tools andresources and a platform to have this safe
space, was our goal.
And it'll evolve and it'll transform, but forright now, we're super happy with where it is.

(27:55):
Yeah.
No.
I like it.
You you said that, you know, people for thepeople that come, like, you know, and then
speak to the crowds, you know, those guys,girls, they're they're amazing.
But I like watching around the I like watchingthe crowd and watching people's faces as
they're listening or how they're softening upor even a tear because it means they're

(28:15):
thinking.
Totally.
And I think all that stuff just makes usbetter.
Right?
Makes us gives us a little bit more feeling, alittle bit more compassion, a little bit more
understanding of the person across from you.
Right?
And, it's it's really it's a it's a huge.
I've been meditating for four years now.
What?
Which I could barely sit still, I mean, if youdon't notice, I'm always moving around.

(28:39):
That's the ADD thing kicking in.
But I great, Warren.
How often do Sorry?
How often do you meditate?
Every day.
Okay.
Now, some days I miss white because I'm gettingup early to go fishing and you can't meditate
at 05:30 because your brain is racing.
But pretty much every morning, try to do itfirst thing, get out of bed, hit my spot.
I have really nice meditation cushions actuallythat I was gonna do a meditation cushion

(29:03):
business and started, so I have a few leftover,some high end home home decorated fashion
cushions.
But I go sit down there, and the crazy thing isthe days I don't are the days I think about it.
Not.
Because Yeah.
When you do it for so long and and the peoplewho think that you meditate and you go and you
move around, well, I don't go and move around.

(29:24):
I'm doing guided meditations because they'reeasier to follow.
Your mind does go sideways, which is normal.
You bring it back.
But it gives me my twenty to thirty minutes aday where my body's at peace.
Yep.
And I'm not because the minute it's over and Istart my day, it's just your you know, you

(29:45):
gotta do this.
You gotta do that.
You gotta do that.
I put up little notes around that I tried thatthey don't become part of the wall.
Yeah.
But to be little reminders of certain things.
Sure.
The biggest thing, and you're all gonnaprobably laugh at me, but you need to remember
to breathe.
Yeah.

(30:05):
Right?
Breathe.
You gotta breathe during the day.
We all do it.
I try not to do it now, but we all do that inthat you get into a situation that's like, no.
No.
No.
No.
Breathe.
And and it took me a long time, and I get,like, hit on the head a hundred times.
Sure.
And then I find myself in my car, and I justcame out of something, and I'm wound up.

(30:27):
And I'd sit down, and I get in the car, and Iwould just take in three deep breaths and let
them out.
And after I was like, oh my God, I don't feelso edgy anymore.
Right.
Now, I wasn't saying I was running around,jumping up, kicking my feet in the air.
But I I eliminated a whole level of unnecessarypressure, stress, angst, call it what you want,

(30:50):
just from the breathing.
It's an incredibly powerful exercise.
I used to do yoga religiously a long time agoand then I got back into it about three years
ago.
And I don't go as often as I want to.
I mean kids life like work you know puppy.

(31:11):
It's the same thought is it's the breathing andit's the disconnecting and it's just pausing
and it's shutting your brain off for a secondfrom all of the minutiae.
And so it is yes I would love for you to comeon to Sheet for Brains and do like a meditation
session.
That would be amazing.
We would just sit there, close our eyes andlisten to
them And randomly keep their eye open to see ifanybody's actually doing it?

(31:38):
Yeah.
And it's funny because in the beginning when Istarted and I started, I would sit down and I'd
be like, no one's there.
It's just me.
But I'm like Yes.
It's a joke?
And and what I did actually was a a friend ofmine, he's the he's the Breathe app.
Like, him and his partners developed the appBreathe.
I don't know.
So when I was when I was first going throughwhatever and I I was chatting with him and he,

(32:01):
say he flipped me a subscription for a year.
Right?
It was him and his ex wife that started it,actually my friend's sister.
Anyways, he gave me the the app.
And when I sat down and I decided I'm gonna dothe twelve week of learning.
Right?
Because I'll just I gotta follow somebody.
Yep.
And it starts off, like, week one is fourminutes, eight minutes, and then she's talking.

(32:23):
The hardest part Yep.
When I sat down, and you're gonna think it'sfunny, but I sit down and I start, and the
person's talking.
And all I'm thinking is, oh my god.
How am I gonna listen to her?
It's my friend's sister.
So it took me two weeks to get over the voiceand put her out of my head, but she was great,
and and the app Breathe was great.
And you don't have to do it on your own.

(32:44):
No.
And then they have single apps, daily apps,programs, running.
I my first thing was twelve weeks every day.
Never missed a day.
Why?
It's thirty days to form a new habit.
Yep.
Right?
Learned all about forming new habits, try toget rid of the bad, but you gotta do something
and be consistent.
And the funny thing is now, I just think aboutthings that I'm not doing when could be doing

(33:07):
them.
Sure.
Yeah.
And I think that it all weaves in together withmental health and just that component of it,
right?
Because if you're not mentally, I mean, theimplications it has to your physical health are
massive.
Stress to your physical health is massive.
So if you're not taking a moment to focus onyourself and your mental health and wellness,

(33:31):
the physical part of it is gonna follow suit.
So whether it's meditation or it's running orit's yoga or it's whatever it whatever floats
your boat and helps you find that peace.
I, you know, people say they find peace inrunning long distance.
I can't run a mile to save my life.
I hate running.

(33:52):
I so I have people that run.
One day I said, you know what?
I'm gonna take up running No.
And just start.
Good.
Put on my shoes, left the house.
I tripped on the sidewalk right outside myhouse.
That was the end of running.
Good.
It wasn't for me.
Yeah.
No.
It's not for me either.
I ran track in high school, Lauren, but Isprinted.
So I can run very short distances very fast,but I cannot run a mile to save my life.

(34:14):
So I I see.
Right.
I think that's funny because I did track inhigh school too, but I only did it to get out
of class.
And I was doing shot put I was doing shot putand discus.
Oh goodness.
Okay.
And, you know, just because.
Yeah.
And I even did cross country skiing.
Anything to get out of class.
I was on every sports team.
You know?
Some good, some non.

(34:35):
I enjoyed it.
I just get like but there are people who findpeace in those long distance runs.
And I that's that's great because, again, it'sthe it's all linked together.
The mental the The mental health and wellness,the physical part of it, you know, and just
it's just all.

(34:55):
So you you mentioned running and stuff that'sthe other thing that I've seen.
There's a lot of people who don't have anyhobbit hobbits.
Hobbies.
I was
say habits and a mixed habits and hobbies.
Hobbits.
I sound like Lord of the Rings, but there's alot of people who don't have hobbies.
Right.
And I'm seeing that in a lot of older people.

(35:17):
Sure.
I mean, I'm not so young, but maybe, you know,a few years older than me, and I would
recommend to everybody, find something that youlike to do and it doesn't matter.
Like, I go fishing and it really, at thispoint, doesn't matter if I catch fish or not.
Yes.
It does.
But when I'm out there, as crazy as my brain isand bouncing off the walls all the time, I can
get out in the front of a boat and stand therefor eight or nine hours, and you don't even

(35:40):
know I'm there.
Yeah.
Right?
And then I'm not on the boat.
Everyone's like, would you shut up already?
Right?
Or stop moving or or whatever you're doing.
And so everybody's gotta find that that space.
Some people run, some people bike.
Listen, you wanna knit a sweater, knit asweater.
It doesn't matter what you do, but I thinkyou're you're not as settled in your inner self

(36:05):
if you don't have something that you like to doon a regular basis.
And that's not gaming or TV because that shithas other
Exclusively yours.
And as you're doing it for your own betterment,and it's not it has nothing to do with anyone
else except for yourself.
That's self care.
Absolutely.
Everyone needs one thing.
Yeah.
So now okay.
So now I'm thinking I'm thinking of you, andI'm thinking of John and David.

(36:29):
Do you folks
And Chris.
I don't even know guys, girls, what words touse anymore.
So I'll just say you folks.
Like, do you guys have anything in yourcompanies that address any of these issues for
people or conversations or discussions or or orsafe rooms or let us know if something's up or
Yeah.
I think you know what?
I think that each of our respective companiesdo there is something there.

(36:54):
Mean and I can't speak specifically for theothers but I know that they I mean they're
leaders in their organization they're veryfocused on making sure that their teams are
have these opportunities to engage in thingslike sheet for brains to make sure that they
are, taken care of, from a culture perspective.

(37:16):
And the same here at GPA right?
I mean we have spaces in our headquarters wherewe kind of have offices all over the country
but you know we have those spaces.
We have leadership that believes in work lifebalance.
We have an HR department that you know providesresources and things like that.
I think this is an extension of that for ourorganization and for theirs too.

(37:41):
We try to get our internal teams involved inSheet for Brains as much as we possibly can.
Again, it's an open it's a private group, butit's everyone's welcome.
Right?
We just
Right.
For the safety of, and I say safety, you know,very little, but for the safety of people's
thoughts and input, we have it as a privategroup on LinkedIn, because we want

(38:02):
As it should be.
As it should be.
But everyone is welcome right?
It's not an exclusive group it's just a privateone.
And so yes I think each of our respectivecompanies strongly believe in these efforts and
have things incorporated into policies andprograms within it to make sure that you know

(38:25):
the culture remains one of inclusivity andopenness and transparency and support, I think,
is the biggest thing.
Yeah.
For sure.
And what I what I like today is going on todayis as as everyone's gone through the transition
of working in hours and days, you know, andwith the younger folks and everything, and I

(38:50):
hear a lot of people saying, Oh, they want,they wanna do this, they wanna do that, they
don't wanna do that.
I'm gonna be honest with you, I kinda like it.
When I think back now not that their headsshould blow up and they could think they could
do what they want.
I'm just saying in general.
No.
I kinda like it because I remember, you know,finishing school, going into the workforce.
Wherever I was working, it was, like, six daysa week.

(39:11):
They expected me to come in on a Saturday.
Paying time and a half wasn't that popular backthen, making deals on the side for people.
Work, work, work.
Well, you know what?
The fact is we're on this planet for a a ashort time, not a long time.
We gotta make it a good time.
And if you look at a seven day week, right, weshould only be working four days and fitting it

(39:35):
all in and then having three days of life.
I mean, I'm I'm going up on, like, almost fortyyears of having the Sunday night blues.
Yeah.
And that started when
Green Town
Rats came out with I don't like Mondays.
Like, think it was around Farm Aid.
But every Sunday night, don't wanna go to bedbecause I don't wanna wake up.
It's Monday.
And I know it's okay.
It just it started a long time ago and, youknow
Conditions.

(39:57):
Have
to bring that up with my therapist.
But, right?
But all that stuff, and it had differentpressure on our parents and everyone's will to
want, I mean, life's expensive and we wantthings, but you gotta prioritize what's worth
what these days not get carried away.
Yeah.
Right?
I've also learned along the way what the otherperson has really doesn't matter because it

(40:19):
might not be what I need.
Everything that you Yeah.
It's it's it's just everything is so rushed.
So so I think companies have to find ways toaccommodate people.
I remember when I when I as an owner of thecompany, I mean, I missed many dinners at home
Yeah.
Which was probably better because of lessscreaming.

(40:42):
The offset was, as the owner, I never missedany event for my kid's school.
Like, took off during the day to go and run,and I recognized right away that the company,
the people in the company can't do that.
Yeah.
No.
Right?
No.
So but I think today that people should be ableto put in when they have some of those events

(41:04):
and and we find a way to accommodate thembecause your kids' moments your kids don't
remember you for dinner every night when whenyou're trying to get them to relax when they're
in the witching hour.
No.
Right?
But they remember where you go and what you dofor them.
When you show up and when you show up.
And, unfortunately, a lot of that is at eightto five Monday to Friday when they're at

(41:25):
school.
Sure.
And talent show practice today warrants fromthree to 04:30.
So, you know, it's, you know, mandatory dressrehearsal.
I get it, you know, and I think And I hatereferring back to this time that everyone hated
so much, but I mean, I think that along withthe next generation of people in this industry,
I think just in the workforce in general, ontop of what COVID forced people to do in terms

(41:48):
of work from home and, you know, versus beingbeing in office.
What that did, I think, is it allowed forleadership to recognize that people can be just
as productive if they're working from home.
They are much happier when they have a littlebit of flexibility in their schedules.

(42:10):
I mean, me personally, if my team is doing whatthey need to do, then I don't then work from
home or work from the office.
You know we have policies in place that youknow we have to be here for a couple of days a
week but from my perspective if you're gettingyour sheet done you know then there's nothing
to talk about.

(42:30):
If you are able to pick your kid up from schoolat 03:00 and then plug back in or make sure
your work is done, then you're getting yourwork done.
And I think Sorry.
It's getting the work done.
Correct.
Because hours don't mean anything.
People could sit at their desk and look likethis for hours and do nothing.
Yeah.
And it and I don't know why it makes somemanagement happier to see them sitting there

(42:54):
than not.
Yeah.
When you give people the the respect, in mostcases, I think the respect, the freedom to make
it happen.
Absolutely.
We we learned that
in COVID.
They make it happen.
Yeah.
No.
I agree.
I agree.
Wow.
Man, I can go on on and on with this.
It's oh my god.
It's such a good converse it's real life.

(43:14):
That's that's the best part about it.
Right?
Yeah.
It is.
And it all boils down to just self care andwork life balance and centering yourself.
Everything in moderation.
That's right.
Right?
Everything.
Yep.
Wow.
So cool.
So cool.
Okay.
We're gonna have to plan another one.

(43:35):
Yeah.
Right?
So what I'm gonna do is when this gets postedand it's out, I'm gonna put the LinkedIn group
in there for people who to check it out.
Yep.
Encourage people to check it out.
I think it's really good to put your story outthere.
And I'm even thinking maybe somewhere down theline, we could have maybe a little conference

(43:56):
somewhere.
I love that.
I think it'd be great.
I think long term, that's what we're thinking.
We want this to evolve into something that'snot just virtual.
Right?
You know, we're kind of exploring what thatlooks like in terms of structure and if it does
become much bigger than the four of us canhandle with our day jobs, you know what, you
know, who else can we involve?

(44:17):
And we've had quite a few.
I'll help.
Well thank you.
And we'll lean on you you know but you know whoelse we can involve and what other support we
can have to make sure that this is somethingthat is successful because we've seen the
feedback from it over the last ten months andit's been tremendous.
And so, again, if we reach that one, we've doneour jobs.

(44:40):
But we we just we just know from COVID becausethat brought out the mental health aspect.
Right?
It was there before.
It brought it out.
Everything on the Internet was there before.
The Internet pushed things, some good, somebad, but all to the forefront, make it easy.
Yeah.
But, no, I think so important.
So, yeah, kudos to the four of you for creatingthat.

(45:01):
I think I think that's probably one of could beone of the better things to come out of
Printing United.
There you go.
Not the Printing United wants to hear me saythat, but I'm talking from
a mental health.
Scoop.
It was descoop that that where
it Descoop.
It was birthed at descoop.
Started descoop.
Now everyone's gonna be mad at me because Imessed that up, but go watch.
We love both.
No.
We do.
And we all do everything for both, so that'sgood.

(45:22):
Yeah.
We do everything both.
That's cool.
Awesome.
So, wow.
Wow.
You gave me a lot more to think about.
So I'll have fun with your therapist this week.
Next week.
Next week.
Can't do it every week.
It gets expensive.
No kidding.
But highly recommended to people, right?
It's all good.
So, wow.

(45:42):
Yeah.
So great session, Jessica.
Thank you so much for joining us.
We're gonna do it again.
We're actually, you know what?
One session, I wanna get the four of you on.
Yes.
One podcast.
It's dangerous.
The four of us can't.
That's okay.
I'll give you I have the mute button, so it'sokay.
And the timer.
So that'll be cool.
So if you guys are listening, you'll be on.

(46:03):
Everybody else, I hope you enjoyed the podcast.
You know, I try to change it up, try to dodifferent things, just life, business, what we
do, people.
If you have any thoughts, ideas, something youwanna hear, something you want me to do,
somewhere you want me to go, if you wanna be onanything, anything, just reach out to me.
Love to chat with you.
Again, Jessica, thanks so much.

(46:23):
Everybody else, keep tuning in and let's do itagain.
Have yourself a great day.
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