Mindful in 5 Podcast

Inner Voice, Outer Wellness, with LaTanya Langley

• Spiwe Jefferson • Season 6 • Episode 181

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What happens when career success comes at the cost of your health? LaTanya Langley, Chief People and Legal Officer at Edgewell Personal Care, discovered the answer when she "went to sleep fine and woke up paralyzed." Her journey from devastating neurological crisis to passionate wellness advocate offers crucial lessons for today's leaders.

After years of relentless travel and endless meetings, LaTanya's body finally rebelled. The year-long recovery process—relearning to walk and speak—didn't just transform her leadership approach; it revolutionized her entire life philosophy. Now she helps other executives avoid the same painful wake-up call.

Sound familiar? You're not alone. High-achieving professionals everywhere are asking, "Is this all there is?" as they grapple with exhaustion, family disconnection, and the unique stressors of leadership positions.

The solution isn't working less—it's working mindfully. In this episode, you'll discover practical strategies for integrating wellness into your leadership style without sacrificing performance or ambition. Learn how small, intentional shifts in your daily routine can create profound changes in your energy, decision-making, and overall life satisfaction.

Ready to transform your team's approach to leadership and life? Book a custom Mindful in 5 training session and give your employees the tools to thrive professionally without sacrificing their wellbeing. Because sustainable success starts with sustainable leaders.

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Speaker 1:

Do you long to feel more joy in work and life? Do you want to reduce stress and sleep better? Are you looking for healthy ways to cope? Join Speedway Jefferson, certified mindfulness practitioner and lawyer, and learn to operate from your peaceful path. Harness the power of mindfulness meditation to feel softer, more clear, supported and cheerful, starting with just five minutes a day.

Speaker 2:

Well, hello there, thriving leaders. Today is a very special day at Mindful in 5 because we have a very special guest here to unpack our topic on inner voice, outer wellness. Latanya Langley serves as the chief people and legal officer and corporate secretary at Edgewell Personal Care, where she leads the human resources and legal functions. In this capacity, she is responsible for overseeing the company's compliance program, litigation and disputes, intellectual property contracting, and for providing legal counsel relating to all regulatory, sales and marketing. It's a big role. As the head of the global HR function, she leads a strategic agenda that supports the company's global employees by driving growth, building and developing capabilities leading through change, nurturing culture and delivering innovative people solutions.

Speaker 2:

Latanya earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Connecticut School of Law, where she currently serves as an adjunct professor, and in fact, latanya invited me to teach a prompt engineering course to her students. And, you know, in an environment where schools at all levels are grappling with whether to position the use of AI as a game-changing, supportive tool or dismiss it as cheating, I consider both her and UConn as cutting-edge leaders in arming their students with inescapable advantages that will differentiate them as they go out into the workforce. Well-being is deeply personal for LaTanya, because she has witnessed firsthand the transformative effects it can have on individuals and organizations. She also knows firsthand how well-being initiatives enhance employee satisfaction, productivity and overall company culture. Latanya, welcome to Mindful in 5. We have been on a journey together for quite some time now, so I would love for you to share with the listeners and the viewers what you would like them to know about you.

Speaker 3:

Wow, okay. Well, I am a wife, a mom, a legal and HR professional, dedicated to wellness and committed to empowering others. My journey is one of resilience, leadership and a deep sense of purpose. Through my work and words as a wellness advocate, I offer valuable lessons for anyone looking to balance the demands of high stakes careers with the need for personal well-being, and I guide others towards a more mindful, balanced and fulfilling life.

Speaker 2:

Okay, that's a lot of hats that you wear. So you and I have talked about wellness and how it's impacted our work and our busy lives the busy lives of successful leaders and busy professionals like us, and many of our friends and colleagues as well. So share with us why this particular topic is so important to you particular topic is so important to you.

Speaker 3:

Well, you know, as an executive, you know wellness is crucial to me because it directly impacts my ability to lead effectively and sustainably.

Speaker 3:

The demands of high stakes careers often comes with significant stress, long hours, which can take a toll on both physical and mental health.

Speaker 3:

I have been through life-altering physical and mental challenges that were the result of me not prioritizing my wellness, and so I know all too well what the consequences look like and feel like.

Speaker 3:

Maintaining wellness ensures that I can perform at my best, make sound decisions and inspire my teams. Furthermore, by prioritizing my own well-being, I can set an example for others in the organization and beyond by promoting a culture of health and balance that benefits everyone. As an executive, wellness is crucial to me because it directly impacts my ability to lead effectively and sustainably. The demands of a high-stakes career often comes with significant stress and long hours, which can take a toll on both physical and mental health. I personally have been through life-altering physical and mental health. I personally have been through life altering physical and mental challenges that were the result of me not prioritizing my wellness, and so I know all too well what the consequences look like and feel like. Maintaining wellness ensures that I can perform at my best, make sound decisions and inspire my teams. Furthermore, by prioritizing my own well-being, I can set an example for others in the organization and beyond, by promoting a culture of health and balance that benefits everyone.

Speaker 2:

Okay. So, since you said that it begs the question, do you want to share a little bit about the challenges that you have experienced? Because the thing that you and I know being surrounded by other people like us is that you are not alone in this experience, and I'm guessing there'll be people who are watching this going. Oh yeah, I can totally relate to that. So tell us as much as you're comfortable sharing. Tell us what that looked like for you.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So, as I mentioned, well-being is deeply personal for me because I've witnessed firsthand the transformative effects that it can have on individuals. I personally had a neurological condition that had profound effects on various aspects of my life. You know this was a time where I was traveling about 95% of the time internationally. I lived on planes, I was at every you know events, on every panel.

Speaker 3:

I was at what I thought was the peak of my professional journey and then one day it all just stopped and I lost most of my neurological functions in that I became fully paralyzed. I woke up, I went to sleep fine and woke up paralyzed, and so I spent the next year trying to regain my mobility, trying to learn how to speak. I had occupational therapy, physical therapy, and that neurological condition really had profound effects on my life, including my mental, my social, emotional and physical well-being. Fully recovered, that it would become a mission of mine to understand these impacts on others and help provide others with support and resources and community. And so you know, living through this, this really traumatic, life-changing experience, was really. You know, life-changing experience was really. You know I turned my mess into my message and was able to really impact company, culture and others who may be experiencing, you know, challenges with trying to balance, you know, well-being with their professional careers. Wow.

Speaker 2:

So this dovetails into the experience that we had years ago Now it's over a decade ago, and you and I founded this essentially a lean in circle for Black Female General Counsel and they were, all you know, relatively new to their roles on purpose because we wanted to provide that level of support for new in-house GCs at that level and I was a deputy general counsel at the time and I felt like quite the imposter in the room and we did this virtual check-in where everybody just got to talk about how they were doing and I thought that what I was going to hear was I have arrived, I have reached the pinnacle of my career. This is outstanding because, you know, general Counsel Cielo is about as high as you can go in when you're an in-house lawyer. So I'm expecting these you know, amazing women to be just living their best lives. And what we heard around that table too often was I'm exhausted.

Speaker 2:

I am working 16-hour days, just like what you just said. I haven't had a real date with my husband in forever. My kids barely know who I am anymore. Is this all there is? And I suspect that there are a lot of leaders who get to that brass ring whatever it is for them and they just assume that I'm going to be in this place where it's going to be so amazing, and they get there and it's like actually, you know, it's a lot of responsibility and it's a lot of work. And so I wonder you've described your own experience. So I wonder you've described your own experience? Have you observed this kind of experience beyond even our circle of GCs that we were talking to?

Speaker 3:

Oh, absolutely. And I would like to mention, you know, this vision that you and I came up with to even create this lean in circle was really life changing because it helped us to really support each other and to just know and confirm that. You know, while on the outside we may appear to be super women, we really needed each other for support when we, you know, on the inside. So it was really really an amazing circle that was created and I thank you for your vision and helping to continue the dream of having a safe space for sisters to come together.

Speaker 3:

But, you know, being an executive, that comes with a myriad of responsibilities, challenges and expectations, you know.

Speaker 3:

And while these positions are accompanied with prestige and respect, it's also laden with significant stressors that you mentioned, you know, and that impacts one's physical, mental and emotional well-being. You know there's high stakes, decision making, long working hours, high expectations from families and friends. Most of us were, you know, the backbones to our families, taking care of both our parents, our children. You know our extended family members, so that came obviously with you know our extended family members, so that came obviously with, you know. Accountability, then we're managing to organizational change, maintaining the competitive edge, trying to maintain being at the top, financial pressures, workplace politics and just personal sacrifices, and so recognizing and understanding that these stressors exist is the first step towards developing effective strategies to manage these stressors. Adopting practices that promote balance and resilience, executives can navigate these challenges of their roles more effectively, and then they can lead their organizations to sustain success. But you've got to start with first recognizing what are these stressors and then finding out strategies and how to manage them.

Speaker 2:

That's a really good point, because I sometimes say you cannot fix what you do not acknowledge. And just recognizing that this is where I am right now reminds me of a time early in my career. I worked at a big financial services company and one of our directors was promoted to a vice president and it was a big deal because he was now going to manage like a really big, like the flagship division of the entire company. And I happened to see him at lunch the day after this announcement was made and I congratulated him and I told him this was well-deserved. He was a hardworking man. I mean, nothing was given to this guy. And I asked him how it felt to now be at this level.

Speaker 2:

And, to your point, latanya, he said you know, here's what I did not expect. I did not expect to lose my entire support system because now his peers yesterday were now his direct reports. And he said, all of a sudden, all these people think that I have all these answers because I'm now the VP of this big division. And he said but I'm still the same guy, I still know what I knew yesterday, but just because I have this title, I don't have anybody to ask now I'm alone in this role and, gosh, I don't know how I'm going to do it Now.

Speaker 2:

I, at this point, a young lawyer. I'm serving as a research analyst in this company. I didn't know what to say to him because I was like this is so not what I was expecting him to say. And so, as I think about it, our sister circle conversation was the true catalyst for me writing and starting the Mindful in Five series, because you and I do believe that there is a better way for us to manage and to work in life without being so overwhelmed. So, when you think about what it means to listen to your inner voice, and, in the context of wellness, what does that look like for you?

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to Mindful in 5. If you enjoyed it, share it with a friend, follow and rate it on your favorite podcast platform. Pick up your signed copy of the book and journal from spewayjeffersoncom, or unsigned copies from Amazon, barnes, noble or wherever you get your books. Visit SpeedwayJeffersoncom to download sample chapters of the book, watch videos and become a mindful ninja. Join us on the LinkedIn Mindful in 5 group and share your thoughts. Until next time, be mindful and be well.