The Peace of Work

Loyola University Chicago

Challenges:

In 2017 (at the inception of this project), efforts in corporate America to destigmatize workplace discussion of mood disorders like anxiety and depression were in their infancy. When conversation occurred at all, it was either clinical and distant, or buried under stigma and silence (couched as a “possible HR problem” and initiated only by the most privileged leaders or the most courageous workers).

Post‑pandemic, employees are more vocal about burnout and mental health: yet, many still feel dread, isolation, or mistrust when it comes to how their company “supports” them. HR and EX leaders know mental health drives performance and retention, but struggle to turn good intentions into experiences people actually use.

Approach:

I created “The Peace of Work,” a media‑rich mix of original interviews, data, policy context, and practical resources designed in plain language, not corporate or clinical jargon, as a capstone for my graduate studies in Digital Media & Storytelling at Loyola University Chicago. The aim was to show what it looks like when you let real workers tell honest stories about mood disorders and work, and then surround those stories with credible information and ways to act.

In its original form, “The Peace of Work” (TPoW) was built to highlight three core skills: 

• Structuring a complex content journey 
• Interviewing and shaping human stories on camera 
• Weaving data and policy into something people will actually read

Results:

Because the original 2017–2018 site was a grad‑school project, it wasn’t heavily promoted and wasn’t measured as a campaign. Today, I view  it as an evolving piece of thought leadership and an on‑ramp to deeper conversations and collaborations on workplace mental health storytelling.

This “2.0 in 2026”  version:

• Keeps the human stories (as they were collected in the initial iteration)
• Updates the context for a post‑pandemic workforce
• Makes the structure clearer for people who want ideas they can borrow for their own organizations