Matt's story: How deeper connection at work can make us better
Finding Movember at the right time
The year after I graduated college my male friend community was rocked. My former roommate took his own life and the following year another roommate’s father passed away from prostate cancer. When I heard about Movember’s initiatives it really resonated with me. I wanted to learn more and get ahead of some of the issues that plague men. Especially after learning that many of the prevailing diseases affecting men are largely preventable. Armed with Movember resources, I like to think that I would have been able to intervene and support the men that I lost too soon. I’ve become passionate about spreading awareness in my community. Even if it’s as simple as here are the things you can use, here’s the website to seek help; it puts people’s minds at ease to know there are resources designed to help them. I’ve been a part of the Movember movement since I graduated college, but through work it’s actually a different story.
How CVS Health lifts the profile of Men’s Health
I've worked at CVS Health for many years. I started as a pharmacy technician in high school, and I went to university with hopes of becoming a pharmacist. I ended up graduating with an economics degree, and I landed at the corporate office as part of temporary support.
The camaraderie that we were able to build through a small group of work friends growing mustaches, having fun, and doing good was nothing short of incredible. Coincidentally, our CEO at the time had an epic mustache, so we were able to do some photo shoots with him that stoked the internal passion for the cause. What began with 12 people eventually grew to a few hundred fundraisers!
Generational diversity’s role in building better teams
Movember really ties into generational diversity because their key cause areas affect men throughout all stages of life. Testicular cancer shows up in the younger population the most, prostate cancer which primarily affects older men, and mental health and suicide which can afflict men of all ages.
Through our BRIDGES Connecting Generations’ generational diversity colleague resource group, we put on annual events with Movember. The simple act of swapping our Zoom backgrounds to the Movember branded wallpapers and including links to the Movember website through mustache-focused graphics in our email signatures has made a huge impact for us.
Just last year, we had two of our Chief Medical Officers talking about men's health issues, which is usually an overlooked demographic in the healthcare space. Men’s health is something that affects all of us. If you have loved ones in your lives that are impacted by illness, you’ll do anything to keep them in your life as long as possible.
Thoughtful conversations can lead to a deeper impact at work
When you work at a company as big as CVS Health, making meaningful connections is important, but can be difficult with colleagues spread across the country. Connection is especially critical when we start building up teams.
Through our experience with SpeakEasy- a Movember produced program that opens the doors to deeper connection at the workplace, we got to ask our teammates to go beyond the surface level conversations. This allowed us to learn what makes our co-workers unique and interesting and celebrate it.
Starting conversations that raise awareness
Starting sensitive conversations and bringing awareness to important health issues in the workplace is difficult, but doing it under the guise of a mustache in Movember makes it easier. If we approach growing a mustache as a symbol for something bigger than us, we can use it as a reminder to take care of ourselves. Maybe that looks like making a big push in November to schedule your annual doctor’s appointments and allowing yourself to confront the issues that have held you back from taking that step before. Consider the mustache as a beacon to all men, to take control of their health, not just in November, but year-round in the hope that we can prevent men from dying too young.
Gratitude for Movember
I can't thank Movember enough for their work. I've lost a few loved ones throughout my life for things that could have been treated well in advance. This loss is a constant reminder to live in the moment. If you take anything away from this, make sure that you are connecting to the people around you. Challenge yourself to go beyond the basic conversations and talk about how that person is today. It might change a life.