Join Megan Antonelli and Carly Marino-Healy, founder of Marino Wellness, as they reveal how a precision approach to wellness is revolutionizing corporate culture. Discover why leading digital health companies like Headspace and Talkspace choose Carly's marketplace model over traditional wellness vendors, and learn the strategic framework that transforms employee wellbeing from cost center to profit driver. As healthcare costs rise and talent retention becomes critical, workplace wellness technology is shifting from nice-to-have perk to essential business infrastructure. Learn how to position your organization ahead of this transformation.
Carly Marino-Healy, Founder & CEO, Marino Wellness
Megan Antonelli, Founder & CEO, HealthIMPACT Live
0:01: Welcome to Digital Health Talks. Each week we meet with healthcare leaders making an immeasurable difference in equity, access, and quality. Hear about what tech is worth investing in and what isn't as we focus on the innovations that deliver. Join Megan Antonelli, Janae Sharp, and Shahid Shaw for a weekly no BS deep dive on what's really making an impact in healthcare.
0:30: Hi everyone. Welcome to Digital Health Talks.
0:32: This is Megan Antonelli, and I am excited today to be here with Carly Healy.
0:37: Carly is a female founder and founder of Merino Wellness.
0:41: And funny story is that I met her completely outside of the health impact digital health space, you know, actually doing what some of my folks know that I'm doing, which is helping, California smash a pickleball and Social Club in El Segundo open.
0:58: And, Carly is, South Bay local herself and has started, Marina Wellness, which is focused on wellness solutions.
1:07: So we had this intersection of Two worlds.
1:10: And I think when we talk about workplace wellness, there is a little bit of that intersection of, you know, how much wellness do you want at the workplace, how much workplace do you want in your wellness space.
1:21: So I'm excited to have Carly here today to tell us about her, you know, founder story and talk a little bit about what's going on in that world.
1:29: Hi, Carly, how are you?
1:30: Hi, Megan, I'm great.
1:32: How are you?
1:33: Thank you for having me.
1:35: Yes, I'm so glad you could join me.
1:37: It is, you know, as I kind of sit in these 22 spots at once where I'm heading up the, the health impact and, the, the piple ball stuff, it's funny how many times it's been intersecting, right?
1:53: but I think your story and your company, is really that like perfect example of it.
1:59: So tell our audience a little bit about Marina Wellness and, and how you came to find it.
2:04: Yeah, thank you.
2:05: So, Marina Wellness is an office wellness marketplace, and I started my career just really passionate about health and well-being.
2:15: in fact, I started as an associate wellness specialist at NBC Universal, and I loved my role there because it really gave me that front row seat to how population health programs work at scale.
2:27: It was Large facility, we had a lot of resources and in my work I really saw the power of strategic well resourced initiatives that drove employee engagement and outcomes.
2:38: But I also realized that those kinds of programs are often only accessible to really large organizations.
2:46: So that realization led me to pivot into public health, where I was able to focus on reaching broader populations and addressing health equity.
2:55: And there I really gained a deeper understanding of how to design solutions that were not just inclusive but scalable and impactful regardless of company size.
3:06: So that experience truly shaped my approach to workplace wellness and you know, one of the things that we believe out here at Marina Wellness is that every organization, regardless Of its size should have access to high quality well-being programs because it is a fundamental right to be well and feel happy, right?
3:25: And so that's what's inspired our marketplace model.
3:29: We really want to support HR teams with flexibility, accessible to solutions that truly meet the real world needs of today's workforce.
3:38: Yeah, and it is, it's such an interesting space, you know, and having worked on kind of public health myself and, and looking at, you know, both the insurance and employer market in this country and You know, sort of the cycle of things, right?
3:55: In that, you know, when I first started doing events in healthcare and working in the healthcare space, you know, the employer and the employer market in health care was a big focus, and they were very much driving the discourse around health insurance and benefits because of the cost.
4:12: And what's interesting is, as we've.
4:16: You know, it's not like those problems have gone away.
4:18: Cost is still a problem.
4:20: There's even more of an interest in wellness, yet the employer voice on a policy scale isn't as loud as I think it used to be.
4:32: Do you think, would you agree with that?
4:33: Do what, how do you see it from, from your side of things?
4:35: You're certainly closer to it than I am now.
4:38: Yeah, I think one of the most challenging things is just a lot of companies are are kind of left to bootstrap their efforts, right?
4:47: And HR leaders are so overwhelmed and wellness benefits are fragmented because there's just so much going on, right?
4:54: You're trying to think about insurance, you're looking at claims, you're looking at career pathing, you're looking at just You know, actionable insights from feedback from your employees and you're trying to do performance evaluations, like there's just so much going on in the people space that it, it's just, yeah, I think it's, there's more interest than ever, but I think the HR decision makers are left trying to figure it out and they have very little bandwidth and little time to put a focused effort into the development of their programs.
5:29: And as those resources get tighter, you know, and, you know, the need for it, you know, in fact, might be more, you know, it just becomes that much harder.
5:41: I mean, in terms of like, how have you seen it change with folks working from home, you know, and, and that kind of, you know, I feel like it, I mean, right before really the pandemic where we had the, this move towards kind of Open office and, you know, everybody's sort of following the trends of Google and the more progressive employers to have, you know, nap pods and, you know, snacks, maybe, maybe not so well snacks.
6:06: But, but then as people kind of moved home or the dynamic of what would bring them back to the office changed.
6:13: Have you seen a difference in that kind of, you know, appetite for these programs and, and what people are working on.
6:20: Yes, we have definitely seen an entire shift.
6:24: So I've been at this for many, many years and pre-pandemic, we always talk about the pre-pandemic era of merino wellness, the during the pandemic era and now this post-pandemic era.
6:37: so I can sort of share just how things have evolved in that period of time, but definitely before the pandemic, it was trending.
6:46: In the direction of a lot of physical wellness.
6:49: So we had, just to echo, you know, talking about the nap pods, we had a lot of programming that supported on-site activities like weekly yoga subscriptions, weekly on-site meditation classes, regular massage events where folks would get like that short format chair massage, and a therapist would be on site all day to take people in every 1015 minutes or so just to help with stress reduction.
7:14: And then we would have a lot of seminars or health education sessions on nutrition education and pre-pandemic, that is all we did.
7:23: We called ourselves the office massage, meditation, fitness and health education experts.
7:28: , so then obviously in March of 2020 with 100% of our activities being on site services, we had to quickly pivot to provide a virtual solution, which we knew was that the virtual solution appetite was coming.
7:45: We had a lot of clients meeting with us asking us, you know, we have offices in New York, we have offices in Chicago, we have offices in LA.
7:53: Can you provide the Same nutrition talk in all three locations.
7:58: And so we would have some very forward thinking organizations saying, hey, could we do like a virtual seminar where we, you know, Webex somebody in and at the time we were a little bit afraid to try that solution because we didn't know the logistics behind it.
8:15: But what happened in the pandemic is 100% of our activities went remote and we moved from being The office massage meditation, fitness and health education company to this virtual holistic health education expert.
8:32: And so over those that period of time we saw this just expanded appetite for just more wellness content, a huge emphasis on mental health, we saw just a interest in financial literacy, social well-being.
8:50: I mean there was so much.
8:52: That companies wanted to do to just bring their communities together, so we did virtual happy hours, virtual flower making classes, virtual cooking demonstrations, virtual cooking classes.
9:03: I mean, I can't tell you the number of groups we worked with that wanted to send, you know, Trader Joe's gift cards out to all of their employees with a recipe card and then everybody joined live into one of our health chef's kitchens, to, to learn a health.
9:19: recipe that they could share and join and talk about and you know, have that opportunity to be social together.
9:25: So now that we're in the post pandemic era, we're continuing to see this growing openness around wellness practices that are beyond physical health, mental health.
9:37: There's really this demand for holistic health content, and I just think this reflects that broader awareness of industry expansion.
9:46: , however, we're seeing companies adopt sort of this hybrid model, so they're looking for programming that supports a dispersed workforce, it supports on-site employees and driving people back into the office.
10:00: It supports folks that are fully remote and it supports folks that are hybrid.
10:05: So, it's really interesting to see how our company has adapted to, you know, offering that diverse, timely content.
10:14: So that we can continue to meet the evolving needs of today's workforce, but there's definitely been just a huge paradigm shift over the last couple years.
10:23: Well, it's almost, I mean it's it's an evolving definition of wellness, right?
10:26: I mean, and it's, it's almost, it's partially culture, right?
10:29: I mean, you're.
10:30: You're becoming kind of the culture ambassadors for for the organizations and using whatever tools necessary to kind of engage them, right?
10:39: And, and as you know, and as we become a culture, you know, maybe in my optimistic eyes or maybe my Living in California, South Bay, that is more focused on wellness in general, that, that, that, you know, that, that employers have to meet that need, especially to get them, you know, to, to encourage people to come into the office to to drive.
11:01: , how about, I mean, I know you have some amazing clients like Headspace and TalkSpace and, and the, you know, sort of the, the companies like that.
11:10: What about on the other side of it, like, you know, those digital health companies, utilizing that?
11:16: So we, our audience is big in the digital health space.
11:19: What are some of the trends that you're seeing in terms of what employers want from those tech technologies, but also, you know, what they're doing in their organizations to, to leverage some of that.
11:31: Yeah, so what's fun about these types of companies is that they truly understand that embedding well-being into their culture isn't just good for people, but it's really good for business.
11:41: So it's a strategic business decision and so, What I loved, you know, in onboarding those groups is that there was just such a clear focus on engaging employees through high impact programs like chair massage or the scalable solutions we offer like virtual well-being seminars.
11:58: And so saying yes to our offerings was such an easy decision.
12:02: I think for groups like that, and some of the trends that we're seeing overall is that, there's still a demand for on-site services, not as much as there was before the pandemic, just because we have less people in the office, but it's definitely just, you know, providing their employees with reliable ongoing programming.
12:26: It's really important, so they want to be able to say like, hey, if you come into the office on Wednesdays, there is going to be an on-site yoga class at lunch, or if you come to the office on Fridays, like take advantage of that quick massage break, or hey, come check out the sound bath meditation that we're doing to kick off mental Health Awareness Month so that we can tap into maybe some of your spiritual wellness practices as an example.
12:50: Yeah, that, yeah, absolutely, and they're certainly, you know, to be expected that they would be, you know, more progressive and understanding of incorporating those, those things.
12:59: What about around, you know, and sort of that that part where I feel like years ago, there was some sensitivity, like you don't want to.
13:09: Seek your mental health provider through your organization and, and, and kind of sensitivities around privacy.
13:16: Are you seeing a shift generationally speaking or culturally speaking to that or, or is it similar to to what it's been?
13:24: Yeah, 100% we are seeing a shift.
13:27: there is definitely a breaking of the stigma around discussing mental health at work, and it's been just really interesting to see the mental health pillar, which is one of the 8 pillars our programs are rooted in, just blow up.
13:47: in fact, pre-pandemic, so early, early days, we, often, there was a A lot of sensitivity around how far we would go with mental health content.
13:57: And the only session that we had, Megan, on mental health was a session called Stress Busters.
14:04: And while this was led by licensed mental health experts, there was a lot of back and forth with our partners, with our clients, just to make sure that the delivery of the message was appropriate for the workplace environment and that we, you know, just maybe Touched mental health without going too far into it.
14:26: what's been really, really just amazing and just amazing to see my team kind of adapt to is the just Really building out the content around emotional wellness.
14:39: So I'm actually looking at our database right now just to see how many topics we have, but we have topics on, you know, radical self-acceptance, we have the mental health benefits of gratitude, grounding in crisis, mental health first steps, emotional fitness, coping with loss, challenging perfection.
15:00: I mean, these are just really granular topics on mental health, you know, beating burnout, building resilience, just things that, you know, I believe every employee needs those skills and it it makes them, you know, just better employees in general, but breaking the stigma and bringing these topics companywide promoting these topics companywide says a lot about the culture shift that we're seeing.
15:25: Yeah, for sure, and I, I mean, I think it's so interesting and I think, you know, we talk about a lot here.
15:31: We talk a lot about physician and clinician burnout and kind of what You know, how that impacts and the stigma associated with that, right?
15:39: Because of course, physicians, physicians can't, you know, they can't even feel the stress.
15:42: They can't even feel the tiredness.
15:44: And, and of course they do.
15:45: And certainly from the pandemic, they, they, you know, it became a little bit, it was more part of the vernacular, and people understood.
15:54: And, and now, you know, physicians as human beings is very much part of the That, and, and that it goes far beyond just, you know, offering yoga classes and, and stuff.
16:05: But, but real acknowledgement and understanding that there's stress management tools that, that can be given and explored, you know, in the workplace and outside.
16:13: So but that's great.
16:14: And I, and I think generationally speaking, I mean, as we talk about teens and mental health, you know, that there is There's an awareness that they have that has put mental health challenges in the vernacular for them.
16:28: And as they go into the workforce, you know, increasingly their need for that and their willingness to talk about it, which some, to some, maybe Gen X folks might be a little, you know, you're like, whoa, you know, I don't know if I need to know all.
16:44: Yeah, there's definitely, yeah, culturally for an employer, you know, they have to be able to handle that and navigate it.
16:53: Yeah, and I think a lot of our HR leaders come to us because they are looking to address those things that come up from an individual level that are maybe affecting the, you know, department or the morale of the entire team, like, you know, in The years that I've been leading and just all the HR decision makers that come to us, all the brokers that come to us, all the carriers that come to us, it's often I need resources.
17:20: I've got burnt out HR teams there.
17:23: This thing came up.
17:24: We're not sure how to address it.
17:26: Like how can we, you know, support a team during uncertainty or you know during times of crisis, and so it's been really great because yeah, I think pre-pandemic we'd Be like, do you guys wanna do, you know, a guided meditation?
17:39: And now it's, we can, we can talk about these things openly head on, bring those much needed resources and the engagement speaks for itself when people are showing up, you know, it's, you're consistently investing in your employee well-being and it's, it's gonna help the company, it's gonna help everybody and you know, everyone's gonna have better outcomes as a result.
18:03: Absolutely.
18:04: So when you think of and when you look at the landscape and the folks, whether they're your clients or not, you know, what are, what are some of the like most amazing progressive offerings that you've seen, you know, that you, you think are, you know, these really make an impact, you know, HR professional.
18:20: They're very interested in sort of the, the, you know, the measuring of the outcomes.
18:24: They want to know it's working.
18:25: They wanna know adoption is good.
18:27: What are some of the things out there now that are super popular that people really, you know, are adopting and then keeping because the employees really want it.
18:37: Yeah, so I definitely think technology and remote work are kind of reshaping how programs are being delivered, and there's this growing appetite for the solution to support the dispersed workforce, dress burnout in a more holistic way.
18:50: Companies are really trying to check the boxes, and I would say that, you know, some of the trends that we're seeing.
18:58: is more on demand content, for example.
19:02: So one of our new products is our on-demand content library, which allows people to engage in professionally produced short format wellness breaks from anywhere.
19:12: They might be, you know, in a hotel room for a conference, they can like pop it on their phone, they can, you know, sit at their desktop and take a little break.
19:21: So that's been something that's been really interesting.
19:24: , also, HR leaders are really looking to sharpen the execution and implementation of chosen programs and use data-driven insights to make better decisions about the types of programs that they're bringing in.
19:39: So over the years that I've been doing this, there's really been a shift from ROI to VOI, VOI being the value on investment, ROI being the return on investment, and what we're really seeing is that if people are engaging in the programs and we have the data to to back it up, then there's a value on that investment and so tools to track engagement, participation and to be able to have a dashboard.
20:06: , to give you those data-driven insights, I think is really the direction that, population health wellness programs are going for companies.
20:15: I love that value on investment.
20:17: I mean, I think, you know, in healthcare in general, we need a lot more discussion of the value on investment and all of that.
20:23: And, you know, I think back to, you know, when I started working and kind of like in, in the office and, you know, just the gym, like just the gym membership discount was like, that, that was like the huge perk, you know?
20:35: And, of course, we, we met over over Pick a ball at Smash.
20:39: So tell me a little bit about, are you seeing employers integrate things like health clubs.
20:45: or even social clubs.
20:46: There's, you know, lots of different clubs that people can join now.
20:51: in those things are people doing that and kind of what's the what's the appeal of those, yes, one of the things I'm really excited about is just seeing companies getting people together for movement.
21:06: it's a fun way to just get, you know, check the physical activity, get a regular exercise in and just bring people together.
21:14: , I think employers should be leaning into culture and experience initiatives like clubs, like Cali Smash, of course, because they think it's just a no-brainer to boost morale, bring people together.
21:26: It's something that's good for their bodies and good for business, right?
21:29: It's social, you're chatting, you're out of a boardroom, you're not in such a formal environment and I find that I have the most productive conversations and I'm moving my body.
21:39: I solve difficult problems when I'm moving my body.
21:42: So, And, you know, even our team, we get together, we go for like beach walks or hikes.
21:47: It's just a really nice way for you to get out of your normal office environment and connect on a deeper different level.
21:57: Yeah, no, I mean, 100%.
21:59: And if you think about like networking and, you know, certainly golf was and is remains such a big part of that, you know, but, you know, somewhat, has a, not a stigma, but a, a stereotype to it, if you will.
22:12: and that, you know, that.
22:14: Pickle ball is kind of accessible, but anything, as you said, that, you know, getting out and walking, being healthy together, where some folks might have that, you know, I don't want to do that.
22:24: I mean, I used to always, you know, really we're really gonna play softball at the company outing this time.
22:31: But like, I'm old school, you know?
22:33: And, and now I think people really, really want that.
22:36: And in some ways, it's a product of the dispersed workforce, as you said, you know, in that they don't get to be together, sitting with each other every day by the cube.
22:46: They do want to get together in these types of environments that that.
22:50: They want to be social in a way that's good for their bodies too.
22:54: Like one of the things I've noticed is, especially with the younger generation, which I'm loving the influences, they don't want to network at a happy hour on like a Tuesday night and they're, you know, more mindful about their alcohol intake, for example, and so, they're more driven to go to a networking event that it's gonna allow them to have their movement break and that social connection and maybe connect over some, you know, for the over the opportunity of of a bike, biking path they like or a racket sport they like in the example of pickle ball.
23:28: And I'm finding that getting together socially.
23:31: Movement, like you said, pickle ball being so accessible, it's something that has like a low lift from an entry level.
23:37: It's not technical like golf or tennis.
23:39: Like I know my husband, anytime there's a golf related networking event, he's always like, Oh man, I got to dust off my golfing skills, right?
23:48: So that he can like keep up socially with this group or he'll have me come.
23:52: and do a tennis game and I'm like, oh my gosh, I can't even keep score.
23:56: I don't even know what's out here.
23:58: But you know, something like pickle ball or a hike or a walk doesn't require that high physical activity entry level and so it's accessible and you walk away feeling better than you did before you walked in.
24:10: 100%.
24:11: Yeah, no, and I do think, I mean, that's the non That desire, you know, sort of like everyone just used to go to happy hour.
24:17: It has for sure changed.
24:19: I mean even from events, from an event standpoint, that that was always enough.
24:23: And now, you know, you've got to have a little bit more, more going on.
24:27: So as we look ahead and as, you know, as we look at kind of, I know you just had, you just attend.
24:32: of the California HR conference.
24:34: I mean, there's a lot, you know, you talk about AI and technology and, and sort of the digital transformation of the workforce, but also even health trends that people are into.
24:44: What are some of the things that, you know, you think will be impacting workplace wellness over the next few years?
24:51: Yeah, I definitely, know we'll continue to see holistic well-being being a bigger part of population health strategies, especially programs being built around the eight dimensions of wellness.
25:02: It's not just physical, it's not just mental health.
25:05: There's so much more when you're looking at the complete picture of an individual or an organization's well-being.
25:12: I think more companies are going to adopt scalable solutions, like I mentioned that on-demand content.
25:17: , or virtual experiences that really offer that cost effective anytime access to wellness support.
25:24: And last, I think HR leaders are going to keep pushing for data-driven insights to guide their decisions.
25:30: And the tech that delivers those insights is just going to keep improving and that's going to make it easier for HR teams to act with clarity and with impact.
25:40: Absolutely amazing, you know, and I think the story of your, you know, sort of founding Marina Wellness and kind of finding that gap in the marketplace and kind of where it's evolved to, as, I mean, the workplace has just undergone such a, I mean, literally a tectonic shift, and that you've been able to kind of pivot between those two worlds to kind of follow where this is going and continue to follow that gap as Amazing, and I'm excited to see what we're able to do together both in Health Impact and digital Health talks and California Smash in creating health and wellness events where all of these worlds intersect because of course in El Segunda we have, you know, amazing technology and, and, you know, incredible employers that will be interested in these types of things, so, You know, thanks so much for joining us.
26:27: Tell the audience how they can reach you if they wanna, you know, contact you about Merino Wellness and get and get them, get you guys involved in their, workplace.
26:36: Thank you so much, Megan.
26:38: So you can find us online at www.marrio Wellness.com, spelled M A R I N O.
26:47: , yeah, I look forward to just continuing the conversation.
26:51: I look forward to meeting you out on the court, Megan.
26:54: We got to get out there and thank you so much for having me.
26:57: Absolutely, thanks so much, Carly.
26:59: I really appreciate it and to our audience, thank you so much for joining us.
27:04: It's always such a pleasure to talk to female founders working to kind of improve health and well-being across all platforms.
27:11: So, remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcast.
27:15: Until, until next time, this is Megan Antonelli from Digital Health Talks. Thank you.
27:22: Thank you for joining us on Digital Health Talks, where we explore the intersection of healthcare and technology with leaders who are transforming patient care. This episode was brought to you by our valued program partners. Automation Anywhere, revolutionizing healthcare work flows through intelligent automation. Neteera, advancing contactless vital signs monitoring. Ellit groups delivering strategic healthcare IT solutions. SailPoint, securing healthcare identity management and access governance.
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