Return on Wellness

About Return on Wellness

Return on Wellness brings together world-renowned experts ranging from board certified doctors, researchers, and event industry leaders, who reveal how wellness strategies can transform events, boost engagement, and drive real business impact. Get cutting-edge insights and actionable takeaways from the brightest minds in the field.

Publisher

Olympian Meeting

Category

health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

13 Oct 2023

Latest episode

27 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

54 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   27 Oct 2026

   Is Your Workplace Causing Burnout? The Case for Mental Health Standards with Dr. Ferron Gray

   We talk A LOT about burnout in the meetings and events industry. But are we spending too much time teaching people how to cope with stressful environments instead of asking whether we should change the environments themselves? In this episode of Return on Wellness, I sit down with Dr. Ferron Gray, forensic psychologist and President of the Grae Matta Foundation, to talk about his work developing mental health standards specifically for the meetings and events industry. And this isn't about adding another wellness activation. Ferron is working toward something much bigger: establishing expectations around leadership and accountability, operational wellbeing, culture and engagement, and actually measuring whether organizations are creating mentally healthy environments. We get into what that could look like in practice, including proactive Mental Health First Aid, psychological safety, quiet spaces, organizational mental health policies and who ultimately bears responsibility when an event involves dozens of employers, suppliers and contractors. We also tackle the question companies inevitably have to ask: What's the business case? Burnout doesn't just affect the individual. It can show up as absenteeism, turnover, retraining costs, lost institutional knowledge and additional pressure on the people who remain. Then we get into a question that sits right at the intersection of Ferron's work and mine: Can you have a wellness-focused event that's actually mentally unhealthy? You can offer yoga, meditation, healthy meals and recovery experiences, but if people are sleep-deprived, overloaded or afraid to admit they're struggling, how "well" is the environment we've actually created? Ferron's work is now moving into implementation, with the Grae Matta Foundation looking for organizations willing to test these frameworks in real-world environments, identify what works and what breaks, and help shape what could eventually become a broader international standard. Maybe the next evolution of workplace wellness isn't another thing we give people. Maybe it's taking greater responsibility for the environments we're creating for them. IN THIS EPISODE: • Why Ferron believes the events industry needs mental health standards • The four pillars behind the proposed framework • Psychological safety and why people may be afraid to speak up • Proactive Mental Health First Aid • Designing quiet and decompression spaces • Individual responsibility vs. organizational responsibility • Who owns mental health when multiple suppliers are working onsite • Whether mental health requirements could enter event RFPs • The business case for mentally healthy workplaces • Why wellness programs don't automatically create healthy environments • How the frameworks are being tested and refined • The path toward certification and international standardization WANT TO GET INVOLVED? The Grae Matta Foundation is looking for organizations and individuals interested in contributing to this work, including organizations willing to help test and develop the frameworks, as well as partnership, advisory and volunteer opportunities. Grae Matta Foundation: https://graemattafoundation.org/ (https://graemattafoundation.org/) Contact: info@graemattafoundation.org (mailto:info@graemattafoundation.org) ABOUT RETURN ON WELLNESS Return on Wellness explores the science, strategy and people reshaping how we think about wellness in meetings, events, hospitality and the workplace. Hosted by David T. Stevens. Return on Wellness is presented by Caesars Entertainment.

2. 

   12 Oct 2026

   Wellness Standards Are Coming to Events: Introducing CEWP with MPI

   Wellness in events is moving beyond yoga breaks, smoothies, and good intentions. In this breaking news edition of Return on Wellness, David T. Stevens sits down with Tim Luepke, Director of Education at Meeting Professionals International, to announce the launch of the Certified Event Wellness Professional (CEWP) certificate. Created through a partnership between MPI Academy and Olympian Meeting, CEWP is designed to help meeting and event professionals bring more standards, critical thinking, and evidence-informed strategy to wellness in meetings, conferences, trade shows, and live experiences. Built around the 4 M’s: Mindfulness, Movement, Meaning, and Meals, the course brings together world-class experts, including MDs, PhDs, registered dietitians, human performance specialists, food safety experts, accessibility leaders, and experienced event professionals. This is not wellness as an add-on. It is wellness as event strategy. In this episode, David and Tim discuss why wellness matters now, why planners are responsible for the wellbeing of attendees and themselves, how MPI Academy is supporting the credential, and why the industry needs a more credible way to evaluate wellness offerings, practitioners, and event design decisions. Learn more about the Certified Event Wellness Professional certificate through MPI Academy. Register your interest here: https://meetingprofessionals.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_02ErvBXHX01j47I?Q_CHL=qr (https://open.spotify.com/episode/4tEHR3S3bHvz1q0RWUGdpV?si=W8Rxels5RauFgQK6rim77g)

3. 

   29 Sept 2026

   Can You Succeed in Events Without Burning Out? | The Oxygen Mask Effect

   The meetings and events industry rewards people who can handle more: more travel, longer days, less sleep, more clients and more pressure. But when does “I can handle this” need to become “I shouldn’t have to handle this”? David T. Stevens sits down with entrepreneur, speaker and breast cancer survivor Ira Kaganovsky Green for a candid conversation about ambition, resilience, burnout, leadership and redefining success. They explore why exhaustion has become a badge of honor in events, the difference between resilience and simply tolerating too much, and whether you can build a demanding, successful career that still fits the life you actually want. This isn’t a conversation about becoming less ambitious. It’s about being more intentional about what all that ambition is supposed to produce. CONNECT WITH IRA Ira Kaganovsky Green https://www.iraspeaks.com/ (https://www.iraspeaks.com/) Freedom https://freedomdeodorant.com/ (https://freedomdeodorant.com/) RESOURCES MENTIONED Las Vegas Breast Cancer Warriors https://www.lasvegasbreastcancerwarriors.org/ (https://www.lasvegasbreastcancerwarriors.org/) Art Bra Austin benefiting the Breast Cancer Resource Center https://artbraaustin.bcrc.org/ (https://artbraaustin.bcrc.org/) CHAPTERS 00:00 Welcome to Return On Wellness 02:13 The “Marbles” Theory: Trust, Sales & Human Connection 05:56 Can AI Create a Human Connection Renaissance? 13:15 What Did Success Used to Look Like? 16:57 When Ambition Becomes Self-Neglect 20:49 Why “More” Is Never Enough 24:20 The Behaviors Ira Would Never Normalize Today 27:19 The 15/15 Wellness Routine 31:02 Micro-Disruptions, Quiet & Moments of Awe 36:21 A Breast Cancer Diagnosis and a Forced Reset 42:22 What Suddenly Stopped Mattering 43:16 Redefining Success as Freedom 47:39 Why Event Professionals Glorify Exhaustion 50:39 When Overwork Becomes a Badge of Honor 53:40 “I Can Handle This” vs. “I Shouldn’t Have To” 56:46 Self-Care vs. Workplace Culture 1:01:35 Human Sustainability for Event Professionals 1:04:08 What Ira Would Tell Her Younger Self 1:06:10 Build Your Life on Your Own Terms ABOUT RETURN ON WELLNESS Return On Wellness explores how evidence-based wellness can be intentionally designed into meetings, events and hospitality to support stronger human and business outcomes.

Who has been a guest on Return on Wellness

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Dr Gautam Gulati
• Dr David Bilstrom
• Dr Elliot Justin
• Dr Tyler LeBaron
• Michael Donovan

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

193,139

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

5 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 40 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

46

Social presence

0

YouTube

86

Engagement

0

Contact Return on Wellness

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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