Annie Richardson started posting mental-health facts as a challenge.

She wanted to share one fact each day until her page reached 1,000 followers on Instagram.

The workplace mental health consultant reached her goal within four posts.

“I wanted to normalise the conversation around mental health,” she said.

The first fact she posted was: “Your manager has as much impact on your mental health as your spouse.”

The post received around 40,000 likes and is still one of her most popular.

“There is an interest in this,” she said. “People really enjoy hearing about workplace mental health. The posts make people talk about it.”

She said many people spend most of their day at work, so it is important that they feel happy and supported there.

She got into the mental wellness sphere years ago after several family members had challenges.

After years in senior human resource roles, she wanted to help address mental health and stigma and make a positive difference in her community.

On one of her Instagram posts, Ms Richardson explained that the Mindful Employer page was created because people should not have to choose between their mental health and their job.

“They can have both,” Ms Richardson said. “If you have ever felt overwhelmed, unseen or stretched too thin at work, this space was built for you. If, as a manager, you want tips on how to better support your employees and help them thrive, this page is for you too.”

She started by posting information about mental health on Instagram, then this summer made the leap to YouTube, posting longer videos to dive deeper into certain topics.

“In September, I did an interview with a former colleague whose husband died by suicide,” she said. “That was a very difficult conversation.”

Her biggest challenge has been putting herself out there.

“I hate being in front of the camera,” she confessed.

But she recognises that showing her face helps people connect with her message.

One of her challenges is just finding the time to do it all. She also runs the Bermuda Mental Health Foundation’s Mindful Employer Certification Programme with Vaughan Mosher.

The programme helps organisations assess how their policies and practices support employees. It uses 14 standards covering areas such as workplace policies, employee training and access to support.

Employers can work towards bronze, silver, gold or platinum certification.

She said mental health in the workplace is about more than a mental illness diagnosis, as is sometimes thought.

People go through phases in life and sometimes employers have to be supportive, she said.

“For example, it could be how you as a manager support an employee with an ageing parent with dementia,” she said. “They may need a little bit more flexibility in the morning or you could allow them to work from home more. It does not have to be a big intervention.”

She said managers can also reduce avoidable pressures by setting clear priorities, checking in when workloads become heavy and considering the expectations created by late-night or weekend e-mails.

“It is more about awareness than it is about pointing fingers and saying that company is bad or that employee is bad. It is more about the fact that we can all do something to support each other.”

She said employees are also responsible for advocating for themselves and setting boundaries.

“You also need to clarify with your manager what the priorities are here,” she said. “If you are drowning and your manager doesn’t know about it, it is also your responsibility to let them know.”

• For more information, seewww.mindfulemployerbermuda.org