SquadTalks with Anne Helen Petersen: Creating Space for Community

When we invited Anne Helen Petersen, author, journalist and culture critic, to come chat with LaunchSquad, we couldn’t settle on which element of her expertise we wanted to dissect most: her journey as a writer, her insightful commentary on celebrity narratives or her thoughts on burnout and the workplace. So, we explored them all with a Q&A hosted by our own Lisa Picasso! What we found, though, was that the central theme of each topic was something very dear to LaunchSquad: community.

Anne found her niche in marrying research with first-person narrative while navigating the twists and turns of building a career in several tumultuous job markets. This gave her a unique ability to make readers question the elements of society we've always seen as normal. Academics have termed this approach of infusing story with sociological exploration as "reverse gaslighting." We love it. Why? Our take is that creating a space to interrogate our societal norms for a stronger, healthier community can drive more resonant storytelling for the change-the-world companies we work with.

We then explored “star study,” an academic concept of researching celebrities and discovering what’s driving the narrative discourse around them. This naturally aligned with our own beliefs: anything can be a story, but what makes it worth telling is the collective interest of a broader community (or the significance it’ll have for said community). We’ve learned that sometimes, it’s as simple as finding a thread and tugging at it to unravel something meaningful.

Finally, we discussed collectivism v individualism. Specifically, we explored the employer’s responsibility to create enough space within an organization to allow people to unplug. With that, employees can achieve a sense of catharsis about their work, which in turn allows them time, space and energy to explore community in their homes and neighborhoods. While community can have a profound impact on our sense of belonging and value at work, it can also positively impact our personal lives. It’s a win-win-win for everyone involved. 

As we look toward 2023, we’re infusing inspiration from Anne to continue creating opportunities for fellow Squaders to thrive. We're making space for our colleagues to live their whole lives. Making space for community at work and at home creates an enormous sense of perspective; which, at its core, makes us better at storytelling, maintaining a work environment that people want to be a part of and, simply, just being good humans.

If you haven’t already subscribed to all things Anne Helen Petersen, find her on Substack or at her newest podcast, Work Appropriate.