& Ruth Furman
Ruth Furman, Founder of Las Vegas-based ImageWords Communications, recently appeared on the Watching Mental Health podcast, hosted by Katie Waechter.
On the segment Furman discussed how she helps mental health providers find media opportunities as well as the rewarding nature of doing this important work.
In the past few years, Furman built a strong mental health provider client base that she frequently uses to help journalists source their stories. At the same time, these opportunities also place her clients into positions to amplify their personal brand while sharing their expertise.
“I consider it my role as a business owner doing work in mental health to really help my media contacts navigate content by connecting them with the right sources and to help my clients get their news out there,” she said.
When traumatic events occur, Furman often watches news cycles shift initially from event coverage to stories about how to deal with the trauma. That later-stage coverage brings many opportunities for her clients.
“We’re helping with those stories about how to talk to your kids? What does this all mean? How do we navigate this going forward? It’s a real privilege for me to kind of provide that bridge, and I have seen how these stories help others, including myself,” she added.
Later in the podcast, Furman also talked about how she has implemented her own mental health self-care strategies in order to be a better business owner. She admits a weakness of hers is to overschedule, but now she chooses to take fewer meetings, and give herself more time between them. She refers to this slower, more deliberate, approach as a “superpower.”
“Knowing that I function best in certain situations and that certain situations are going to bring out my vulnerability, the scattered version of myself, I now know I need to build in time before appointments,” she said. “So, that’s a superpower for me now. The superpower is in taking care of myself physically and mentally so I show up better and I’m happier.”
Learn more at the Watching Mental Health podcast or ImageWords Communications websites.
