Hey, it’s okay not to be okay
We want our culture to be a place where people feel safe to ask for and receive the support they need, free from judgment and stigma.
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Heart & Soul
Heart & Soul is our global mental health initiative for all Spotify employees. We believe that everyone’s experiences of mental health—from illness to wellbeing—are welcomed, respected and championed.
We’re cultivating a stigma-free workplace that is open and caring about all mental health issues.
Thoughts and feelings
Explore a wealth of audio content designed to start conversations, break stigmas and boost moods.
Our approach
With Heart & Soul, we aim to do three things. We believe all need to co-exist to make a meaningful impact on our culture and our people.
Everything we do connects back to this strategy. Since launching in 2018, Heart & Soul has focused on providing moments for our band members to build their knowledge around mental health and mental illness.
Since our experiences of both are unique, we also aim to give our people the tools and resources they need to nurture their mental health in their own way.
1.
Raise awareness and build knowledge.
2.
Enable proactive self-care and professional support.
3.
Normalize the conversation surrounding mental health to reduce stigma.
Our ambassadors are at the heart of this work
Three pillars may help us to focus our efforts, but Heart & Soul cannot truly thrive without the help of others.
A healthy and supportive environment is created from the inside – any meaningful change needs to be driven by and together with band members. That’s why we introduced mental health ambassadors, employees from across Spotify who devote a few hours per week to spreading the Heart & Soul message, planning and driving initiatives, and ensuring activities are approached in a locally-relevant way.
When an ever-increasing number of band members reached out to ambassadors for guidance and advice – we listened – sending our team of volunteers to train as Mental Health First Aiders.
Since 2021, they’ve been equipped to facilitate supportive conversations, listen in a non-judgmental way and guide band members towards the right support – whether that’s self-care tools and resources, or therapy.
Our ambassadors’ dedication to creating a culture that allows people to speak up and take good care of themselves is undeniable. The whole team can feel the impact they have, and we can say from the bottom of our hearts that they’re instrumental in helping us to create a supportive and stigma-free culture. Spotify provides the guidance and the framework, but it’s our ambassadors who breathe life into Heart & Soul.
All the feels
Stigma grows in silence. We aim to combat it by making help and support more accessible.
We want to make it easier for our listeners and creators to get the support they need for themselves or others they know who are struggling. We help by offering short-term counseling – available 24/7 – through our All The Feels program and by hosting an easy-to-navigate microsite full of localized resources.
Recognising and responding to abuse at home
We believe that everybody has a vital role to play in preventing and tackling domestic abuse.
That’s why we’ve extended our Heart & Soul initiative to also provide help for any band members experiencing abuse at home and to raise awareness more generally.
Band members can access a library of resources to help build their knowledge and understanding, and we aim to offer immediate support to anyone affected, promoting their safety, wellbeing and reducing disruption to their lives at work.
Partnering up
We can’t drive meaningful change on our own. We collaborate closely with external partners who act as a sounding board for our initiatives and support our band members with various programs.
