Meet Jillian Bernstein

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jillian Bernstein a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jillian, we’ve been so fortunate to work with so many incredible folks and one common thread we have seen is that those who have built amazing lives for themselves are also often the folks who are most generous. Where do you think your generosity comes from?

My parents never talked about giving but their actions have inspired me over the years to ensure that generosity is woven into my personal fabric. My mother was a speech pathologist who worked in a couple of elementary schools in our county. Sadly, she passed away at the age of 54 due to a cancer misdiagnosis. Still working in her prime prior to her passing away, she had full caseloads of children at the schools. When it was time for us to gather her personal items, my father discovered piles and piles of thank you cards from children, thanking her for backpacks, clothing, and school supplies. We never knew. All of these years, my Mom, when making her weekly shopping trip, in addition to buying my brother and me our basic necessities, would also selflessly shop for other children. She never told my father, my brother or me about giving to others. She just did it – no fanfare or recognition needed. Her actions were so inspiring to all of us, that after we found all of the notes, we started a non-profit called Friends of Fern. We donated every dollar earned back to the schools to help children who needed school supplies or clothes.
I should not have been surprised about what was discovered in my mother’s desk drawers at her school. Ever since we were young, my brother and I were taught to give, even if it was a little bit. Our Jewish heritage focuses on a concept called Tikkun Olam, which means repairing the world, which naturally cultivates generosity. Every week at Sunday school, we donated our coins or maybe even a dollar into a jar. The money collected was then donated to a local charity. The theme of giving continued into my teenage years. As a sophomore in high school, I will never forget walking the streets of Washington, DC with other teens and delivering our handmade sandwiches to individuals experiencing homelessness. As I handed one gentleman the sandwich and introduced myself, I found out this man’s name was Magic. He and I had a conversation about how his life experience had some unfortunate turns that landed him without a home. The gratitude he expressed for the sandwich and time he spent speaking with us, along with his smile, was something I will never forget. That encounter inspired me to continue volunteering as a young professional, and now as I now have children of my own, I am intentional about modeling giving – and doing so anonymously when we are able. Whether I am taking my kids to the DC Diaper Bank to organize, sort and package new diapers for delivery or whether we are donating cookies to children at The NIH’s Children’s Inn, I have woven giving back – not only in donations but of your time – into our family’s values. In the professional world, I constantly seek out and support organizations that give back to the community regularly. Through The Wellness Extension, I love working with companies to arrange “Give Back Days,” where colleagues gather around a cause and build community by volunteering together. This could mean building Adirondack chairs for Habitat for Humanity or preparing packets for children in hospitals with Happy Hope Factory. What is special is that when employees come together and give their time to a meaningful effort, they connect and ultimately feel good – individually and collectively. So, I get it – my Mom “did it” because not only was it a good way to give back but it was a quiet way to feel good too.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Well-being has always been top of mind for me but even more so after I lost my mom to cancer when I was 27 – before I had kids and before I hit my professional stride. I had just started my career in Human Resources (prior to that I was an economics consultant). At 27, I could have benefited from more support for my personal well-being at work, after all I spent most of my weekday hours (and some weekend hours) there. One of the many lessons that my Mom taught me was to prioritize well-being.

I started The Wellness Extension to bring a focus on well-being at work so colleagues can show up as their whole selves. Employees crave connection at work, which leads to higher engagement and retention. I saw this first-hand during the pandemic when the desire for community grew even stronger as employees were isolated from their co-workers. Even in a hybrid environment this need continues.

After 20 years of leading Human Resources teams, I saw there was a gap between what HR could provide (we are always putting out fires) and what employees want in terms of well-being at work. Yet these programs did not exist with our benefit brokers – at least not ones that were run by a human connector. So, I became that connector. Through The Wellness Extension, I bring my HR toolkit (from compensation, benefits, performance & talent management, etc.) along with my passion for meaningful well-being initiatives to smaller organizations and strapped HR teams. From quarterly, accessible wellness challenges with expert guidance on topics such as sleep, hydration, nutrition and even training together for a 5K, I lead innovative programs that have resulted in a rise in engagement and camaraderie among colleagues.

Knowing that employees remain with companies that invest in their holistic health, well-being and happiness at work, The Wellness Extension (WE) is that bridge for HR teams to ensure these critical benefits remain front and center for an organization. Whether it is conducting a well-being survey, doing the administrative work of organizing yoga classes or healthy cooking demos, or leading well-being challenges for your employees, WE provide both turnkey and customizable solutions to build, connect and engage a company’s talent – WE are a true extension of any leadership or HR team!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Empathy, being a good listener and having a thirst to learn have all helped propel me in my journey.

Empathy is a critical trait for anyone in the people ops/HR field. Considering the impact of benefits, policies and programs on employee morale and retention is key – and you can only do that if you are putting yourselves in others shoes and truly thinking about their reactions. Empathy and anticipating reactions helps drive strategy in all I do.

Active listening and reflecting on what I hear via employee surveys, stay interviews and conversations is critical. At the end of the day, employees spend the better part of their week immersed in their work, so understanding what they need for support both inside and outside of work is key. For instance, if your current workforce has a significant sandwich generation population who are not only juggling the teen years but also caring for aging parents, caregiver leave may be a good benefit consideration. You need to ask the questions and listen to your employees’ responses so you can build effective programs and implement meaningful benefits to retain them for the long haul.

And, cultivating empathy and active listening could only happen if I also invest in my own personal and professional development and growth. I have engaged in multiple communities since starting The Wellness Extension, not to just grow my network but to grow my skill sets. I did not go to business school, so I recognized, I need to learn how to market myself. I could sell a company’s job to a candidate, but I recognized I needed help and guidance on how can I sell my services. So, I enrolled in a year-long marketing class with other amazing female entrepreneurs and upskilled my abilities in social media, pitching myself and elevating my outreach efforts.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I started The Wellness Extension to be just that – an extension and a partner to strapped HR teams or leadership. My clients have ranged from 6 person teams to companies with over 200 employees. My goal is to collaborate with each client on the implementation of HR foundational pieces while ensuring their team members are engaged and happy at work.

HR is not personnel, it’s personal. As such, I want to make sure organizations with whom I work also value well-being of their people who bring their whole selves to work each day. Simultaneously, I am looking to lift up other female entrepreneurs to help bring wellness programming to the workplace. Already I have collaborated with a number of amazing women in the well-being space to coordinate sessions on topics such as burnout, macronutrient education and even how to get better sleep! I want to be that human connector for companies so their people actually look forward to coming to work each day because their employer cares about and invests in their team’s well-being.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.wellness-extension.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wellness_extension
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillianbernstein/

Image Credits

Please give credit to Danielle Sara Photography for all photos.
https://www.daniellesaraphotography.com/