Odette & Co
Odette Barry
Episode 7
Odette & Co | Odette Barry on the importance of creating an emotionally intelligent workplace
Odette & Co is a PR and digital marketing agency based in Byron Bay. Describing themselves as ‘end-to-end’ they tackle all realms from PR activation, copywriting, social media and social media workshops, marketing, and graphic design—all grounded in their signature O&D style and always backed by a results-driven strategy.
Odette Barry is the Director and Head Honcho at Odette & Co. She really values the importance of relationships and takes time to build a rapport with all the companies clients, as well as, all her incredible team. Ensuring she has a genuine interest and relationship with her team can mean the difference between having an engaged workforce or one that is purely there for the pay-check.
In a recent Mumbrella article (have a read here), she discusses the importance of allowing a new emotional workforce who feel empowered to bring their true authentic self to the job. She explains “because we spend so much time at work, we have a genuine yearning for that relationship to be one filled with passion, purpose, joy, connection, authenticity and transparency – qualities once reserved for a life partner are now ‘key criteria’ in our ideal job description”.
Done are the days where a 9-5 job was kept for one snippet of a workers character. Odette encourages open sharing during team meetings so staff can update everyone on their lives outside of work. She believes that this open dialogue instils trust, confidence and respect within her team which is vital to the success of a business – especially one in the service-based industry.
Odette sat down to have a chat about her own experiences on merging work and personal life and encouraging her team to do the same.
“We’re human. We’re vulnerable. And because we spend so much time at work, we have a genuine yearning for that relationship to be one filled with passion, purpose, joy, connection, authenticity and transparency – qualities once reserved for a life partner are now ‘key criteria’ in our ideal job description.”
— Odette Barry, Odette & Co

Odette & Co | Odette Barry
Podcast
Mentioned in conversation…
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What the Emotional Workforce is, and why it’s being championed by some big names right now such as Brene Brown and Esther Perel.
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These hard-hitting statistics about creatives and mental health in the workplace, bringing home the importance of creating an environment where people feel comfortable bringing their ‘whole’ selves to the office
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Why vulnerability in leadership is the way forward, and we’re finally learning that showing your whole, authentic self has huge benefits to both business and personal life