Florence Pérès

“The best things in life don’t happen on a screen”

“Busy busy busy? Train your brain!”

Besides being a qualified mindfulness trainer, Florence Pérès (1975) is an accomplished keynote speaker and coach at Better Minds at Work, specializing in stress management and burnout prevention. After her communication studies she worked at one of the first internet agencies in Belgium. She has been active in the sector of digital media and the internet for over 20 years and now combines her expertise in technology and new communication applications with her extensive experience in living a healthy and balanced life. One of the topics she deals with is the balance that is needed deal with stress in today’s hectic society. Another example of a very topical subject matter is her keynote on ‘Digital Detox’. Many managers and executives are ‘addicted’ to their smartphones. They are almost ‘poisoned’ by social media and e-mail. In her speech Florence shows the theoretical background and she gives practical tips to get your personal communication under control.

New technology and communication

In 1995-96 when the internet was still in its infancy, Florence concluded her studies in communication at the Artevelde Hogeschool in Ghent with a master thesis on the ‘Social implications of the internet’. This was her introduction to the sector of digital media and the internet, after which she started her career at The Reference the first web agency in Belgium. She remained in the realm of web and digital innovation as an account manager and later as account director at ONE Agency and as a strategic consultant at DearMedia (now Duval Union Consulting).
The impact of technology and digital innovation on our daily lives and ways of communicating and the social implications of the internet have always fascinated her. Today she strives to raise awareness in these modern times dominated by technology.

Techno stress and Oriental medicine

Twenty years after her thesis the internet is omnipresent and so prominent that we’re unable to deal with it wisely. This is why digital detox and awareness of techno stress are so important. Florence trains people to be more skilled in dealing with stress in general and to lead a healthier and more balanced life. She draws on first-hand experience when it comes to stress, but by seeking ways to deal with this, a whole new world opened up to her. For years she intensively practiced hatha yoga, Tai Chi and QiQong. She studied shiatsu for three years at the Kimura Shiatsu Institute and enrolled in a two-year course to become Health Consultant (nutritional health and lifestyle) at the European Academy.

Do what you really want to do

All this knowledge and experience couldn’t however prevent her from suffering a burnout herself a couple of years ago. At that moment mindfulness brought the biggest change in her quality of life. After attending an eight-week training, she followed a postgraduate ‘Mindfulness Trainer’ at the Artevelde Hogeschool in Ghent (two years) and went to study under David Dewulf (IAM). Naturally it directed her professional life into a new direction. The starting points are the today’s hectic, dynamic and rapidly growing company environment, the collaboration between different types of teams (marketing, sales, IT, HR, production, customer service…) and her knowledge as a strategic consultant in digital innovation and transformation for a plethora of clients with very different business cultures. Florence uses this in-depth knowledge of the workplace in her keynotes, trainings and coaching on burnout prevention, digital detox, stress management and building resilience.

Photography: Ioannis Tsouloulis.

How to handle stress in this frantic and digital world

Business & Management, HR, Corporate Culture, Management, Work Life Balance, Personal development, Healthy Life, Psychology

Are we still aware in this constantly faster turning society? Or do we have the feeling the life passes us by, that we don’t have any grip on it and that we are being lived. On our job too not everything goes as we want to, heavy workload, deadlines, reorganizations, new procedures and increasingly higher demands for quality, more responsibilities, we need to be flexible, we have to be a team player, etc. …
We outrun ourselves and we lose oversight of all we have to do. More and more people are therefore affected by burnout. In the middle of this all a calm, focused spirit can bring back balance and serenity. In that way we can step out of autopilot and regain control of our lives and our work.
During the presentation with a high infotainment content, Florence shows you how stress builds up and how we have more impact on this than we think. Using recent scientific findings she offers handles to build up resilience, to be more efficient and to turn your back to stressful thoughts.
By better understanding how stress works and how to prevent burnout, you are encouraged to get started: the simple method and tips can also be incorporated into the busy life of the ‘busy people’.

Digital Detox: finding balance in dealing with technology & social media

HR, Corporate Culture, Communication, Public Relations, Creativity, Innovation, Trends, Philosophy, Spirituality, Religion, Work Life Balance, Education, Pedagogy, ICT & Technology, Media, Gaming

We are more and more intertwined with our smartphone; we depend on it and even are addicted to it. We constantly and unconsciously check our mailbox, our social media and other messages. Each quiet moment is filled by digital stimuli. On the work floor too, digital intoxication is sometimes taking disturbing forms, and not only because it affects the efficiency of meetings.
During this presentation, Florence Pérès explains what ‘always on’ does to our brains, why this drastically affects our performance and increases our stress level.
The presentation starts from scientific material but is also fun and very interactive. Thanks to the insights, practical advice and the immediately applicable tips, you will be motivated to be less connected with the virtual world, but more with yourself, your experience and the people around you to find our ‘tech/life balance’.

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