myGwork talks to Andreya Ezekiel-Meade from Virgin Media O2 about how employers can better support employees
BY DYLAN MANN-HAZELL, IMAGE PROVIDED
Andreya Ezekiel-Meade approaches inclusion and mental health at Virgin Media O2 with clear intent: to change how workplaces think about wellbeing, especially for LGBTQIA+ employees whose experiences are too often overlooked. As Chair of the LGBTQIA+ network Proudly, she plays an active role in supporting change across the organisation, from contributing to internal conversations to running initiatives and creating spaces where LGBTQIA + employees feel heard and represented. In this interview with myGwork, she reflects on why mental health must be part of workplace culture, why an LGBTQIA+ lens is essential, and how organizations can move from statements to meaningful action.
Please introduce yourself and tell us about your role at your organization.
By day, I’m a Software Engineer working in the Agentic AI space at Virgin Media O2. I help figure out how cutting-edge AI can make things better for both the business and our customers. It’s genuinely one of the most exciting areas in tech right now. I feel very lucky to be in it.
I also chair our LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group, Proudly. This means I get to play a role in supporting change that happens within the company, organise events and initiatives, and make sure our community feels represented and heard. Not just acknowledged in a company newsletter and forgotten about until next June.
Why do you think it’s important to discuss mental health in the workplace?
Ignoring it doesn’t make it go away. It makes it quieter and lonelier. Mental health touches everything: focus, confidence, how you show up for your team. And whether you can hold a conversation without your brain feeling like a browser with multiple tabs open.
People spend a chunk of their lives at work. If mental health is treated as something embarrassing or inconvenient, people end up suffering in silence, tensing their way through the day. Open conversations help normalise getting support before things reach breaking point. Honestly, that’s better for everyone, including the bottom line.
Do you think it’s important to talk specifically about LGBTQIA+ mental health? Why?
LGBTQ+ people often carry additional weight. This includes navigating whether it’s safe to come out at work, managing the mental load of potential discrimination, or feeling like you need to perform a slightly edited version of yourself just to fit in.
For me, it started young. I was one of only a handful of openly gay people at my school, which, spoiler alert, was not the “fun, liberating experience” that coming-of-age films might suggest. There was bullying and that very particular feeling of being “othered” at an age when you’re still trying to work out who you are.
So yes, LGBTQIA+ mental health is its own conversation. And it’s inseparable from workplace inclusion. If someone doesn’t feel safe being themselves, their wellbeing will reflect that, full stop.
What advice would you give to an LGBTQIA+ professional who is struggling with their mental health?
Please stop trying to do it all alone. I spent a long time thinking that resilience meant keeping a lid on everything and pushing through. It doesn’t. That approach eventually led me straight to burnout.
Talking to people I trusted, my partner, colleagues, close friends, and family, made an enormous difference. There’s something almost quietly revolutionary about saying out loud, “I’m not doing great.”
I’d also say there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to mental health. You’re allowed to try things until something works. Therapy wasn’t the right fit for me personally. What did help was medication, structure, sport, and Autism Spectrum Disorder coaching. The right combination looks different for everyone, and that’s completely fine.
Don’t feel guilty for needing support. That’s not a weakness. That’s just being human.
What tips would you offer employers on how they can better support LGBTQIA+ people and their mental health?
First, build an environment where people can be themselves. Not just during Pride Month, when logos turn into rainbows and suddenly everyone’s enthusiastic about inclusion for a month. It has to show up in policies and practices, in leadership behaviour, and in how people treat each other on an ordinary Tuesday in November.
Second, make support visible and accessible. At Virgin Media O2, we support our people with mental health resources, flexible working such as five days’ paid carers leave, workplace adjustments and by our brilliant employee networks. Our networks represent people from Global Majority group backgrounds, people who are neurodivergent, unpaid carers, women, and disabled people.
These things matter enormously, but only if people don’t feel like they have to fight, justify, or apologise to use them. I’ve personally benefited from workplace flexibility and ASD coaching through our adjustments. Being able to access that without shame has been life-changing.
Third, listen. Actually listen. Create space for LGBTQIA+ employees to share their experiences, and then, this is the crucial bit, do something with what you hear.
What role do you think an LGBTQIA+ network can play in promoting discussions around mental health in the workplace?
These networks create spaces where people feel understood and less alone. Sometimes, that’s exactly what someone needs before they feel ready to reach out for more formal support.
One of the main reasons I wanted to become a network Chair was to help build that kind of environment for others. Whether through events, awareness campaigns, or just making honest conversations feel normal. Networks can shift the culture in ways that top-down policy sometimes can’t.
They also act as a bridge between employees and leadership, helping the organisation understand what LGBTQIA+ colleagues are experiencing, rather than what everyone assumes they’re experiencing. Those two things are often quite different.
What does taking care of your mental health look like for you?
It looks like recognising when I need support instead of waiting until I’m running on empty. It looks like structure and routine, which can be underrated. Staying active and being honest with the people close to me about how I’m doing, not just the socially acceptable “yeah, I’m fine” version.
I’ve also had to make peace with rest. For a long time, slowing down felt like failure. It isn’t. It’s maintenance. But if I had to boil it down to one thing, it’s about being honest with myself. Not performing okay-ness. Not telling myself the story that everything is fine when it very clearly isn’t. Just checking in. Really checking in and being willing to act on what I find.
Turns out, it’s harder than it sounds. But completely worth it.
Virgin Media O2 is a proud partner of myGwork, the LGBTQ+ business community. Find out more about LGBTQ+ inclusive job opportunities at Virgin Media O2.
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