Leading with gratitude to support mental health care access

Gentle music begins playing. An aerial view shows a coastline road lined with trees separating a residential area from the ocean at sunset. White text appears in a blue box in the lower left corner.

On-screen text:             Clearwater, FL

The scene cuts to a woman standing on one leg in a yoga pose on a white sandy beach. A man walks in the distance. The woman, Julie Billing, transitions into a warrior pose, stretching her arms wide.

On-screen text:             Julie Billing

Senior Director, Mental Health Parity

UnitedHealthcare Clinical Services

Julie Billing: My name is Julie Billing. I am the Senior Director of the Mental Health Parity team. Yoga is so healing for the soul. A lot of people take yoga because it's good for your body, and it is. But it also fills my cup up. I can think more clearly. Yoga is very healing for me.

The music turns somber. Dark purple storm clouds flash with lightning. Heavy rain falls on palm trees at night. The next morning, debris and wood fragments litter the wet sand. Thick gray sludge covers the ground. Julie stands on the beach looking out at the ocean, her hair blowing in the wind.

Julie Billing: When the hurricane hit, this road out here, which is the road to get out, was a river. And so we kind of like for several hours, went back and forth between this door and the back door, like trying to get the water to stay out of the house.

Julie walks through the outdoor corridor of a residential complex. She holds up a printed photograph of muddy floodwaters, aligning it with the now-dry pavement to show the contrast of the damage. She points to a water line on the exterior wall of a building.

Julie Billing: And it came up to about here. This whole courtyard. We've lost everything. We've... we've lost everything. How do you, like... what's the next step? Like who... there's no playbook for it.

Julie holds a photo against a wooden pole showing a massive pile of debris and ruined furniture on the curb. The video cuts to a woman with long blonde hair, Megan Link, speaking in an office hallway.

On-screen text:             Megan Link

                                           Clinical Program Consultant, Mental Health Parity

Megan Link: Julie lost a lot, almost everything in the flood. And she still kept a positive attitude, and she led our team with a smile. And I know it was tough.

Julie interviews to the camera from a room in her home.

Julie Billing: For a while after the flood, I was really focused on just surviving. When I was able to switch that thought to thriving, it was based on because I was being grateful. My team shows up every single day with a smile, a joke, a laugh. Um, they take hard problems and do amazing high-quality work.

The video cuts to Julie and Megan sitting on a sofa in a modern office lounge, talking and laughing. The scene then cuts to a home office where Julie sits in an ergonomic chair working at a desk with two large monitors.

Julie Billing: I want my team to feel like I'm sitting right next to them even though I might be a thousand miles away and helping them dig through what the problems are.

Megan Link: Julie uses empathy in leadership by being there for all of us. Um, I feel like she can really relate to all of the situations.

The video returns to the beach where Julie performs a tree pose, silhouetted against the bright sun.

Julie Billing: Everybody has something going on. I want to make sure that they have space, flexibility, to do that work.

Close-up shots show green palm leaves swaying and Julie meditating in a seated position on the sand, looking out at the water.

Julie Billing: Our members come to us in their most trying times. And so it's important that we are able to give them the services they need so that they can show up in life the best that they can as well.

The screen transitions to white. Three blue curved lines animate to form the UHC logo. Blue text appears below. The music fades.

On-screen text:             UHC

uhc.com