Turning Down the Crescendo of Stress

In October 2023, one of Ty Kelly’s family members had a mental health crisis. 

“It basically took over my life,” Kelly recalls. “How do I take care of them and get them the resources they need? There wasn’t anyone to help, so I had to do research, find various places, call doctors, figure out when they can get in, figure out what their insurance covers. It was all-consuming. How can I hope to bill hours while also solving the most mammoth problem I’ve ever needed to solve? It was a crescendo of work stress, family stress and wishing there was someone to turn to.”

After the crisis, when Kelly’s everyday work life resumed, the memory stuck with her. So she prepared a pitch for her firm’s management.

“At Baker Donelson, we call all the exceptional services we offer Baker-something,” she says, citing Baker Women and BakerPride, its diversity and inclusion resource groups. “So I essentially went to our CEO and said, ‘We need BakerWell to help guide people to resources and support each other openly.’ There was no question about leadership support. He basically said, ‘You dream it, you do it.’”

Driven by her personal experience and the alarming wellness statistics among lawyers, Kelly researched the matter and began to pull together resources. In May 2024, BakerWell was born.

“Some of it was adjusting things we already do,” she says. “For instance, we have a lot of coaching for associates, but we didn’t have it for our shareholders—several of whom put in long hours and need support—so now all our attorneys have access to coaching and it can be used for almost anything to meet you where you are.”

The firm also works with outside professionals to provide employees and their family members with mental health services—all of it completely confidential. 

“We want to remove all the barriers we can, whether it be time or out-of-pocket cost,” Kelly says. “One of the greatest obstacles to people supporting their mental health is the stigma around it, so to make sure people are comfortable and use the resources, we try to normalize it as a constant discussion point.”

Going further, the firm trained all its leaders in mental health first aid, Kelly says, “so we can better identify issues and help people get to our resources.”

Because mental health professionals are more in need than ever and crises can happen at any moment, the firm offers short-term emergency assistance through its employee assistance program as well as resources to connect with longer-term options.

Though this is only BakerWell’s third year, it continues to expand to cover more aspects of wellness. Financial wellness support—such as programs about preparing for retirement—is already offered, and now under consideration is programming for substance abuse and physical wellness. All of BakerWell’s goals and expansion are driven by employee feedback. “This year I really want to work toward having mental health ambassadors in each of our offices, who’d be certified in mental health first aid and if you have any questions, there’s somebody there to talk to other than your supervisor,” Kelly adds.

The committee for BakerWell continues to expand, too. “Two of us are board members. We also have the director of BakerTalent, the person helping with training and development; members of human resources; and even our COO,” Kelly says. “We also hired our first chief people officer in 2025, and she has certifications in mental wellness and joined the committee.”

While it’s hard to gauge employee reaction because of BakerWell’s confidentiality, Kelly says the anonymous testimonials and session numbers are encouraging. Co-workers have also approached her directly, as when she and CEO Tim Lupinacci shared their personal experiences at BakerWell’s launch. 

“We wanted to remove the stigma, be transparent, and show our colleagues anyone can experience these things. I can’t tell you how many people reached out to say, ‘Thank you so much. I’ve experienced this, too,’” she says.

Boosting Your Firm’s Mental Health Offerings

Ty Kelly recommends starting with these steps

• Survey employees to gauge their needs
• Get leadership buy-in (both in concept and cost)
• Partner with HR and benefits leadership
• Research your EAP offerings in mental health