Ignite a Culture of Happiness at Work

Jessica Weiss is a happiness expert. Backed by more than 15 years of research and experience, Jessica helps companies and employees find greater happiness, satisfaction, and positivity not just in the workday, but every day. We watched Jessica’s TedX talk and were hooked in the first thirty seconds, so we had to learn more. Needless to say, Jessica was happy to sit down with us and share her journey to becoming a sought-after keynote speaker and the importance of adopting skills to be happier throughout each day. Trust us, if you like happiness (who doesn’t?), you’ll love Jessica.

Food + Mood NYC: What inspired you to become an expert on happiness and what is your mission?

Jessica Weiss: I have always been someone who has been really curious about the science of happiness.  Going all the way back to my undergraduate years, I was lucky enough to take a class with Dr. Martin Seligman who is considered the father of this “positive psychology” movement.  And on the first day of class, he said that in the field of psychology we have spent decades studying what’s wrong with people.  And how we can help those who suffer from depression and other illnesses.  He said – why don’t we study what’s right with people.  Let’s look at the people who are thriving and flourishing and let’s study that.  Let’s teach flourishing instead of disease.  And I loved that! 

My mission is to teach people that we can all learn how to get better at happiness.  Happiness isn’t some elusive thing. It’s not based on luck or circumstance.  It’s about learning the right habits.  It’s about understanding the science and the research. And once we understand that science – we can all teach ourselves how to have more happiness in our lives.

F+M NYC: What types of programming do you offer?

JW: I work in a number of different ways.  I give keynotes at conferences and corporate events.  I conduct workshops and facilitate sessions with teams.  And I do coaching.  I work with both individuals and I work with teams in organizations.

F+M NYC: Why is choosing and achieving happiness such a difficult task? Why does it need to be taught?

JW: Here’s the interesting thing about happiness.  Our brains are actually terrible at telling us what to do to achieve happiness.  Our brains are hardwired for survival. And, apparently Mother Nature does not think that happiness is a survival skill.  So, our reflexes and our intuition are just off when it comes to happiness.  We need to retrain our brains to do the right things for happiness.  Now, it’s not as bleak as it seems.  Once we know that, we can work around it and re-train our brains for happiness.  Just like we learn anything in life – we can also learn how to get better at happiness.

Jessica Weiss

F+M NYC: Do you believe that the actionable tools you teach your corporate clients should be applied outside the office as well and why?

JW: When I work with my corporate clients, my work is focused on teaching people how they can find more happiness at work. Primarily my work is around how to build high-performing, connected teams that are thriving, innovating and producing amazing work. And I teach them that HAPPINESS is the glue that holds all of that together.  But happiness at work is just one piece of the puzzle (and it’s a big one).  Once people feel satisfaction and fulfillment with their work – that happiness cascades throughout their entire lives.  And, yes, there is a great deal of overlap of skills that we take from work to life.  For example, I am sure that you have heard before that friendship is one of the most important building blocks for happiness.  In fact, the quality of our friendships is probably the most important predictor of happiness in life.  And, I talk about the need for friends at work.  We need a work bestie for so many reasons.  But we also need friends outside of work.  One of my favorite sayings is:  Friends are magic.  And they truly are!

To learn more about Jessica Weiss, visit https://jessicaweiss.com/