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Tia Graham is happy by nature and teaches others how they can Arrive At Happy.
Graham is the founder of Arrive At Happy, part of an international group of more than 130 happiness at work consultants, and the Certified Chief Happiness Officer from Woohoo Inc., Europe’s premier Happiness At Work organization.
And what exactly does the Certified Chief Happiness Officer’s job entail? Well, creating sustainable change for happier companies and happier people by training and supporting over 100,000 people worldwide to be happy at work.
Her website states that “Tia’s natural state has always been upbeat, positive, and full of gratitude for the experiences and relationships that have helped shape and define her life. However, she faced unexpected turbulence once she had her second daughter and found herself struggling to ‘stay balanced’ while juggling motherhood, work, marriage, friends, and her sense of self.
“Graham had always dreamed of creating a happiness company and being a catalyst for positivity in the world. When she saw her own happiness dwindling, she knew it was time to grab hold of her life in a new way, and work to turn this entrepreneurial vision into a reality. Tia found her inner clarity during a time of real struggle and knows that this is her calling. She inspires leaders and people to reach their full potential, live life to the fullest, and to Arrive At Happy – every day.”
We sat down with Graham for a chat about her work and all things happy. Keep reading for the highlights!
Prior to founding Arrive at Happy, Graham led teams at luxury hotels in the United States and Europe for brands such as W Hotels, Westin, and The London.
After 14 years leading sales and marketing teams in very cool hotels and resorts in the Hawaiian islands, New York City, Istanbul, Turkey, and Los Angeles, Graham went back to work after having her second daughter.
“So, I had a year with a little girl and then a four month little girl, and I’m back at work, attempting to juggle my career in managing the sales team, and my health and wellness, and my mental health, and my marriage, and friendships, and all of it,” she says.
“I was really, really unhappy and I’m a pretty positive, optimistic person. On the whole, I’ve made big decisions to be happy throughout my life. And this wasn’t the first time I wasn’t happy, but it was the first time that I thought maybe I’m not gonna be that happy person anymore. Maybe this is my new normal, which terrified me and I, at that point, I started working with a coach and I started researching happiness, as well, thinking about if I were to create a happiness company, what would it look like? How would I make money? What could I do? Because I’d always sort of had this idea of a happiness company.”
So, for the last five years, she has been devouring, researching and getting different certifications in the science of happiness and neuroscience. And now she’s a certified chief happiness officer for happiness at work!
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Her company is focused on the happiness quotient in leadership, specifically within companies and as managers – the leaders of people.
Graham became a leader at a really young age, 26 years old, and she felt that leading other people was an honor and was a huge responsibility. How she showed up for them, how she motivated them, how she took care of them, how she connected with them, that was always her perspective. She wanted to be a positive force in their work lives.
“I had really inspiring, happy motivational leaders, and I also experienced the polar opposite. And I remember thinking, when I was working for the opposite of a happy leader, ‘How is this person in such a huge position of influence yet they treat people so poorly?’ I couldn’t fathom someone like that having that much influence and negative impact on so many human beings.
“So that was a really big motivator – we need less unhappy, negative leaders. And that’s when I started researching positive psychology, and researching neuroscience, and researching happiness at work. I knew, in my gut and intuition, what was right. And then I had all of this research information to support it.”
Graham started off giving talks and doing workshops and it built from there. She says, “I really believe everyone’s a leader, in a way. What the research shows is that when a leader is happy, and if they’re engaged, and if they are feeling well themselves, the impact is that they themselves are more creative and innovative. And they create a culture where people are more creative and innovative. There’s a direct connection between having a positive mind, and creativity, and innovation. It also directly connects to productivity. It directly connects to sales.”
In addition to being a certified chief happiness officer, Graham wrote Be A Happy Leader.
The book is about how to stop feeling overwhelmed, thrive personally, and achieve killer business results and is available in paperback, ebook, or audiobook, wherever you buy your books.
If you want to learn more about Graham, her company, and her work with organizations, visit Arrive At Happy.
We were thrilled to sit down with Tia Graham! What do you think of ‘Arrive At Happy?’ Tell us in the comments!
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