We recently connected with Jessica Lyonford and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jessica, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Imagine having a great job with good pay, benefits, and a recognized title in a well-known industry.

That was me in advertising. I started as an art director and quickly climbed the ladder to become a creative director and strategist. I was good at my job, and it felt fantastic to say, “I worked on that commercial,” and have people nod in recognition. Advertising is all about recognition, and honestly, it felt good to be seen.

But here’s the thing – I had a really toxic relationship with my job and the industry. Consumerism wasn’t a value I shared and I found myself in a misaligned career, numbing my way through for the paycheck and accolades. I never stopped to ask myself what I truly wanted in life.

For my mental health, I needed a change. Burnout and joylessness plagued me. So I started researching happiness, diving into Buddhism, Positive Psychology and Life Design. I wanted a playbook for a life centered around being good, doing good and feeling good.

One day, it all clicked. Through months of notes and research, I found eight recurring themes that created a life of happiness and flourishing. I wrote them down and titled them “The Eight Pillars of Happiness.”

I started practicing these pillars, experimenting with behaviors that researchers were testing. I involved my husband and kids, creating family rituals around the eight pillars. All this while still working in advertising, sometimes full-time and sometimes freelancing, to support my family. Did I need to do that? The research was breaking that illusion too.

After a particularly toxic agency experience, my partner and I decided to give Project More Happy a shot. It was a big financial risk, but it made sense for our overall happiness.

Project More Happy was a new venture—no blueprint, no companies to emulate. It wasn’t just wellness or business consulting or experience design. It was a blend of all these.

Six years later, Project More Happy is still growing. It’s about practicing happiness and designing a life you love. But more than that, it’s about designing a world for human flourishing. Workplaces fostering happiness, classrooms enabling students to thrive, and communities embracing The Eight Pillars of Happiness.

There’s always financial risk because our culture doesn’t prioritize personal happiness, let alone communal. And if it’s not a priority, no one is going to pay for it.

But science shows we have happiness backward. Happiness leads to better health, more wealth, stronger relationships. The happiest companies are the most innovative and successful. Schools where happiness is abundant achieve the highest.

To me, designing a world that works for all of us is worth the emotional and financial risk every time.

Jessica, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m Jessica, Happiness Coach and Consultant and the founder of Project More Happy. My journey started in the fast-paced world of advertising, where I worked my way up to creative director and strategist. Even with all the success and recognition, I felt a deep disconnect with the consumerism-driven industry. I needed a change for my mental health and well-being.

Driven by a desire to find happiness for myself, I started researching and studying happiness. That’s how I discovered eight recurring themes—the Eight Pillars of Happiness: confidence, authenticity, optimism, compassion, purpose, gratitude, feeling, and curiosity. These pillars became the heart of Project More Happy.

At Project More Happy, we’re all about making the science of happiness accessible to everyone. We translate research into actionable strategies to design a world that’s more just, more sustainable, and more firmly rooted in our shared humanity.

We offer happiness coaching, giving personalized guidance to help individuals cultivate joy and resilience. Our happiness classes, available both in-person and online, teach and practice the principles of happiness.

We do speaking engagements and lunch and learn sessions to share the science and happiness practices with others. We also provide business consulting and leadership workshops to help organizations integrate happiness into their cultures, fostering thriving workplaces.

The Project More Happy Podcast is a vibrant part of our mission. We invite visionaries to share their hopeful perspectives on the future, highlighting the power of positivity and optimism. By listening, you join a community dedicated to action and impact, helping to shape a world where everyone thrives.

Project More Happy is leading a transformative movement with The Eight Pillars of Happiness as our guide. By weaving these pillars into the fabric of our society, we aim to design a world where individual well-being and collective flourishing go hand in hand.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Getting out there in front of people and talking to them about happiness has been my most effective strategy. In a digital world, we often take for granted the power of real conversations with real people.

When I have the opportunity to speak to a group about happiness, there’s always a moment where people let their guards down and really engage. It takes a minute for people to warm up to a topic like happiness, but when I explain that it’s not their fault they haven’t figured it out—because we don’t teach the science of happiness—people start to open up.

We all want happiness in our lives, but it often feels elusive. Making it personal through conversations, networking events, and speaking engagements makes a huge difference. Honestly, this is most of my marketing plan.

Here’s a great takeaway for all businesses: The longest-ever happiness study found that the number one predictor of happiness later in life is connection. It’s relationships! The science shows that happiness and connection feed off each other—the happier we are, the stronger our relationships, and the stronger our relationships, the happier we are.

Conversations and personal connections win every time.

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

That’s always such an interesting question because, of course, I would have wanted to get to where I am today sooner. I love the business I’ve built, and I love waking up and sharing the science of happiness and human flourishing with others. It’s life-changing and world-changing work.

That said, I had to go through a misaligned and toxic career first. Would I want to skip past that part? Maybe. But a lot of what I learned during that time led me here. So, in many ways, no. The journey I took got me to where I am.

For example, if I hadn’t started in advertising, I would have never stumbled into the field of Design Thinking. Design Thinking, which I loved, led me directly to Life Design. My coaching work stems directly from Life Design, and my consulting work is a great blend of the two. I have that first career to thank for that.

My first career also gave me a really strong foundation in marketing and business which gave me a leg up when I launched Project More Happy. I understood the different marketing dynamics constantly at play.

So yes, I think I would choose the same path again. Even though it was hard and led to misalignment and burnout, it ultimately led me to understanding the science of happiness and the work I get to do today.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.projectmorehappy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themorehappycoach
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projectmorehappy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lyonford
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ98B1nI2YCn6Z53MXWhO_g
• Other: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/projectmorehappy

Image Credits

📸: Jessica Lyonford