We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Stella Grizont. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Stella below.

Stella, appreciate you joining us today. Can you share an important lesson you learned in a prior job that’s helped you in your career afterwards?

For nearly a decade, I chased happiness…and whatever I thought being “successful” meant. Yet, despite achieving whatever I set my mind to, I found myself feeling empty, burned out, and crying in the bathroom. I regularly appealed to higher forces, “please, there’s got to be more to life than this.” Have you been there?

I hopped from corporate america, to the startup world, to finally running my own business. With each transition, I found someone to blame for my discontent. It was either the clients weren’t creative enough, the culture wasn’t cutting edge, or the leadership wasn’t aligned. Until finally, one day, in a Nutella coma, in a fetal position on the floor of my NYC studio, I realized: what if it wasn’t them? What if it’s been me all along?

I’m not sharing my story to point the finger at you…it’s not all your fault. But it is within your control to feel happier and more fulfilled at work (and in life). What I realized in that moment is that I had way more power and choice throughout my journey that I had previously acknowledged. That insight is the genesis of The Work Happiness Method, my signature course and now my first book. Even though things may feel overwhelming, chaotic, dreadful, or meh – we have the power to choose our path and how we show up. I’m excited to help you realize just how damn powerful you are!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m here to help you love your job so you can love your life even more. I believe that your talent is too great, the people you love are too important, and your life is too precious to waste feeling unenthusiastic, depressed, or miserable for most of your waking hours.

I’m an author, speaker, and executive coach. Over the past 18 years, I’ve coached over 1,600 leaders and delivered talks to over 115,000 people across 45 countries. My unique strategies for career fulfillment were born from my own misery at work, imposter syndrome, people pleasing, and overdosing on Nutella. Today I help some of the world’s biggest brands including Amazon, Google, and Cigna foster greater happiness, engagement, and wellbeing at work. Now it’s your turn!

For information about my book, course, coaching, or speaking check out stellagrizont.com.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

It was on the floor of my 400 square foot Hell’s Kitchen apartment, in a fetal position, with an empty Nutella jar on the floor, that I asked myself, “how did I land here, again?!” I had spent the previous 10 years of my career on a roller coaster; jumping from Corporate America, to working for a startup, to running my own business. And despite achieving whatever I put my mind to, I found myself once again, burned out, unmotivated, and feeling guilty for polishing off yet another container of chocolate ecstasy – with a tablespoon.

Most likely, you already have a hunch of what I wish I knew back then: that no matter where you work, your issues will follow you. And while maybe you’ve fantasized about other jobs or even careers, you have a sneaking suspicion that escaping might not be the answer to the fulfillment you seek. Because what if you leave and get a new job, but end up feeling the EXACT, SAME, WAY?! Yeah, been there and done that. Let me tell you how that went, real quick…

Prior to launching my coaching and consulting company, WOOPAAH, I spent nearly 10 years in brand strategy. I was paid to listen to people, unearth their deepest desires, and then use those insights to help brands sell better. I thought I was in my dream job, working at the one of the world’s most prestigious ad agencies, Y&R. I gave it my all and often found myself working past 12am, alone in an empty, dark building on Madison Ave – surviving off a vending machine. I received plenty of recognition and I loved my colleagues, but something was still missing. I didn’t feel like I was using my full potential or doing meaningful work. I wanted to do something that I was passionate about. Little by little, it became harder and harder to wake up in the morning. I started catching frequent colds (which was unusual for me). I became depressed and panicked about my career. I started interviewing at other agencies but it just seemed like more of the same. I didn’t know where to go or what I wanted. I just knew I wanted to care about what I did and feel like I was making a difference.
Have you ever been there? Having the “is-this-all-there-is?” conversation with God, the universe, or whoever else you speak to when you can’t sleep and dread the morning ahead.
Most alarming about this time was that I didn’t recognize who I was anymore. I always had given 150% to my work, and now I found myself giving 85%. My confidence and general enthusiasm were gone. I would just come home, reach for the tablespoon, grab for the gorgeous hazelnut chocolate heaven in a jar, and try to numb it all away.
I have a feeling that if you’re reading this, you’re also an overachiever, but you’re not feeling up to overachieving like you used to, am I right?
Eventually I decided that Corporate America just wasn’t for me. I went to go work for a startup that was dedicated to helping women launch their businesses. This was it – or so I thought. I felt like I had found my tribe – I was so inspired by the business women I was supporting. I had the opportunity to develop workshops that we offered to over 100,000 entrepreneurs. I helped grow our market presence from 24 to 54 cities across the United States and Canada. And I got to manage and train all 88 of our market leaders. What was most meaningful was the opportunity to personally coach hundreds of women in pursuing their dreams. This couldn’t have been a better match for me. But then things started to change. The 2008 recession happened. Our leadership wasn’t aligned. I didn’t agree with our growth strategy. And, little by little, I began to resent the community that I was once eager to serve. Once again, I found myself nursing a Nutella jar, confused about my future, and exhausted by my present.
I decided that if I couldn’t find happiness working for other companies and other people, I would go to work for myself. After helping thousands of other women launch their businesses, I was going to finally launch my own. Inspired by my own state of feeling stuck and miserable at work, I wanted to create an offering that would re-ignite people, to help them break free and be their most alive self at work, and in life. To help me understand how to do that, I decided to first go back to school and study the science of happiness, or more formally, Applied Positive Psychology, at The University of Pennsylvania. I was one of the first 100 people to get that degree – and now, now I really had all the knowledge and tools to not only make myself happy, but to help others as well. So how was it, that just a year after I graduated, I was on the floor in my 400 square foot apartment in the fetal position, in a Nutella coma, drowning with imposter syndrome?
I had spent nearly a decade supporting women in launching their dreams, and here I was, sabotaging my own. While I had a positive start with Woopaah – with clients like Google, Johnson & Johnson, and Aramark, I found myself turning down business because I wasn’t motivated to do what I had to do. With a freakin’ degree in happiness, here I was, paralyzed by fear, anxiety, and depression. What happened?
Finally I was starting to understand one of the most powerful insights that has since freed me and the thousands of people I support each year. I realized that it wasn’t Corporate America, the startup world, the clients, nor the leaders I was working with that made me miserable… it was me.
It’s been me all along.
So where does that leave you? Are you, also, at the root of your challenges? Well, I’m not saying that your micro-managing boss isn’t an issue, or that you don’t deserve more recognition or pay, or that your corporate culture doesn’t have issues, or that you shouldn’t strive to make a bigger impact. But what I am saying, is that if you really want things to change, you’ve got to start with you. Your feeling dissatisfied, bored, miserable, or just unenthusiastic is not all your fault, but it is your responsibility to do something about it. My goal is to help you become aware of just how damn POWERFUL you are and how you have more control than you imagine.
Here’s the deal, most of us didn’t grow up learning the skills we need to actually be happy at work and in life. And we certainly aren’t learning them on the job now. That’s what I’m here to help you with.
To flourish in the 21st century, we need a new capability: inner skills.
If we step back and think about the evolution of employee development, all that used to matter in the early 20th century was: can you do the job? Can you build the widget? You were evaluated on your hard skills. Around the 1950’s organizations realized that it was not only important for you to have hard skills, but also to be trustworthy, collaborative, and even a great leader. Enter soft skills: how you relate others. Today, we see that something is still missing. With over 70% of workers feeling unengaged and 51% actively looking for new jobs, today’s employees might have the hard and soft skills, but they’re checking out. What’s causing this engagement epidemic that has people unsatisfied at work and employers leaking about 150% of each employee’s annual salary in turnover cost once they leave? It’s the lack of inner skills. Today, people want more than just a paycheck from the place where they spend most of their waking hours…they want transformation. But they’re not always clear on what that looks like. Check out stellagrizont.com/book to read The Work Happiness Method: Master 8 Skills to Career Fulfillment to learn the inner skills that will help you flourish no matter what you’re doing or who you’re working with.

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

I’ve grown my business through speaking. It helps me connect deeply with a large audience and deliver value. I love it – so that helps. It’s the most efficient way for me to be on purpose. After a talk most people want to join my newsletter, coach with me, or ask me to speak to their specific team. Or they keep me in mind for a future engagement.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.stellagrizont.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stellagrizont
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stellagrizont/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/stellagrizont
• Other: Get my book, The Work Happiness Method: Master 8 Skills to Career Fulfillmennt at https://www.stellagrizont.com/book Explore coaching with me here: https://www.stellagrizont.com/coaching Explore my speaking and workshops: https://www.stellagrizont.com/speaking Explore my course: https://www.stellagrizont.com/work-happiness-method