Emiliana R. Simon-Tomas
Emiliana R. Simon-Thomas, Ph.D., is the science director of the Greater Good Science Center, where she oversees its fellowship program, Expanding Gratitude project, and is a co-instructor of the GGSC’s “Science of Happiness” online course.
Emiliana earned her doctorate in Cognition Brain and Behavior at UC Berkeley. Her dissertation used behavioral and neuroscience methods to examined how negative states like fear and aversion influence thinking and decision-making. During her postdoc, Emiliana transitioned to studying pro-social states like love of humanity, compassion, and awe. From there, she served as Associate Director/Senior Scientist at CCARE (the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education) at Stanford University, focusing on how compassion benefits health, well-being, and psychosocial functioning. Today, Emiliana’s work spotlights the science that connects health and happiness to social affiliation, caregiving, and collaborative relationships, as she continues to examine the potential for—as well as the benefits of—living a more meaningful life. |
Jody MillerCareer and Life Coach Jody B. Miller is author of the new book “From DRIFT to SHIFT: How Change Can Bring True Meaning and Happiness to Your Work and Life.” Jody is known as the “The Work Happiness Expert.” As CEO of C2C Executive Search & Strategic Management, Jody has helped thousands of people find true meaning in their work and in their lives.
Jody’s previous positions include investment banker, strategic consultant to Fortune 100 Corporations, CEO of a software start-up, assistant producer for a PBS television series, and sales & marketing executive for CBS Television. She is also the author of “HIRED! in 2017” and “Hired! Expert Advice from A Leading Wall Street Recruiter.” These books provide roadmaps for getting hired in today's competitive job world. Jody contributes to Ignites Financial Times Magazine, LinkedIn and The Huffington Post. She has written numerous articles about job satisfaction, work/life balance and finding meaning. Her books are and will be available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iBooks. Learn more at www.JodyBMiller.com. Book recommendation: Make Your Bed by William H. McRaven |
Alexander KjerulfAlex is the founder of Woohoo inc and one of the world's leading experts on happiness at work. He has done keynotes and workshops in over 30 countries for clients like IBM, LEGO, IKEA, Microsoft and many others. Alex is also the author of 4 books including the international bestseller Happy Hour is 9 to 5. Book Recommendation: The Seven-Day Weekend by Ricardo Semler, and The Progress Principle by Teresa Amabile and Steve Kramer |
Petr LudwigAuthor of the book The End of Procrastination. Ten years ago he founded GrowJOB, an educational institute, which mission is to increase intrinsic motivation, work efficiency and satisfaction of employees in companies. Book Recommendation: Give and Take by Adam Grant |
Jiří Matějovský Nine years ago Jiří wrote his first CV. During the interview, or rather, during a chat in a cafe he started to learn about a company that was global but still very similar to what he had been used to before. Greg (Country Leader of Decathlon at the time) told Jiří that Decathlon had employees with a sports background who smile, say hi to customers and can also help with the customer’s needs. And that's probably why Jiří decided to become an employee for the first time in his career.
After more than eight years at Decathlon, Jiří has to admit that Greg was right. He likes the freedom, autonomy and responsibility that he has in his job. In fact, it is exactly the same conditions as what he would have had in his own company. With his teammates (colleagues), he often say "We're really lucky to work in this extraordinary company". When Jiří started in Decathlon eight years ago, there were five of them in the company. When he started his current job three years ago, they were 300. Today there are more than 900 people working for Decathlon in the Czech Republic! Jiří’s responsibility is to make sure that EVERYONE enjoys working in Decathlon ČR. |
Dominik Ozdian, Event Moderator Dominik started his comedy career on the stage of Theatre U Hasičů on the show “Good Czech or how we live.” This satirical cabaret was created under the leadership of George S. Richter, which Dominik supported in the role of co-director and actor.
In 2011, Dominik started to gather experience as a comedy producer, founding the only regular professional English stand-up scene in Prague – Crown Comedy Club. He started with the introduction of various English-speaking comics who are now playing regularly in Prague and Brno. In 2012, he finished almost ten years of work in the corporate sector (Oskar, Vodafone, O2), and started to pursue comedy full time. Today he has a certain brazenness in his “job” which covers everything from moderator to entertainer to stand-up comedian to the occasional scriptwriter. Fluent in English, Dominik has experience with moderating and performing in both Czech and English in Europe and the USA. |
Tomáš Páral Tomáš is the co-founder of MoroSystems. He founded his company in 2006 while still studying Computer Science at Brno University along with a small group of classmates. The group wanted to differ from other well-established companies in the market by operating under a set of principles and promises to their clients and employees:
To deliver what we promise; What we don't know, we will learn; We will listen and recommend to our customers rather than dictate and create dependency; A good reputation is worth more than gold; Quality is about results, not the number of hours worked; For a great job belongs a great reward; A team is more than an individual; Our colleagues will be our friends. Today MoroSystems counts 120 people. They develop software for Czech and world brands. Everything they do is based on their belief that people are born with different talents, intelligence and abilities, and only in non-selfish communities can people develop these talents to perfection. That is why at MoroSystems they create a friendly environment that encourages collaboration and open discussion. The values around which the company was built are still evident today. While no one knows what the future will bring, one thing is certain. MoroSystem will continue to strive to be a people-focused business built on friendships and trust. |
Jiří Krejčí The Dalai Lama once mentioned in an interview that “The challenges we face in life are, in fact, seeds of happiness”. That is why ten years ago, Jirka decided to move from quite a comfortable job in the business world to a humanitarian mission in Africa.
At the beginning of his career, Jirka worked as a management consultant for a large international company. Soon he realized that he needed to find a more meaningful job. He moved to Namibia, and subsequently Pakistan, where he worked for several years as a project manager for a humanitarian organisation. Since returning to the Czech Republic five years ago, Jirka has worked as the director for a hospice in Čerčany, where happiness at work and life satisfaction are his major topics of concern. |
Jan Pastyřík
Jan was headhunted by Etnetera to help build a unique culture at this Czech IT company.
Since arriving at Etnetera, Jan has invented, developed and implemented his own ideas (as well as cultivating ideas from others) to make a better life for everyone at Etnetera. From the position of marketing specialist, he has also transformed into a humourist! Book recommendation: Ferda cvičí mraveniště by Ondřej Sekora (and other books with ant Ferda) |
Andrea Gembalová
While living abroad for nine years, Andrea’s view on life changed. She became a stronger, more positive and grateful person who believes that there is a solution for everything. She also believes that well-functioning relationships are based on trust, respect and kindness and that a sense of responsibility and team work are the keys to success. Last but not least. she believes that if she changes her life for the better, she can inspire others to do the same.
What does she love? Kindness. Honesty. Frequent manifestations of joy and laughter. The good news is that it is free for everybody and it doesn't hurt :) |
Monika Hilm
During Monika’s hotel career she came across many good managers. However, unfortunately, she also met many more bad and destructive managers who either led hotel employees to leave the business or worse still, caused health risks and horrifying work conditions to employees. During her last work assignment with Daramis Group, Monika had the wonderful opportunity to test and implement her theories about how to create a happy hotel workforce. Results were extremely rewarding and gave her the courage to share her experiences with you! Book Recommendation: Gung Ho! -Ken Blanchard & Sheldon Bowles |
Michal Šrajer
Seven years ago, Michal founded studio Inmite (a Czech leader in smartphone apps development) together with his two friends. He named himself “Chief Happiness Officer” at the time with a mission to find ways to make work more fulfilling for people. Three years ago, Inmite became a part of the global security company Avast through acquisition. Michal continued his search for happiness at work but on a much bigger scale. Last year he decided to leave Avast and have a sabbatical for 1 year. He travelled the world with his family and visited many interesting companies along the way. Now he is back home and ready to push happiness at work movement further. To help as many employees as possible to truly live even during work hours. Book Recommendation: Thinking Fast & Slow -Daniel Kahneman |
Sandra Fridrichová
Sandra spent most of her career in financial sector in middle-sized companies starting from project management, through education, segment marketing...
During her several job-switches she realized how important is environment for the people‘s motivation and attitude towards work. Two years ago she started to feel calling to help companies to change themselves to support their people. Her last stop is position of CEO advisor in Modrá pyramida, where she is not only dreaming but also realizing her dream to help. |
Barbora Cernikova
Thanks to my psychology studies at Charles University I discovered topics that I am very passionate about: stress and burnout on one hand and happiness and well-being on the other.
In my practice as Learning and Development Manager in Deloitte I try to show my colleagues how to lessen their stress levels and at the same time strengthen their resilience. I follow these topics not only at work field, but also in relationships: I volunteer in a little NGO as a family and relationship counselor for people in social need. |
Michal Beránek
Michal is majority owner of the company OpenOne which he has tried to rebuild for the last four years as a free tribe. Michal is the tribal chief, he's hunting new customers and he is also a guide for other companies that would like to change their company/team culture to allow for a greater sense of meaning and freedom for all.
He is a rebel and impatient creator. He likes to uncover root causes and search for methods and solutions to move forward. He likes to inspire others to change and quickly introduce changes to their life. He is also an incurable optimist and maybe naive to believe in absolute human goodness and love. |
