There’s no doubt - our personal and professional lives are becoming more integrated. How well and to what extent leaders understand their people both in and out of the office can predict their workplace happiness and success. In this episode, Mike Horne sits down with Alice Inoue, founder of Happiness U, to discuss workplace well-being.

Alice recounts her shift from aspiring to attend medical school to founding Happiness U—a venture that  offers corporate wellness programs and personal development courses. She shares experiences from her collaborations with major brands such as McDonald's and Gap, emphasizing the importance of a positive mindset for both personal and professional growth.

The discussion challenges the traditional notion of work-life balance, proposing instead the concept of work-life integration. This approach encourages making choices based on benefits at any given moment, alleviating the guilt often associated with balancing personal and professional life.

Introducing her personality assessment system based on the five elements, Alice explains how this framework helps individuals and teams gain deeper self-awareness and improve interpersonal dynamics. This system has been particularly effective in enhancing corporate team-building and communication.

Alice's advice to organizational leaders is to recognize their current position as the right place and to focus on moving forward without dwelling on past mistakes. She notes the importance of acceptance and being present to make progress.

Alice Inoue's insights provide a roadmap for leaders and HR professionals to create environments where freedom, peace, love, and joy can flourish, ultimately contributing to the overall success of their organizations.

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“When we talk about work-life integration, it's making choices every day in what you perceive to be the best benefit. So it seems ridiculous to feel guilty about it. It's a choice that you make.” (05:04 | Alice Inoue)

“I thought, what if I could create a space where people could come to learn the things they never learned in school about how to actually live life? Because the bottomline is, after working with thousands of people, people really just want to feel good and have ease in their life and not have these emotional swings. And I just thought it would be a perfect component that it didn't start out as a corporate thing. It started out as a little community.” (06:36 | Alice Inoue)

“There's always something we can do to move towards a better place. Do we ever get there? Does anyone ever live in a life of pure bliss? I don't think so. I recognize that life is polar. There's so much polarity that we do our best to find that center and have a little variation within that center. But I think it's impossible to be like, ‘Yes, I'm working this high-power job and I'm just at bliss and happy all the time.’ We're looking for these moments, we're constantly needing to find them amidst the chaos.” (20:21 | Alice Inoue)

“We are in a place where people want whatever tools they can get to be more understanding about themselves and others so that we can live a life that's as filled with freedom, joy, love, and peace. Those are the four things that I feel we're all looking for. And I try to guide people towards that or see where they're not measuring up.” (23:33 | Alice Inoue)

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