From the Team MadeBrave Meets: Happies Hour Club

We’ve been working in a hybrid way for some time now and our quarterly immersion get-togethers are all about having fun and creating moments of meaningful connection. So, inviting Audrey to lead a playful and interactive happiness workshop was a no-brainer.  

Happies Hour Club uses music, storytelling, and performance to deliver joy-fuelled workplace experiences that help build happy, connected teams. Audrey even tailored her presentation to meet our company values, shoutout to Buzz Lightyear!

Following our Happies Hour session, I sat down with Audrey to chat more about why she started the company and how it can benefit those in the creative industry. I also threw in a few random Q’s, just for fun.

Audrey, thanks so much for delivering a truly fantastic and engaging session with our team. We loved it! How did you find the session? 

Thank you! I loved it too. Your team (human and canine) really brought energy to the session and were so open and welcoming. That makes my job easier and, more importantly, creates the optimum conditions for learning.  

Could you tell us a little about you and your story? 

Sure. I’ve had a 20+ year career in the creative industry, as a copywriter, creative director, and agency owner. I love the industry, but I’ve always been fascinated by the science of happiness. I’m obsessed with positive psychology, the science of wellbeing, gratitude, and kindness. And I hold certifications in coaching, positive psychology, yoga, breathwork, and mindfulness. So, a couple of years ago, I decided it was time to use my creative skills to do what I love– making people happy! 

Where did the name Happies Hour Club come from?  

Great question. ‘Happies’ is my name for little moments of positive emotion. Joy, hope, curiosity, appreciation, love, gratitude, wonder, etc.  These ‘happies’ are really powerful things, as experiencing little bursts of positive emotion resets the brain to positive. It’s my aim to give people tools to find, create and experience more Happies every day.  

The ‘Hour Club’ bit has a simpler explanation. I run a free online happiness club that lasts one hour. Told you it was simple.  

What are the main things you can offer businesses? 

In a nutshell, we bring happiness to work. We teach people the skills of sustainable happiness with the objective of creating happier teams. That’s great for people and for business because research shows that happy teams are more energised, creative, collaborative, and productive.  

We offer ‘off-the-shelf’ workshops and we develop bespoke learning experiences depending on our client’s business and challenges.   

Can you tell us more about Positive Psychology? 

Ooh… how long have you got? Positive Psychology is essentially the scientific study of what makes life worth living. It looks at human thoughts, behaviours, and feelings, but with a focus on the positive aspects. Things like character strengths, optimism, happiness, self-confidence, etc. All with the objective of learning how to help people flourish and live their best lives.  

Applied in the workplace setting, positive psychology tools can help people flourish and businesses thrive. Because happiness drives success. That’s at the core of what we do.  

Working in the creative industry can be demanding at times. How much of this experience inspired your approach? 

All of it! I love our industry, but it takes a lot of energy to constantly create great work, deliver an amazing service to clients, and bring your best to your team. You’ve got to find space for ‘happies’. When I’m designing our workshops, I’m always thinking about the challenges we face every day in this industry… and what practical tools people can use to overcome them and thrive.  

You well and truly tricked our team into thinking they were going to be forming a mini choir on the day which was HILARIOUS (cue evil laugh, muhahaha). Have you ever had pushback on a real activity like that? What did you do? 

Haha! Now you’re giving away our secrets and we’ll have to find a completely new prank.

No, we haven’t had any pushback yet. We try to set a playful tone at the start of every session, and we reassure people that they’re free to participate in any way they choose. That said, I think it’s healthy to move beyond your comfort zone so we’ll probably continue to show up with a few tricks up our sleeves.

We know from experience that sessions like this are usually a starter for ten, or an introduction to a specific topic or practice– no one leaves an expert in the content. How do you make sure teams have something they can take away and use for life?  

The tools we teach are called ‘practices’ for a reason. You have to practice them to reap the rewards. But the rewards really do make it worthwhile. What we’re shooting for is giving people and teams a big shot of happiness and at the same time delivering learning that’s memorable and truly actionable. If we can inspire them to make just one change that will help them thrive, that’s going to have a ripple effect. And that makes us very happy.  

Thanks so much for chatting with us, Audrey!

Pretty cool, right? Check out Happies Hour Club here.