What is a Happiness Ambassador? 4 Things I’ve learned in 4 years!

Our Happiness Ambassador, Amy, is celebrating four years in post.

Four years! Weirdly, I still feel relatively new to the role and yet this is the longest I’ve worked anywhere. In many ways it seems life paused in 2020 – when I was but a year into the role – and we’re still catching up. Our children have grown at our feet, our jobs look different, we’re not sure what permanence is any more. In many ways we’re still waiting, still adjusting.

Anyway, back to me.

A lot of people comment on my job title, they’re interested to know what it means. Here’s a summary that I wrote for my job description.

“The role of the Happiness Ambassador is to represent the company and our values, both in person and in the virtual space; at events and conferences, on panels, at strategic meetings and celebrations – at a local, regional and national level. To be a smiling face of Boo.

It is also a story telling role, involving documenting our work with pride and giving voice to the wonderful leaders that started as customers and became friends.

Central to this role is to share our message and connect creatively with our customers and our community – online, through social media, blogs, reports and newsletters, and in real life, speaking as our authentic selves whilst adhering to our brand and values. Also to both contribute to our social value and to document it – helping honour our commitment to society. Finally, to feed into business strategy and support our ambitions, year upon year, to grow, to thrive and to change the world. All this requires a solid understanding of – and belief in – the quality of our products and services.”

So now you know!

To mark my fourth ambassadorial year, here are four things I’ve learned about happy, healthy workplaces since being in this role.

I’ve learned what ‘core values’ are and why they make me feel that a certain environment, experience or interaction was either satisfying or uncomfortable.
My unique strengths and abilities are worth something in the right workplace.
Warmth, friendliness and vulnerability are not the antithesis of professionalism. You can be caring, collaborative, compassionate, colourful and authentic and still competitive in business.
For-profit, private sector organisations can make a meaningful contribution to society through the social value they generate.