Make joy your business strategy.

I’m Gary, and I’m the founder of Joy Junction. We create joyful workplace cultures through wellbeing conversations. My career started in the fitness industry back in 2005. I joined the industry because I wanted to help people with their wellbeing, in whatever way that meant to them. I even managed to bag myself a Strength & Conditioning role at Leeds Carnegie RFU in 2008 and go to Australia with England RL the same year! In 2011 I got the opportunity to (happily) fall into the world of HR as a consultant employee wellbeing lead at the University of Sheffield. No longer were I supporting 10-15 people at any given time, I now had the opportunity to support around 8,500. Following loads of award wins, including the Sunday Times Top 100 Wellbeing Award, I started supporting organisations big and small with their wellbeing proposition for colleagues in 2015, and I’ve been doing it ever since. In 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, like many others, I had my own experience with loneliness. As someone who thrives on being surrounded by others, I found the isolation of being at home all day, every day, incredibly difficult. This experience solidified my view that social wellbeing is the elements that binds everything together, and forms the foundation of all my work. I love my work, and I feel privileged to do what I do.