Chief Change Officer
#260 Rahshea Cardiff: From Starbucks to Startups—Serving Joy at Work – Part Two
Thu, 27 Mar 2025
Part Two. Joy, but make it scalable.After opening up about grief, growth, and career pivots in Part One, Rahshea Cardiff is back—this time to talk about the business side of happiness. As VP of Partnerships at Happy Companies, she’s building tech-driven tools that actually help humans (imagine that!). From burnout prevention to culture repair, this episode explores her vision for making workplaces feel a little less like work.Key Highlights of Our Interview:Unbecoming to Become: Shedding What Isn’t You"Maybe it’s not about becoming anything. Maybe it’s about unbecoming everything that isn’t who you really are."The Power of Staying True to Yourself“I was told I needed to change who I was… to fit into somebody’s picture of what they thought I should be. Instead, I learned to step into who I am and be proud of it.”Unlocking a Team’s Full Potential through Behavioral Insights“With Happy, leaders get a snapshot of every team member—how they’re wired, their strengths, their energy drivers, and what drains them.”Putting a Personalized Coach at Every Leader’s Fingertips“Happy’s platform essentially puts a one-on-one coach at the fingertips of every leader and employee, including self-coaching to improve communication and motivation.”Human Stories and Tech-Driven Scalability: A Perfect Balance“Technology is terrific for us at Happy; it provides the behavioral insight, but it’s that human coach who can tell the story, make it personal, and take it to the next level of impact.”Connect with us:Host: Vince Chan | Guest: Rahshea Cardiff --Chief Change Officer--Change Ambitiously. Outgrow Yourself.Open a World of Expansive Human Intelligencefor Transformation Gurus, Black Sheep,Unsung Visionaries & Bold Hearts.EdTech Leadership Awards 2025 Finalist.15 Million+ All-Time Downloads.80+ Countries Reached Daily.Global Top 3% Podcast.Top 10 US Business.Top 1 US Careers.>>>150,000+ are outgrowing. Act Today.<<<
Chapter 1: What is the focus of Happy Companies and Rahshea Cardiff's role?
Absolutely. HAPI, our mission is really to improve the way people and teams interact at work and to improve the way they work together. There's a couple of interesting challenges within the work environment and culture right now. One of them being that since the pandemic, we've seen this shift from primarily in office in person to hybrid and remote work settings.
And we know that's going to continue to be there and likely continue to grow. And then we've also seen this challenge that many organizations are facing. They're really in a position to accomplish more with less resources, whether that's less staffing, less budgeting, whatever the case may be. Naturally within business, those growth targets continue to increase each year.
So again, how do we accomplish more with less? It's interesting because despite that, I believe many leaders know how important that people component is to their growth and success. it often tends to fall down the ladder of priorities as they get very focused on those bottom line deliverables and the growth expectations and things of that nature. It's a challenge.
Chapter 2: How can behavioral insights enhance team performance?
And then when you look at how do we still build highly effective, highly collaborative, highly connected teams, even in the midst of remote and hybrid work environments. It's a challenge. It's a very big challenge. With HAPI, we take the power of behavioral science. Our HAPI assessment is rooted in DISC.
And so we take the power of behavioral science and we really position it to be actionable insight within a team. And so it really helps leaders get a snapshot of every member of their team and really understanding them on a more meaningful level. How are they wired? What is their natural approach to certain things such as communication, problem solving, the people dynamic and the team dynamic?
And what are the things that make them tick? What are their energy drivers? On the opposite side of that, what are their energy drainers? And what are the unique strengths and superpowers that they bring to your team? And then once you have that snapshot, you have that deeper understanding of each person and leader on your team.
Now, how can I utilize that insight to position people to be having the greatest impact to the business while simultaneously thriving in their genius and their superpower and their passion? Because when we can get a team to that space, they are going to unlock higher levels of potential and they're going to accelerate the results and outcomes.
And then when you consider, if I have all of that incredible insight to better understand each person on my team, How can then we utilize that to have more effective communication with one another, stronger collaboration with each other?
And then even if we're hybrid or remote, we have this incredible level of connectedness in the way that we are working together and we're achieving stronger outcomes. And it takes that and it allows you to scale it throughout your organization.
The other thing that I think is so important, connecting to some of those challenges we talked about in today's work environment, people leaders, for example, are stretched very thin right now. But we know that coaching, training, and development of every person on our team is so critical to our continued growth and success.
And with Happy, we take all that amazing insight that we learn about each member of the team and we're able to weave it into a very personalized coaching platform. And it essentially puts a one-on-one coach at the fingertips of every leader and employee within a team. Okay.
It has unlimited self-coaching where they can understand themselves better and work on their own development, whether that be understanding their blind spots or elevating how they communicate with emotional intelligence.
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Chapter 3: How does Happy Companies personalize coaching for teams?
Where the example I shared with you earlier around that employee who I had to have those one-on-ones with and we had to really dig into their development and performance. One of our collaborative coachings in HAPI would allow me as a people leader to pull in my behavioral insight and work style and to also pull in that employee's
And it will give me hyper-personalized guidance on how to approach this underperformance conversation with them. And it's done in a way that just helps me understand their kind of natural thought process and the way that they're wired. And how can I be thoughtful of that to make this a healthy and productive conversation?
And so it really is taking that people component, prioritizing it, leveraging the unique strengths and superpowers of every person on your team to position your team to achieve growth and success. It's really just been an incredible project to be a part of. As you mentioned, that transition from over 20 years in corporate America to being a part of a startup team, it's definitely different.
But it's also so exciting to be doing meaningful work and to be creating something that I passionately believe is needed as we look at how leaders and organizations are going to build this next generation of people-centric teams, even in the midst of hybrid and remote work environments.
Absolutely. I can see how your background makes you an incredible asset for a firm like Happy. When someone like you, with over 20 years in corporate America, joins the team, it's not just about the skills you bring. It's also about the invariable, unique insights you've gained from first-hand lift experience.
You've seen and navigated the pain points of the people function in large organizations, which position you perfectly to innovate solutions that can make a difference genuinely. So with all of that expertise and perspective, what is your specific role at HAPI?
Serving as VP of partnerships predominantly I do a number of things. I say predominantly, I'm like really in a startup, we all tend to wear many hats, but I really, I have the joy of connecting with CEOs, founders, C-suite leaders, HR leaders on a daily basis and just understanding what are their pain points?
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Chapter 4: What are the challenges of remote and hybrid work environments?
What are the challenges that they're striving to resolve or find a solution to around the people component of their teams? And what are their future forward growth goals that may be connected to that people component?
For example, there's a lot of organizations that for this next fiscal year, they're striving to put together remote work packages and what tools and things are really necessary for remote teams to be successful. I also have the joy to work with executive coaches and consultants.
So folks who are out there coaching executives, consulting companies, again, to help them solve those pain points and challenges. And many of them have different tools in their tool belt. And depending upon the problem or the solve that an organization needs, They make recommendations of those solutions.
And so they collaborate and link arms with us for positive impact when they feel that happy is a great fit for an organization. And so I had the joy to work within both of those realms. It's been very eye-opening, very insightful, and really just a pleasure to get to connect with so many different leadership mindsets. because there are so many out there.
And so you get to see and hear different perspectives. And there's some leadership out there that is still in that more traditional mindset. And then you have leaders who are more on that forefront. They're ready to embrace technology, innovation, creativity, different ways of doing things. And then you have folks in the middle.
It's just very interesting to be able to see and experience and hear feedback from all of those different perspectives. I get to be a part of helping those leaders consider that as we move forward, There's going to likely be a need to embrace innovation and to embrace some out-of-the-box strategies and solutions as we continue to evolve with two things, really.
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Chapter 5: How is Rahshea Cardiff leveraging her experience in startups?
Where the work environment is evolving to, being as diverse as it is, and also... where the demand of what people, applicants, candidates are asking for from an organization, because we've also seen a shift there and they are asking for more in terms of Some of what you talked about earlier in the call, we were talking about that structure and that rigidness.
But where is the balance with really considering the nuances of the people component and all of these unique individuals we have on a team? And candidates and employees are really looking for their experience to be more prioritized. They're seeking more balance. They're seeking more flexibility in work schedules and work environments.
They're seeking for there to be a greater balance and a greater priority around mental health and wellness and physical health and wellness. So we're also seeing a shift there. And so it's just really interesting to be a part of that. And HAPI is a tool and platform that I feel fulfills needs in multiple of those capacities.
I totally understand where you're coming from. On one side, it's exciting to see technology enabling people-first solutions like Happy to reach and support so many lives. On the other hand, I must confess my skepticism about balancing the technology with the human touch. Solving people-centered challenges cannot solely rely on technology. When we do, we risk dehumanization.
Chapter 6: What future trends are shaping team dynamics and leadership?
But without it, scalability becomes a challenge. How does HAPI navigate this blend? How do you manage that balance between using technology to scale solutions while still preserving the essential human element that truly makes a difference?
That is a wonderful point to bring up, to be transparent with you where some of those leaders that are still in that traditional mindset, and maybe they're a bit resistant or they're struggling with some of these shifts, particularly as it relates to technology-based solutions.
I do think, to be honest, that some of that is rooted in some apprehension around what you just shared of technology superseding the human element. And there's a few things I think have to be considered within this, right?
So with HAPI, we very much so believe in the value of that human leadership, that human coach, that human consultant, which is one reason why we have our partnership program and why we know there's value in collaborating with leaders within that realm.
Because everything that we deliver in terms of our behavioral science insight, in terms of our coaching content that we share, it is all exceptional and very impactful. But the meaning of it, the connection of it, And the application of it is next level when a human leader is involved that can tell a story in there, that can make a connection for that employee.
That is what really takes it to heart, if you will. And so I think that it's important that that we consider that. And the other nuances within this is when we look at scalability, which she mentioned, and I think scalability is one of the greater challenges right now. For example, if an organization brings in an executive coach or consultant, they often work most closely with upper leadership.
And then the goal is that impact scales out to the team. I'm sure in some instances it does, but in many others, again, due to how much we're striving to accomplish and how fast we're moving every day, unfortunately, it doesn't always scale out to the rest of the team. but they need that, they deserve that. And it's necessary for their continued growth and success as well as the company's.
So having a technology that can compliment and work alongside that human leader or coach, but helps scale it out, I think is really important, especially for the challenges that we're seeing today.
The other thing I would share on that is within a happy profile, for example, and when we think about society today and just in general, the way that we tend to socialize and interact, some of us are very outgoing. We wear a fart on our sleeve. We're as open as a book, we'll tell it all.
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