My story
Two worlds I refused to separate.
I grew up in my dad's office. He was a paperboy who bought his first house at nineteen, and by ten I was doing paperwork beside him after school, learning what it takes to keep buildings running and tenants happy. He taught me that you can make almost anything happen if you're willing to figure it out.
I was always fascinated by how people's minds work, and I was committed to figuring out my own passion and purpose. In college, I broke Vector Marketing's national sales record and began participating in Landmark Education. By 25, I was coaching and head coaching its programs. I was learning two things at once: how to build a business, and what truly matters to people in life.
Most people keep those worlds apart. Business over here, the human side over there. I never could. I've also wanted to change how leaders think for as long as I can remember. I hated the abuse of power, and I always believed leaders have the ability to change everything.
That's what took me to Gallup. Here was an organization that sat down with people face to face, in cultures all over the world, to understand what they were thinking and feeling and what life was really like for them, and then used it to inform leaders. Leadership, human behavior, and business, all in one place. It was the perfect intersection, and it's where I found the focus of my life's work: wellbeing. That focus led me to advise leaders and, now, to co-found WAIOS, where I'm putting what we know about human beings at the center of how we measure success.
It started at five
The power of the mind, the will, and the spirit
At five, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. At fifteen, I gave my first keynote about it, and preparing that talk was the first time I really reflected on what I'd lived through.
It made me think deeply about the connection between the mind and the body. I came to believe that the power of our mind, our will, and our spirit goes far beyond what most of us understand. That belief has shaped every chapter of my life since.
I was a Make-A-Wish kid, and years later I came back as a volunteer and a speaker on its Wine and Wishes stage. In college, I raised money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and completed two triathlons for the cause.
2001
Gave my first keynote, for the Children's Cancer Research Foundation. I've been speaking ever since.
2005
Began participating in Landmark Education and years of leadership and self-development work. By 2011, I was coaching and head coaching its programs.
2006
Raised money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and completed two triathlons for the cause.
2008
Joined Gallup as a management consultant to Fortune 500 clients, working with organizations on employee engagement and positive psychology.
2010
Became Gallup's liaison to Dr. Deepak Chopra for its wellbeing research. That year, I read Gallup's newly published book, Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements, and a light bulb went off. Wellbeing was the future. Measures rule the world, and if we could start measuring what makes life worthwhile in companies, cities, and countries, the whole world would change. My work shifted from human behavior in general to what makes life worth living. I also became part of a core team charting new territory: helping mayors and city leaders see that measuring the wellbeing and quality of life of their residents was the real test of whether a city was succeeding. Deepak became a mentor and friend, and we went on to guest lecture together at Kellogg School of Management and Columbia.
2012
Went out on my own, building the advisory practice that is now Global Wellbeing Group. I coached leaders and created the Legacy Builder program, helping people move from work they tolerate to work that becomes their legacy.
2016
Co-created Workplace Wellbeing and the Soul of Leadership with Deepak, a full-day program for leaders that we taught together in New York. Then I spent a month traveling alone across India.
2016April
The day I landed home from India, I learned my father had died in a motorcycle accident. I stepped in to run his properties and his estate, and losing him was one more reminder of what I first learned at five: life is precious.
2019
Made the case for Gross National Wellbeing, a movement to make wellbeing a primary measure of success for companies, cities, and nations. I also joined Chopra Global as Director of Enterprise Solutions, bringing its wellbeing work into organizations.
2020
When COVID hit, the world finally saw what I had been saying for years. Through Global Wellbeing Group, I became a wellbeing advisor to companies including LinkedIn, AstraZeneca, and Comcast, helping leaders treat wellbeing as both a culture strategy and a business strategy, build the business case for it, and make it a philosophy of leadership.
2021
Partnered with Panera Bread as a wellbeing advisor. That work helped deliver the highest employee scores in the company's history.
2022
Served as Vice Chair of the Global Wellness Institute's Workplace Wellbeing Initiative and wrote about how to measure wellbeing at work. Across every company I advised, I saw the same gap: leaders wanted to act on wellbeing, but an annual survey could never tell them what was really happening or what to do about it.
2024
Took my message about wellbeing to major stages, including the Transform conference and ESTO, the U.S. Travel Association's annual conference, and to virtual audiences around the world.
Today
Co-founded WAIOS with Jennifer Moss to close that gap: continuous, AI-powered wellbeing measurement that turns insight into action.
My first teacher
What my father taught me
My dad, Vincent Posa, was a real estate entrepreneur and a natural hustler who bought his first house at nineteen. I spent my childhood at his side, passing him tools, doing paperwork in his office, and learning how a business really runs. His words still guide me.
"You'll never know unless you try."
"You'll figure it out."
"You gotta enjoy what you do."
"You only live once."
Family
The people who made me
I grew up in New York, the oldest of four sisters, each of them an amazing person in her own right. My mom is the reason I'm here. She took extraordinary care of me through cancer, and I owe her everything.
Today I live in Washington, DC, with my two little kids, Giavanna and Nico, who I love more than anything in this world.
