After 13 years in ‘corporate, in house’ Human Resources roles, mainly in Sydney and Melbourne, the cards aligned for a move home to the beautiful Sunshine Coast in Queensland. As is often the case during times of great change, I thought long and hard about my next career move and what I wanted to do that would be fulfilling and continue to allow me to work on incredible work in the people space, like I’ve been so lucky to do this far in my career. I’ve had experiences which are pretty hard to beat, with amazing organisations that allowed me to be pragmatic in my approach to people, try new things, push boundaries and take risks; I wanted to keep doing more of that.
Having watched my husband ‘start up’ a successful technology business over the past 6 years, I realised that lots of small and medium businesses out there really value their people, but don’t necessarily have the knowledge, experience or resources to live and breathe good people practices. After talking to more and more Founders, Owners, CEO’s, MD’s and GM’s, I knew there were people who need a ‘people person’ to help their businesses thrive, through their people.
And so, Zest People Solutions was born.
But why, Zest?
Bertrand Russell, an influential 20th century philosopher, grew up wealthy, but depressed and suicidal. In 1930, he released his classic, The Conquest of Happiness; his attempt at explaining the root causes of happiness and unhappiness in life. Unsurprisingly, Russell found that “zest” was the common mark of a happy person. By definition, “Zest” is “enthusiasm, eagerness, energy and interest.” For Russell, having zest, meant living with vigour, taking interest in the world around you, seeking out adventure and having a sense of enthusiasm. These are all traits you’ll see from me in spades, if you know me or we work together. In fact, I would say they are defining traits of mine.
Further, I have a strengths-based approach to all the work I do and the people I work with. There is an excellent tool called ‘Values in Action’ (VIA: https://www.viacharacter.org/www/Character-Strengths-Survey) in the field of positive psychology, which identifies 24 defining character strengths. It won’t surprise you that one of my top values is “Zest” and that Zest comes with the motto ‘when in doubt, take action’.
You have to be true to who and what you are and Zest People Solutions has ‘me’ all over it.
According to Russell, “what hunger is in relation to food, zest is in relation to life.” If you’re hungry, please check out more of what we do or get in touch for a chat.
