Arianna Huffington’s new company, Thrive Global is about more than living, it’s about thriving.
The company, which wants people to understand “you don’t have to be burnt out to be successful” aims to revolutionize the way we work and live by offering companies and individuals science-based solutions to lower stress and burnout, and enhance well-being and productivity.
Thrive Global works with companies to improve the well-being of their employees by breaking down all the elements into “micro-steps,” small, easily achievable changes that you can incorporate into your daily life right away. The company offers workshops, online courses, and apps, and even products that will help a person relax so they can be the best version of themselves.
“Since making changes is hard when it goes against the prevailing culture, to truly shatter these collective and dangerous delusions about sleep, we have to change our macho culture of burnout, in which sleep deprivation is celebrated and taken as a sign of dedication to one’s job, instead of taking care of oneself,” Huffington explained.
The company has also partnered with corporate partners including Accenture, Airbnb, Glassdoor, JPMorgan Chase, SAP and Uber, and non-profits such as Global Citizen, Global Health Corps, Khan Academy, LeanIn.Org.
DIVERGE talked to Arianna Huffington to find out more about where the idea came from, why it’s significant, and much more:
Where did you get the idea for Thrive Global?
It’s been a long time coming, and actually goes back to 2007, when I collapsed from exhaustion after a week of too much work and too little sleep. But it was a real — excuse the pun — wake-up call. I made some changes to my life, and became more and more interested in burnout, stress, and sleep and how the way we work in the modern world is increasingly unsustainable. That led me to write two books, Thrive and The Sleep Revolution. And as I went around the world talking about these issues, I was overwhelmed by the response. Everywhere I’d go, people would come up and tell me the same thing: how they were burned out, exhausted and felt like they just couldn’t keep up with the pace of their lives and work anymore. I realized that I had to go from writing about this problem to doing something about it. So I founded Thrive Global to help people move from knowing what they should do to actually doing it.
Why is the mission of the company so important? How can Thrive Global help companies focus on productivity and employee well-being?
The mission is to change the way we work and live by giving people and businesses options and strategies to deal with the global epidemic of burnout and stress. We want to end the collective delusion that burnout is the price we have to pay for success. So Thrive Global provides trainings, seminars, e-courses, coaching and ongoing support – all based on the latest scientific findings — to improve people’s health and increase productivity for both companies and individuals around the world.
Why did you decide to leave the Huffington Post?
I wanted to be more involved in not just raising awareness burnout, stress, and sleep deprivation – which HuffPost does very well – but also helping people make changes in their daily lives that would enhance their well-being, productivity, and fulfillment. It was hard to leave HuffPost, but easier knowing that there was a great team in place, which I’m excited to say now includes the very talented Lydia Polgreen as editor-in-chief.
How is this new position different?
Everything we do at Thrive Global is geared toward action – it’s about giving people real tools and strategies that will allow them to sustainably prioritize their well-being. There is a media platform – The Thrive Journal – which we aim to make into the global hub on the conversation around well-being, productivity, and creativity. But here, too, the emphasis is on action – on using science, video, interviews, news stories and, especially, personal narrative to inspire, motivate, and encourage people as they make changes to their daily lives.
How will your partnerships help Thrive succeed in its mission?
We’re partnering with an array of companies across every sector. Thrive Global is the first company to bring together and coalesce the entire range of well-being and science and habit change, and so our partners in each of these areas help expand our reach and amplify our message.
What are you most excited about to achieve/attain?
What I’m most excited about is helping people change their daily lives. We all feel this pressure, we’re all exhausted all the time, and we all feel besieged by technology and being on and connected 24/7. I hear it everywhere I go. And the costs of this epidemic of burnout are incredible – not just in monetary terms, with billions of dollars lost each year, but in terms of our physical and mental health. The human costs of how we live and work right now are enormous. And doing something about that – giving people more space and time to connect with their friends, their families and themselves – is really exciting for me.
You have some any interesting variety of what to purchase in the store? Who came up with these items?
We have a board of scientific advisors, medical professionals, athletes, and productivity experts, and the inventory in the store represents products that our staff, our board and our partners think are the best and most cutting-edge products to enhance well-being.
TBRAND Studio will include native campaigns for clients- How will this help clients?
We’re so excited to be working with TBRAND Studio. We wanted to do our first campaign with a best-in-class brand journalism team that is as committed to providing value to our readers and our brand partners as we are.
