Joanna is a gifted communicator and storyteller that inspires teams with tales from a career in global aviation, adventures as an expat, and wisdom and learnings (and some of the wildest stories you'll hear) about life at Southwest Airlines, one of the world's most famous corporate cultures.
My name is Joanna. After 20 years helping some of the world's largest airlines nurture and preserve, or build and transform their cultures, I founded the mushroom chair, a company that promotes a new model for employee engagement that gives us the permission and tools to restore our relationship with ourselves and the planet.
In 2019, I was at the height of my career. I had moved to Europe for my dream job, in my dream country, in my dream language. But one year later, I experienced burnout and the lowest point of my career. I took a leave from work and during that time I reconnected with nature, put my phone away, and gave myself time to come back to life. Several months into my leave, I created my own model for employee engagement with two question sets to measure the model.
I now spend my time speaking to organizations about the importance of culture, what I learned from Southwest Airlines and my career in culture that you can use today, and how allowing time for disconnection...and a return to nature...can be an animating force in our lives (and supercharge the success of your business).
In addition to speaking around the world—both virtually and IRL—I work with organizations that are deeply committed to ushering in the restorative era of work at their organizations and making their sustainability commitments core to their culture.
I promote and practice frequent disconnection from technology and reserve a healthy amount of time to spend in the forest, make plant-based food, medicine, and art.
