By John Benson
C’mon, get happy. Not only is that the catchy song to ’70s television series The Partridge Family, but it’s now the rally cry for brand-new Cleveland-based social venture [thrive], which has scheduled a Lunch Beat event for noon Fri 11/16 at The Basement in the Market Garden Brewery.
Formed earlier this year, [thrive] has the unenviable task of trying to turn Northeast Ohio’s frown upside down. In a nutshell, the 14-member volunteer group is attempting to “help people live happier, healthier lives through awe-inspiring, connecting, surprising, and boundary-expanding experiences, classes, and events.”
Cool Cleveland talked to [thrive] co-founder Jen Margolis, an organization development consultant by trade and presumably smiling person all day, about this unique group and its oddball, wacky and perhaps just-crazy-enough-to-work events.
Cool Cleveland: First of all, what exactly is [thrive]?
Jen Margolis: Our mission is to design experiences that tap into people’s happiness. The fields we pull from, there’s an actual academic field called positive psychology and actually at the Weatherhead School [of Management] they have a lot of positive psychologists. Positive psychology is basically the science of what makes us feel good and happiness. Everything we do, we want to be actually pretty vigorous and based in science and researched. So all of these experiences that we’re designing we’re pushing people’s happiness buttons.
What other events has [thrive] staged this year?
We had our first event in August. It was a farm-to-table experience. We took a group of 25 people and went down to the Countryside Conservancy Farmers’ Market, which is one of the only farmer’s markets in a national park in Peninsula. We had a chef who created amazing dishes. We had the folks from Edible Cleveland come and talk to us about our local food scene on our bus ride down there. It was a blast; we learned about local food and got to see it and taste it and create with it. Our second event was a couple of weeks ago in Tremont. One of our creative team members led us in a happiness workshop so it was really interactive, really sensory. We had about 30 people there.
As for Lunch Beat, what’s the idea?
This one we wanted to be just like a big great party. Lunch Beat is sort of a dance rage that happened in Europe over the summer. They are basically designing lunchtime dance parties so they’d take some cool space -– sometimes it was in a bar, sometimes it was in an empty warehouse in urban areas – and people came and danced and had a blast and got a bite to eat and went back to work. It was just a huge success. DJ Floss will be there. He’s the DJ for the Cleveland Cavs.
We have local businesses that are donating some goodies for favor bags and if people want to come a half hour early we have some local Zumba instructors who are going to teach us some moves. Then we dance for an hour. The rule is everyone must dance. Then people can grab lunch if they want, and go back to work or stay around for another half hour for a speed networking kind of event.
With all due respect, when you’re explaining these events do people often tilt their head, squint their eyes and look back at you perplexed?
So, there’s no middle ground is what we’re finding. We’re finding people either get it and are so into it they’re beyond excited and giddy when we talk to them about it. And then we’ve come across people who are like, “What?” It seems like no matter how much we kind of explain it, they don’t get it unless they experience it.
Did you ever think that maybe people don’t want to be happy?
Honestly, the research says 60 percent of your happiness comes from your experience in your life – how you were raised, how you’re wired in your brain and your educational training and background and job. The other 40 percent is really up to us to make a choice about. That’s what we’re really aiming to tap into, that 40 percent. That’s the amount we have to play with to make our own choices about being happy.
Are you happy?
I am happy.
Why?
I have so many reasons to be happy. Doing this work actually makes me giddy happy because I feel like it taps into my own purpose, which is to help other people find their strengths and talents and joys in life.
So just as the Red Hat Society gives middle-aged women something to cheer about, [thrive] is hoping to give people of all ages something to smile about?
That’s really good. I like that. Yeah, totally.
[thrive]’s Lunch Beat takes place at noon Fri 11/16 at The Basement – Market Garden Brewery, 1947 West 25th St., Cleveland. Tickets are $10 ADV/$15 DOS. Visit http://facebook.com/thrivecleveland.
Freelance writer John Benson spends most of his time writing for various papers throughout Northeast Ohio. When he’s not writing about music or entertainment, he can be found coaching his two boys in basketball, football and baseball or watching movies with his lovely wife, Maria. John also occasionally writes for CoolCleveland.com.