Episode 81: Veni Folta, Chief Happiness Officer at The Inspired Action Group

“Life is an Adventure. Jump out of a Plane. Live your Ikigai. Find your Happy Place!” — Veni Folta, Chief Happiness Officer at The Inspired Action Group, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal

From Portuguese Macau to British Hong Kong to the United States…

from a Category 5 hurricane that wiped out her dream job in a single day…

to nearly three decades in telecom, two of them in international roaming…

to becoming the Chief Happiness Officer helping leaders reclaim their lives —

Veni's journey is unlike anything you've heard on this show before!

In this episode of Humans of Telecom, Veni opens up about:

🌏 A life that began in Macau, moved through Hong Kong, and eventually landed in Seattle — shaped by colonial history, cultural richness, and remarkable resilience

📖 Her bestselling book "I QUIT: How To Lose Your Job and Find Your Dream Career" — and why losing your job might just be the best thing that ever happens to you!

🧠 How a decade of studying neuroscience and cognitive positive psychology became her second calling — and ultimately her life's purpose

✈️ The pandemic that stopped all roaming traffic — and paradoxically launched the most meaningful chapter of her career

🪂 Skydiving at 14,000 feet over a coral reef in Saipan at sunset — as a team building exercise — because why not?

🌊 Snorkeling between two tectonic plates in freezing Icelandic waters — and accidentally meeting the former president of Iceland, who had quietly become a park ranger

🚶 Walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain and the Kumano Kodo in Japan — because some journeys are meant for the soul, not the schedule

💔 The health crises — cancer, depression, a brain bleed from a concussion — that taught her the most important lesson of all: you cannot serve others from an empty cup

❤️ And her life's mission — helping people break old patterns, rewire their brains, reclaim their power, and finally come alive

From roaming partnerships to the science of happiness —

Veni is proof that sometimes the most extraordinary career pivots begin not with a plan, but with a crisis, a curiosity, and the courage to begin again!

🎧 Listen now on your favorite podcast platform, and follow Humans of Telecom for more extraordinary voices shaping the industry and inspiring the human spirit!