Spa Executive May 2024
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THE HAPPINESS ISSUE<br />
Deepak Ohri, Chief Happiness Officer, on<br />
bringing happiness to guests and staff in<br />
luxury hospitality<br />
Happiness is an experience through which you<br />
can only connect the dots looking backwards,<br />
says Deepak Ohri, Chief Happiness Officer at<br />
LAMH.<br />
Deepak Ohri is the founder and CEO of<br />
Luxury Atelier Maison Happiness (LAMH),<br />
a California-based company specializing<br />
in luxury experiences and branding<br />
where he also holds the title of Chief<br />
Happiness Officer. Previously, he served<br />
as the CEO and Chief Happiness Officer<br />
of Lebua Hotels, which, under his<br />
leadership, was named the World’s<br />
Leading All-Suite Hotel by the World<br />
Travel Awards in 2022, while Ohri was<br />
also recognized as the “World’s Leading<br />
Happiness Ambassador” by the same<br />
organization.<br />
An expert in leadership and luxury<br />
hospitality, Deepak Ohri has lectured at<br />
prestigious business and management<br />
4 | <strong>Spa</strong> <strong>Executive</strong><br />
schools and serves on several boards,<br />
including the Advisory Board of the World<br />
Happiness Foundation.<br />
Given that success in luxury hospitality<br />
hinges on maximizing guest happiness, it<br />
seemed fitting to ask Deepak Ohri about<br />
his insights on bringing happiness to both<br />
guests and staff in the industry. Here’s<br />
what he had to say, in his own words:<br />
What is happiness?<br />
Happiness is not an expertise; it is an<br />
experience. People go to many different<br />
venues for happiness but you can never<br />
connect the dots moving forward. You only<br />
connect dots when you look backwards.<br />
Happiness is directly proportional to<br />
your purpose. A person can lose their<br />
job, and have nothing to do, and still be<br />
a very happy person if they have found<br />
the purpose in life. When you realize<br />
your purpose in your life, when you love<br />
what you’re doing, and when you actually<br />
know what you love, that is where you<br />
gain your happiness. Happiness relates to<br />
confidence, motivation, and all those tools<br />
that come along with that knowledge of<br />
your purpose.<br />
It doesn’t just come. You have to<br />
work for it.<br />
You have to practice and you have to<br />
believe in yourself. The first time you’re<br />
trying to do something, you don’t know<br />
whether you’re going to reach your<br />
destination or not. Then when you look<br />
back, you can see how one thing leads to<br />
the other and that leads to the other – and<br />
how you reached your destination, but you<br />
can’t know that in advance.