Join us on December 10, 2026, for an inspiring half-day event focused on exploring the role of joy in supporting mental health, resilience, and overall well-being. Through expert-led sessions, you’ll discover how joy can be cultivated even during life’s challenges, why emotional honesty matters more than forced positivity, how nourishment supports mood and energy, and how humour can be a powerful tool for reducing stress and fostering success.
This year’s conference invites you to take a meaningful look at what it means to thrive, both personally and professionally. Whether you’re looking to strengthen your well-being, build healthier workplace habits, or simply reconnect with what brings you joy, you’ll leave with practical strategies and fresh perspectives to support you at work and beyond.
Conference Details
Date: Tuesday, December 10
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. MT
Cost: Two options to select from:
1) All-access Live Virtual Pass (25$ + GST): Ticket includes live access to the keynote speaker, breakout sessions, live Q&A, on-demand access for 30-days, and a delegate gift shipped directly to you.*
Registration deadline: December 3
*Delegate gifts are shipped within Canada/USA only.
All-access registration2) On-Demand Virtual Pass (free): Ticket includes 30-day access to conference material available on-demand shortly following the live event. This ticket choice does NOT include the delegate gift or live access.
Registration deadline: December 7
On-demand registrationKeynote Speaker: Jessica Janzen
The Hard Work of Joy
Change is constant. Uncertainty is unavoidable. And the leaders who thrive aren’t waiting for things to get easier—they’re building the capacity to handle hard better.
After an unimaginable personal loss, Jessica Janzen learned that resilience isn’t something you’re born with—it’s something you build; and joy is a tool many leaders overlook. In this session, she’ll use powerful storytelling and practical, science-backed strategies, to show attendees how to move from feeling overwhelmed and stuck to energized and ready for what’s next.
Attendees will learn how to:
- Use joy as a strategic tool, not a reward earned after hardship is over.
- Build resilience before adversity hits —not just in the middle of it.
- Shift from a problem mindset to a possibility mindset.
- Create daily habits that increase energy, optimism, and capacity.
- Build forward momentum—even in uncertainty.
Concurrent Sessions
The Hidden Cost of Toxic Positivity: Building Emotionally Honest Workplaces
with Dr. Laura Hambley
Session details
In today’s fast-paced workplaces, the pressure to “stay positive,” “keep your head up,” and “don’t complain” has become a cultural norm — but at what cost? This powerful and thought-provoking session explores the growing phenomenon of toxic positivity in the workplace: what it is, why it matters, and what leaders and teams can do about it.
Positivity itself is not the problem, but when it is used to dismiss, minimize, or silence the real emotional experiences of employees, it becomes toxic. In this session, attendees will explore and learn to address what happens when toxic positivity is allowed to ripple across organizations.
Attendees will learn how to:
- Distinguish toxic positivity from healthy optimism.
- Recognize the subtle ways toxic positivity shows up in everyday workplace language, leadership responses, and organizational culture.
- Examine the real impact on employee well-being, psychological safety, trust, and productivity.
- Apply practical, evidence-informed strategies to replace forced positivity with authentic, empathetic, and solution-focused optimism.
Putting Humour to Work for Less Stress and More Success
with Michael Kerr
Session details
Get ready to laugh, learn, and look at your workplace through a whole new lens! In this fast-paced, high-energy, humour-filled presentation, Michael Kerr shares why laughter really can be the best medicine when it comes to creating a more inspiring workplace, delighting those you work with, and surviving those inevitable bad hair days!
Michael will share hilarious real-world examples, practical ideas, and his “Three R’s” of humour and stress management to help you become more resilient, resourceful, and effective—even when the pressure is on.
Attendees will learn:
- Practical ways to use humour to boost your energy throughout the workday.
- How humour can help strengthen workplace relationships and build connections.
- Strategies for using humour to enhance productivity and engagement.
- Simple ways to create a more positive, enjoyable, and supportive work environment.
The Joy of Nourishment: How Food Supports Mood, Energy, and Real Life
with Serena Benali RD
Session details
Food is one of the small, everyday ways we care for ourselves. This workshop takes a realistic look at how food can support joy, energy, mood, and overall wellness without turning nutrition into another pressure-filled project.
In this session, attendees will learn practical ways to make nourishment feel more enjoyable and less stressful, including how to reframe cooking, planning, and feeding yourself as acts of care that can provide energy, ease, and joy.
Attendees will learn how:
- Nourishment supports energy, mood, and the way we show up in daily life
- Eating well can help us feel better, move better, think more clearly, and experience more capacity for joy
- Food, mood, and the gut-brain connection: a light look at how gut health impacts mental well being
- Shifting from pressure and perfection when it comes to cooking and planning will lead to more ease, flexibility, and realistic rhythms
- Simple supports, comfort foods, easy meals, low-energy options, and habits can make food feel more nourishing and enjoyable
Conference Agenda
|
Timing (MT) |
Session |
|
10:00 – 11:25 am |
Introduction
|
|
11:25 – 11:30 am |
Break |
|
11:30 am – 12:30 pm |
The Hidden Cost of Toxic Positivity: Building Emotionally Honest Workplaces with Dr. Laura Hambley |
|
11:30 am – 12:30 pm |
Putting Humour to Work for Less Stress and More Success with Michael Kerr |
|
11:30 am – 12:30 pm |
The Joy of Nourishment: How Food Supports Mood, Energy, and Real Life with Serena Benali BSc, RD |
Thank you to our sponsors
