GROWING HAPPY has built a team of experts from different backgrounds, industries, ideologies and mindsets. This diversity of thought makes us unique.
As a completely flat organisation, everyone has the opportunity to influence our direction and challenge our approach.
If you're passionate about Making Change Happen, please get in touch. We need your help to continually improve and evolve our thinking.
CEO
Ru Pearce
From the age of about 9 or 10 Ru talked about happiness being more important than money or success or fame. Not as important as Liverpool or becoming a professional sportsperson, but pretty close...
He didn't know then how much it was going to impact his future purpose. Pursuing happiness, over some of the other desire-based ills of our time, is an easy thing to say, but it's a hard thing to do. Now it's common for people to criticise the pursuit of happiness as a selfish, individualistic pastime.
Ru believes in promoting a collective, community-minded definition of happiness, as much as improving wellbeing or facilitating meaningful, lasting change (alongside dampening down his incessant ego, of course).
Before taking the leap to start GROWING HAPPY, Ru developed his skills and approaches helping improve and advance a small technology consultancy into a global FTSE 250 organisation. Working across Europe and then North America, gave him the opportunity to build high-performing, innovative teams and support leading financial clients manage high-profile programmes.
Making Change Happen is about allowing people with very different skills and expertise to effectively work together towards the same vision. If GROWING HAPPY can get this right, then we can create a blueprint for doing things very differently across varying industries and hopefully wider society.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Tamsin Herbert
Experienced Executive Producer with a passion for creating original and authentic content. Broad and varied experience from broadcast to digital with a reputation for solving the most challenging problems and building highly-talented production teams that deliver world-class campaigns and content.
Extremely proud of working with global brands on some of the biggest campaigns of the last 20 years. Some highlights include a series of films about inspiring Paralympians for Channel 4, a short film created with young people who have grown up living with HIV which launched on World Aids Day, a Cancer Research Commercial and a feature film 'Night Bus' which won Best Feature Film at the British Independent Festival.
Other great clients include: Google, Honda, Barclays Premier League, Amazon TV, Cancer Research, General Motors and Ford Motors.
Tamsin is ferociously good at anything she does and we’re very grateful she’s not been persuaded to join the UN or some massive global conglomerate.
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
David Freemantle
Having run a Production House for many years, David has over 30 years-experience across Pre and Post-Production: Directing, Editing and Managing projects for clients right across the world.
With a contagious energy and drive to create fresh ideas, there is a deep love and care for producing impactful films and media content that changes the way people think. From a young age, he has created visual experiences that transform behaviour and help clients connect with their audiences through the power of film.
Trusted by the most impressive and successful figures in the industry, David’s most notable clients and projects include: a number of feature films for MGM and Film 4; commercials for Rolex, Sky and Lloyds Bank; alongside a number of shorts for London Paralympics 2012 and Special Olympics World Games 2019.
As David says “When I very first started messing about with film-making at the age of 17, I knew that it was for me”. We’ve tried many pictures on this page, but his wife still thinks he looks like a thug! Get to know him in real-life and you won’t be disappointed...
Head of Research & Impact
Ben Rockett
Dr Ben lives for making only meaningful change happen. He uses academic research training and innate curiosity to explore the drivers of people's behaviours. Known as one to ask questions, he actually prefers the impact of silence when seeking understanding.
Bearing a fascination with human relationships Ben believes in the power of the collective approach to community development and has situated his professional roles directly in supporting people to find security and connection with the people and the environment around them.
As a young whipper snapper Ben was idealistic in this thinking and in many ways he has retained that quality, only now a helpful dose of realistic thinking moderates his efforts to the cusp of what can be applied; though it is a fine line he treads!
Having held executive level roles in the for-purpose sector, Ben is on this team to bring rigorous critical inquiry to the Growing Happy partnerships.
Project Manager
Holly Munro
Holly believes that everyone deserves to have a voice, to feel valued and to be given the chance to make a difference. What we can do together far exceeds what any one of us can do individually. By bringing people together with a shared passion and purpose to deliver projects that have an impact Holly believes that we can really start changing the world. She is also dedicated to building an inclusive, tight knit community along the way that can support each other and grow together.
Having just graduated with a degree in psychology, Holly is now pursuing a Master’s in Forensic Psychology. Having played international sport for a number of years, she also has experience working in teams, delivering against specific briefs and adapting under pressure.
"I am very grateful to have been given the opportunity to work with Growing Happy, managing specific projects until I finish my Master’s. I hope to continue to give back to the community and Make Change Happen at Growing Happy and beyond". Holly has brought so much to the team over the last 12 months and she has a unique ability to make everyone feel at ease. That and she's amazing at delivery.
DIRECTOR
Adam Hinton
Adam believes in the good of people. Wherever he has travelled, the people he has met and stayed with have been welcoming and open. Even in the most dire situations, when almost everything seems negative, he finds himself filming and photographing the positives.
Once when staying with a family in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro he found that in spite of the level of violence surrounding people living there, it was outweighed by the community’s cohesion. With the ballet classes for the children, art clubs and after-school care the families supported each other and the community had a strong sense of social solidarity.
Adam is a multi award-winning Director and Photographer who has been involved in some incredibly important projects shining a light on injustice and human potential in some of the most deprived parts of the world.
When we said, do you want to be involved? Adam replied: “right, where we going then...”. Adam’s a man that shares our belief that everyone has the potential to truly change the world. Let’s just see hey!
DIRECTOR
Kieran Hodges
Kieran is a multi-skilled director and internationally award-winning filmmaker, specialising in off-grid adventures and expeditions, documentary making and inspiring storytelling.
As a diehard explorer, Kieran Hodges is known for his unrivaled energy and natural ability to connect with people, imbuing his stories with substance and heart.
From ice fishing in the Arctic and scaling desert dunes in the UAE to hiking volcanoes on the Pacific Island of Vanuatu, Kieran Hodges is a true professional, thriving behind the camera, wherever in the world he may be.
As our fun-loving Kiwi, Kieran is known for his ability to fall in love on shoots all over the world. He hasn’t been able to persuade anyone to settle down with him quite yet...
Ed began his training as a senior associate of The Royal Ballet. He went on to graduate from the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. He has danced with the Balletboyz for the last 8 years performing in theatres across the world. He has also taught workshops to children and adults throughout his career.
Tricia Donegan has an infectious passion that is hard to ignore. Her heart, energy and love for life has inspired Yogis from all over the world. Tricia is the glue binding her NYC community together; she's opened restaurants (with President Clinton's support) transforming a deprived part of Atlanta; she's built a NYC yoga studio (a LES institution); and she's been a driving force behind the Lower East Side Girls Club (a movement for girls that is incredible). We're lucky to have Tricia involved
Venerable Lobsang Chunzom, a New York City Buddhist nun dedicates her life to inspiring people to be healthy and happy by focusing on the health and happiness of others. With leaders in the arts and health professions, she founded a nonprofit organization Limitless Health Institute to offer innovative multimedia art programs that encourage people to help others on their journey to reach health and happiness (www.LimitlessHealthInstitute.org).
Jim Bernardin has been delivering world percussion workshops and performances for over twenty years. He runs two Caribbean-style steel bands and is a busy freelance percussionist, specialising in world music in the community. This summer he's judging at the renowned International Steel Pan and Marimba Festival in South Africa. Jim has visited hundreds of schools all over the world and also tailors his work for corporate clients. His warm and engaging style is not to be missed.
Before becoming a yoga and barre instructor, Emily trained as a professional ballet and contemporary dancer. She has performed all across Europe appearing in a number of company performances, music and fashion videos. Find out more about Emily at: www.innergrace.co.uk/
Will Mayo is a 3rd Dan black belt in Japanese Jiu Jitsu and has been teaching and training in various Martial Arts for over 20 years. He is one of the leading organisers in a non-profit national Martial Arts organisation. If you are interested in studying martial arts or have further questions about training feel free to to contact him on: William.Mayo@Aiuchi.org Otherwise feel free to visit the organisation he teaches within on www.Auichi.org
Prem was raised in Philadelphia, where he tried to be a tough guy. Through the kindness of his teachers, he has stumbled into some degree of spiritual awakening. Prem works with a diverse set of spiritual aspirants, elite athletes, and traumatized children. Prem is the author of numerous essays, and five critically acclaimed books: The Universal Yoga; Three Paths of Devotion; The Yoga of Spiritual Devotion; Yoga American Style; and the Song of the Guru. For more information visit:www.gmsy.org.
Kieran is a freelance filmmaker based in London. Originally from Palmerston North, New Zealand he has travelled extensively around the world, honing his ability to adapt to any situation, get the shot and craft strong stories about topics that matter. Growing Happy is lucky to have such a talented creator, as part of the team and we hope you love the films. To see more outstanding work visit www.kieranhodges.com.
Scott is a software engineer and loves all things technology. When not developing new stuff Scott enjoys travelling, winter sports and movies. Scott is instrumental in conveying Growing Happy vision to our users.