Nataly Kogan

  • Founder of Happier, a global technology and learning platform enabling users to discover new methods of pursuing emotional wellbeing
  • TEDx Speaker on How to Cultivate Happiness
  • Author, Happier Now
  • Happiness Expert, Venture Capitalist & Successful Tech Entrepreneur

A leading expert on leadership and thriving, Nataly Kogan is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, and entrepreneur whose superpower is helping people to reinvent their stories and unlock their best, thriving selves.

Nataly immigrated to the US as a refugee from the former Soviet Union when she was 13 years old. Starting her American life in the projects and on welfare, she learned English by watching “Who’s the Boss?” on repeat.

She went on to reach the highest levels of career success at McKinsey and Microsoft, as a Managing Director at a venture capital fund, and as founder or executive at 5 startups and tech companies.

But after years of chasing a non-existent state of nirvana, Nataly suffered a debilitating burnout that led her to find a new way to live and work. Nataly founded Happier Inc., whose gratitude-sharing mobile app, courses, Happier @ Work, and leadership programs have helped more than a million people lead more fulfilling lives.

She is a sought-after international keynote speaker and has appeared in hundreds of media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and TIME.

Nataly is the author of Happier Now, The Awesome Human Project, and The Awesome Human Journal, and hosts The Awesome Human Podcast, which people call their “best-self hour.”

Nataly began painting when she turned 40 and is a self-taught abstract artist. She is passionate about the power of art to fuel our wellbeing and often integrates it in her speaking and mentorship work.

She loves yellow, overuses the word “awesome”, and is the funniest person in her family. (Just ask her husband and daughter, her favorite awesome humans.)

For more, visit natalykogan.com.

 


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Past Hosts Include:
  • CIGNA
  • SAP
  • Massachusetts General Hospital Well-Being Center
  • SAP Concur
  • Bristol-Myers Squibb
  • GE Capital
  • Million Dollar Roundtable
  • Louis Vuitton
  • SXSW
  • Women Inspiring Women
Rave Reviews About Nataly Kogan
Nataly’s background and experience on what really drives a happier existence at work & home was very well received. She brings a lot of credibility to the topic as she is very honest about her own experiences. It was refreshing to hear. I can’t recommend enough adding an element of Happier to a company event.

Day Show - Author Nataly Kogan Shares No. 1 Tip To Live A Happier Life | Kelly Clarkson Show [4:07] - Get Sharable Link
Talks & Conversations with Nataly Kogan
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Emotional Health @ Work During Challenge and Uncertainty: Keynote and Q&A with Nataly Kogan

Change is constant in today’s workplace, but increased stress, anxiety, and fear don't have to be. During this difficult time, organizations must prioritize the emotional health of their employees. While this should always be a priority, empowering employees with tools and practices to manage stress ...

Change is constant in today’s workplace, but increased stress, anxiety, and fear don't have to be. During this difficult time, organizations must prioritize the emotional health of their employees. While this should always be a priority, empowering employees with tools and practices to manage stress and increase well-being during times of crisis and uncertainty is non-negotiable.

The great news is that emotional health and happiness are skills that can be improved and cultivated with practice — and they can help your employees not just cope, but even thrive during change and uncertainty.

This keynote will support and elevate your people now!

Using the science-backed Happier Method™ and armed with research in neuroscience and psychology, NATALY KOGAN shares the skills and practices to help employees reduce stress, feel uplifted and motivated, boost their resilience, and foster a greater sense of connection with their colleagues (including when working remotely).

In this 45-60-minute practical and inspiring talk, Nataly will cover:

  • Research on uncertainty, happiness, and the human brain
  • Proven skills and practices to reduce stress and overwhelm, and find moments of joy and ease during this challenging time
  • Strategies to foster a sense of human connection and collaboration with colleagues while working remotely
  • Practices and rituals to help strengthen a culture of openness, kindness, and gratitude

Unlocking Confidence: Craft an empowering inner narrative, bust through doubt, and create the impact only you can have.

From coming to the U.S. as a refugee when she was a teenager to becoming a venture capitalist at 25, being the only woman in the room for most of her career as a tech and finance executive, starting several start-up companies, writing two bestselling books, and becoming an artist at 40, NATALY KOGAN ...

From coming to the U.S. as a refugee when she was a teenager to becoming a venture capitalist at 25, being the only woman in the room for most of her career as a tech and finance executive, starting several start-up companies, writing two bestselling books, and becoming an artist at 40, NATALY KOGAN is no stranger to having to overcome self-doubt and fear.

Weaving in vulnerable and powerful lessons she has learned on her journey, Nataly shares neuroscience insights, powerful mindset shifts, and highly actionable strategies that audience members can use to break through limiting beliefs, create an empowering inner narrative, and boost their courage to do what feels deeply aligned with their purpose.

Key takeaways:

  • The neuroscience of self-doubt and fear and how to shift from survival fear-mode and into the calm, centered, confident version of yourself
  • A powerful science-backed technique to edit negative fear-based thoughts and limiting beliefs
  • How to use your Bigger Why to shift from fear into courageous action

Kindness to Greatness: Elevating performance through kindness and self-compassion.

What does top performance have to do with kindness and self-compassion? Everything, according to growing mountains of scientific research. In this dynamic keynote, the audience will discover the transformative — and surprising! — impact of kindness and self-compassion on peak performance as NATALY K ...

What does top performance have to do with kindness and self-compassion?

Everything, according to growing mountains of scientific research.

In this dynamic keynote, the audience will discover the transformative and surprising! impact of kindness and self-compassion on peak performance as NATALY KOGAN shares compelling research and real-life stories. She delves into how self-compassion and kindness are pivotal in unlocking your full potential, mastering challenges, and fostering trust. Audience members will walk away with a profound mindset shift around kindness and compassion as being “soft skills” and immediately actionable practices to enhance self-compassion and cultivate leadership grounded in kindness and empathy. In our age of AI and growing disconnection from each other, this keynote offers essential learnings and activation to top performers with purpose.

Key takeaways:

  • The science of self-compassion and its impact on your ability to tap into your full potential, overcome setbacks, and grow through challenges
  • How practicing kindness improves relationships, increases trust, and leads to better client outcomes
  • Practices to improve self-compassion, create an empowering inner narrative, and lead with kindness in team and client relationships

Thriving Through Change: Growing through change with a mindset of purpose and possibility.

We’re living in a time of constant change and uncertainty. AI is accelerating the pace of change and creating seismic shifts in the way we work and live. It’s no longer an option to resist change. We must learn how to embrace and thrive through it. Having come to the US as a refugee when she was a t ...

We’re living in a time of constant change and uncertainty. AI is accelerating the pace of change and creating seismic shifts in the way we work and live. It’s no longer an option to resist change. We must learn how to embrace and thrive through it. Having come to the US as a refugee when she was a teenager, NATALY KOGAN had no choice but to embrace uncertainty and learn how to thrive through it.

She used her refugee mindset of possibility and hopefulness to excel through constant change during her 20-year career as a serial entrepreneur and tech and finance executive. In this perspective-shifting keynote, Nataly shares her science-backed T.H.R.I.V.E. blueprint and activates the audience members to reframe change as an opportunity to grow and share more of their unique abilities in the service of others. Participants will be inspired to tell a more empowering and expansive story about change, connect to their sense of purpose, and value learning over safety.

Key takeaways:

  • The neuroscience of change and uncertainty
  • T.H.R.I.V.E. Blueprint: 6 science-backed strategies to create a positive change mindset, fuel hopefulness, and grow and evolve though change
  • How connecting to your sense of purpose empowers you to grow through change with more courage

Unleash Your Awesome Human: Fuel your emotional fitness, struggle less, and thrive more in work and life.

Based on NATALY KOGAN’s best-selling book, The Awesome Human Project, this keynote will activate you to prioritize your emotional fitness, fuel your energy, and show up as your best, thriving self in every aspect of your work and life. With her signature mix of vulnerability, humor, and scientific r ...

Based on NATALY KOGAN’s best-selling book, The Awesome Human Project, this keynote will activate you to prioritize your emotional fitness, fuel your energy, and show up as your best, thriving self in every aspect of your work and life. With her signature mix of vulnerability, humor, and scientific research, Nataly shares her journey as a refugee who achieved immense career success, suffered a debilitating burnout, and discovered how changing her relationship with herself and strengthening her emotional fitness not only improved her well-being, but her ability to unleash her full awesome potential.

This keynote won’t just inspire you, but empower you with Nataly’s signature simple yet surprisingly powerful practices to manage your energy, edit negative thoughts, and live and work with greater joy and purpose.

Key takeaways:

  • What is emotional fitness and simple daily practices to strengthen it
  • A fresh take on self-care as the skill of fueling your mental, emotional, and physical energy
  • Powerful mindset shifts on how improving your relationship with yourself unlocks your full potential and capacity to lead with compassion

The Power of Authentic Leadership: Creating trust and empowering your team to thrive.

Leaders are constantly advised to be authentic and vulnerable. But for many, this feels like a contradiction to the qualities they’ve come to believe leaders should embody: confidence, strength, unwavering positivity. With vulnerability, humor, and scientific insights, NATALY KOGAN shares mistakes s ...

Leaders are constantly advised to be authentic and vulnerable. But for many, this feels like a contradiction to the qualities they’ve come to believe leaders should embody: confidence, strength, unwavering positivity. With vulnerability, humor, and scientific insights, NATALY KOGAN shares mistakes she made and lessons she learned during her 20-year career as a business leader wearing a “confident and positive” mask. She offers profound mindset shifts to empower leaders to lead with more compassion and authenticity, and simple but powerful practices that leaders can use to build trust and openness within their organizations.

Key takeaways:

  • An innovative concept of the Emotional Whiteboard, and how to practice it to improve trust and psychological safety within your team
  • Practical strategies to overcome fear of vulnerability
  • How to cultivate greater authenticity and human connection within your team to fuel engagement and top performance

The Happier Method: 5 science-backed skills to live with more joy and aliveness.

Based on NATALY KOGAN’s best-selling book Happier Now. We’ve all gotten stuck in the “I’ll be happy when…” trap, believing that achievements or seeking perfection will bring us happiness. In this vulnerable and practical keynote, Nataly, the founder of Happier, a company that has helped more than 1M ...

Based on NATALY KOGAN’s best-selling book Happier Now.

We’ve all gotten stuck in the “I’ll be happy when…” trap, believing that achievements or seeking perfection will bring us happiness. In this vulnerable and practical keynote, Nataly, the founder of Happier, a company that has helped more than 1M people live happier lives, and author of the best-selling book Happier Now, shares her lifelong struggle of searching for the elusive “big happy” and how she finally made the mindset shifts that enabled her to live with more self-compassion, joy, and meaning.

Nataly redefines happiness as a skill that anyone can cultivate and activates the audience to practice 5 core happier skills based on her science-backed Happier
Method™. Audience members will be elevated, inspired, and armed with simple practices that can immediately fuel their joy.

Key takeaways:

  • Happiness is a skill you can improve
  • Learn the 5 happier skills: Acceptance, Gratitude, Self-Care, Intentional
  • Kindness and the Bigger Why and simple yet surprisingly powerful ways to practice them in your daily life and at work

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Speaker News

Nataly Kogan’s 'Happier Now' is a roadmap to cultivating happiness

CEO and Founder of Happier NATALY KOGAN's book Happier Now: How to Stop Chasing Perfection and Embrace Everyday Moments (Even the Difficult Ones) brings her lifetime of lessons gained from leading organizations of all sizes to a wider audience, illuminating how we can  start cultivating our happier skills now, today, in this moment. was named #1 on Fast Company's list of "Summer Beach Reads." A game-changing book that helps people re-frame their thinking, Happier Now reveals the power of embracing the rich fabric of many human emotions, including the difficult ones, and learning how to use scientifically proven practices to live fully in good times and bad. Full of tangible, actionable tools and strategies, Kogan’s book teaches volumes about compassion, resilience, and yes, happiness.

Watch Nataly Kogan's speaker reel >>

Nataly Kogan shares how to be happier and more productive in work and life 

NATALY KOGAN visited the Harry Walker Agency to share her compelling research and proven insight into how to become happier and more productive in any work environment. Her three key steps of actively practicing gratitude, kindness, and mindfulness can transform not just the office's dynamics and business success, but also personal perspectives. As the founder of Happier, Inc., an organization that uses scientific research and statistical evidence to allow people and organizations to build happier foundations, Nataly has impacted nearly one million people, transforming personal and professional lives the nation over.  

Watch Nataly Kogan's keynote at MDRT >> 

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Biography

A leading expert on leadership and thriving, Nataly Kogan is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, and entrepreneur whose superpower is helping people to reinvent their stories and unlock their best, thriving selves.

Nataly immigrated to the US as a refugee from the former Soviet Union when she was 13 years old. Starting her American life in the projects and on welfare, she learned English by watching “Who’s the Boss?” on repeat.

She went on to reach the highest levels of career success at McKinsey and Microsoft, as a Managing Director at a venture capital fund, and as founder or executive at 5 startups and tech companies.

But after years of chasing a non-existent state of nirvana, Nataly suffered a debilitating burnout that led her to find a new way to live and work. Nataly founded Happier Inc., whose gratitude-sharing mobile app, courses, Happier @ Work, and leadership programs have helped more than a million people lead more fulfilling lives.

She is a sought-after international keynote speaker and has appeared in hundreds of media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and TIME.

Nataly is the author of Happier Now, The Awesome Human Project, and The Awesome Human Journal, and hosts The Awesome Human Podcast, which people call their “best-self hour.”

Nataly began painting when she turned 40 and is a self-taught abstract artist. She is passionate about the power of art to fuel our wellbeing and often integrates it in her speaking and mentorship work.

She loves yellow, overuses the word “awesome”, and is the funniest person in her family. (Just ask her husband and daughter, her favorite awesome humans.)

For more, visit natalykogan.com.