Joy is The Strategy (with John Goss)

Joy is The Strategy (with John Goss)

From The Business of Joy by Lisa W. Miller

April 28, 2026 · 50 min · Season 7 · Episode 7

About this episode

John Goss discusses the importance of joy as a deliberate strategy in leadership and corporate culture.

Most executives don’t put the word "joy" in their personal brand statement. John Goss does! As President of Sally Beauty, a global brand with over 2,400 stores in the US and Canada, John has built his career around the idea that joy and culture aren’t separate from results - it produces them. In this conversation, we talked about what it really means to lead with joy. Not as a feel-good concept, but as a deliberate strategy. Joy attracts the right people, builds real trust, and drives everything else. We also got into the stuff that doesn't always make it into leadership conversations: growing up as the new kid across eight schools graduating high school in Singapore and the early career moments that taught him exactly the kind of leader he never wanted to be

People in this episode

Host: Lisa W. Miller

Guest: John Goss

Topics covered

  • leadership
  • joy
  • corporate culture
  • personal branding
  • trust
  • career development

Keywords

  • joy
  • leadership
  • Sally Beauty
  • corporate culture
  • trust
  • personal brand
  • career growth

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Sally Beauty

Places: Singapore

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