Creating a Joyful Planet: How Joe Cohen is Helping

Patrice Tanaka, Founder & Chief Joy Officer of Joyful Planet LLC, interviews people who are actively living their purpose and contributing to a more joyful planet. This interview spotlights Joe Cohen, Senior Vice President Communications at KIND Snacks.

PT:  Joe, what I love and admire about you is how you’re pursuing your passion and living your purpose, in part, through the amazing work you’ve done at MWW, as Past National Chair of PRSA, and now, at KIND Snacks.  Can you share your life’s purpose with us?  I define a life’s purpose as one that leverages your greatest talents, experience and passion in service of people and planet.

JC:  Until I was asked to participate in this blog series, I had never spent much time thinking about the concept of a life purpose – at least in those words.  However, a philosophy that I’ve tried to follow throughout my adult life is to “Spread positive energy.”

A quality that has benefitted me in life and in business is that I’m often (but not always) able to connect and find common ground with people.  Some of this comes from a natural desire and curiosity to learn about individual’s personal stories.  In my personal and professional lives, this has enabled me to build relationships and friendships with people from all walks of life.

During my adolescent and early teenage years, I went through a phase where I was incredibly shy and awkward. While I later learned to become comfortable in my own skin, I never lost memory of those feelings, and I remember how even the smallest acts of kindness meant so much to me during that phase of my life. I now make a concerted effort to use my natural ability to connect with people to also spread positive energy, particularly to those who I perceive to be in need of a smile, compliment or kind words.

I love working in the communications profession and have found tremendous fulfillment through the work I’ve done at every phase of my career, from MWW to PRSA to KIND (it also helps quite a bit to work at a purpose-driven brand like KIND, where it is literally a part of your job to spread kindness). Having an interest and ability to connect with people makes one well-suited to work in communications. If you can empathize with an audience and understand differing points-of-view, it will enable you to craft messages and narratives that deliver impact and carry emotional resonance.

Regarding volunteerism, since I was very young I’ve always enjoyed charity work and this aligns with the life philosophy that I now hold as an adult.  I believe this is because the euphoric effect of spreading positive energy becomes amplified when the emotional stakes are higher.  I’ve been drawn to causes like the Valerie Fund and Dream Room Makeover – organizations that deliver positive experiences to children who are in need of some happiness in their lives.

PT:  When did you discover your life’s purpose? Was there a triggering incident?

JC:  A number of years ago, I read James Redfield’s “Celestine Prophecy”and was greatly impacted by the spiritual themes that underlie the narrative.  One of these is the idea that when you are kind to people, you’re spreading positive energy and both individuals come out feeling better as a result (at KIND, we call this equation the “Net Happiness Aggregator”).  The converse is projecting negative behavior that makes you feel better at the expense of other individuals, which drains energy from them to benefit yourself.  While I don’t necessarily believe that we have literal energy that can be traded from one person to another, the spiritual philosophies in “Celestine Prophecy” (which are rooted in ancient Eastern traditions) continue to resonate very deeply with me.

PT:  And once you determined your purpose did you find yourself begin to actively live it?  How did you begin? What did you do?

JC:  Over a period of years, I did begin to change my behavior and increasingly became more aware that I was inconsistent in how I treated people.  For example, at work, I began to catch myself acting in a manner that was mildly condescending to subordinates and overly deferential to my bosses.  I began to police myself to try harder to treat everyone similarly regardless of their stature.

PT:  Did knowing your purpose in life change what you do in your professional life in any way?  And, in your personal life?

 JC:  At work, it was more an act of monitoring and adjusting my behavior versus changing my actual job.  Similar to work, in my personal life, I became more self-aware and began to discipline myself to practice consistency.

PT:  How does it feel to be living your life’s purpose?  Specifically, how would you describe it in terms of the success, fulfillment and joy you experience?

 JC:  I try to make time at least once a week to take inventory and gauge my behavior and how it impacts others.  When I go through this exercise and feel that I’ve delivered on my purpose, it’s a wonderful feeling.

PT:  What is the result of knowing and actively living your life’s purpose?  Is there a power that comes from knowing your life’s purpose in being able to actively live it?

JC:  I believe that there is great power in understanding oneself.  If you are able to pinpoint a purpose, or even just identify the behaviors that bring you fulfillment, it’s a major step forward in defining what will help you to lead a more meaningful life.

PT:  What are your greatest hopes and dreams for the life purpose you have chosen?

 JC:  I hope that when I look back on my life, I’ll be able to feel that, more often than not, I’ve had a positive impact on the lives that I’ve touched. 

PT:  What do you think you would be doing now if you hadn’t determined and then actively begun to live your purpose?

JC:  While I find great satisfaction and fulfillment in communications, I expect I would have naturally gravitated towards a field where the work centers around social interaction.  Education is a profession where I could have seen myself landing and at some point in my life, I would like to teach.

PT:  How important is it for people to discover their life’s purpose?  What advice would you give others about discovering their life’s purpose?

JC:  In general, it is very important to identify and understand the feelings and experiences that bring you fulfillment. If you can distill it down to a life purpose, all the better.

My advice is to spend time thinking about the root causes behind your behavior – what makes you do what you do, good or bad?  And for the behaviors that lead to the sensation of fulfillment, find ways to make them an everyday habit.