I’ve never stopped dreaming about spending several months traveling to new places, exploring different cultures and the natural wonders of the world. However, as a performance-oriented person truly enjoying work, with an urge to grow and make an impact in the business world, it hasn’t always been easy to follow those dreams. It is easy to get caught up in projects and tasks and years pass by focusing on company and client needs, and it is seldom a good time to ask for a longer time off, especially when having a central role in a growing business.

Fortunately, Klara Ljungqvist, the CEO of People Heart Business looks at this differently. Ever since I joined People Heart Business, I have had the opportunity to talk openly about ALL of my dreams. Even better, People Heart Business has encouraged me to dream even bigger and since I shared this dream with the team, it’s been followed up on many times – when is it time for your trip?

Yet, despite People Heart Business having a holistic perspective on life and happiness as a part of sustainable top performance, and one of our core values is dreaming big, it wasn’t easy to ask for 2.5 months off to go on adventures ”just for fun”. What about the team? What about our clients? What do I signal and how will this affect my role and my career?

Finally, during the fall, I decided it was time. I wanted to live in line with all my values and follow the dream of going on a 2.5 month long trip to South America with my husband. And what happened at work?

I received a tremendous amount of support and encouragement and was called a role model for living sustainable performance. During the trip I was forced to check out completely, with the team stepping up and taking over all my responsibilities.

I have myself, my team and our culture to thank for one of the best adventures of my life. I found that the support and opportunity to fully check out was the best medicine to increase my passion to contribute to work when coming back. For a person like me the problem isn’t motivation or loyalty – it is balancing high motivation and loyalty with other aspects of life to maintain it as years pass by. I want to be a role model showing that top performance in the business world can be combined with values of traveling, family, and doing other things you love.

I was welcomed back in the best way possible. I was surprised with flowers and heartwarming messages, but best of all – a prepared ”dream boarding”. People Heart Business wanted to learn about my experiences, insights, and dreams but also about my perspectives on the company having been away and coming back.

In summary, I’ve been positively reinforced and challenged to fulfill my personal dreams without having to worry about leaving the professional dreams behind and instead finding ways where these dreams can influence and reinforce each other.

Grateful for a lifetime – thank you! ❤

Felicia Grosin
COO & Management Consultant