Who or what makes you laugh until it hurts?
When my partner falls over or has an accident. Sometimes when I need a laugh, I set things up to make this happen.
What would your superpower be?
Telekinesis.
What’s the nicest thing anyone ever said to you?
You’ve just made me wet myself (with reference to making them laugh, not anything weird).
What’s the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you?
I thought my mic was off at a conference and let slip that I had just accidentally dropped another mic in the toilet and weed on it but told the sound team I had dropped it in the sink. I thought I was whispering to my colleague in the room next door, but I was telling the whole conference.
What’s your mantra?
Take your mic pack off before you wee.
Over the past decade, a crowded field of self-appointed “happiness experts” has emerged. Stephanie Davies is not one of them. She didn’t jump on the bandwagon. She helped lay the road.
Stephanie started her professional life in performing community arts at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, where her sense of humour (or, as her friends and family put it, “showing off”) evolved into stand-up comedy. She has performed alongside some of the nation’s top comics, such as Sarah Millican and John Bishop.
Her passion for understanding human behaviour led her to study psychology. Her understanding of how humour can be used to help drive sustainable behaviour change led her to develop the concept of Laughology, and she set about changing the world, bringing out the best in people, both in classrooms and corporate offices.
Her work is built to stick. For example, a recent programme with one of the UK’s biggest lottery companies guided over 1,000 employees to align with fresh values and behaviours. Her programmes are as practical as they are engaging.
Take her work with HSBC, where she helped over 500 leaders prepare psychologically to have confident performance conversations. Feedback was glowing: “This course is a must for all managers,” said one participant. “Fun, practical, and it’s given me real tools to take forward.”
For Nespresso, Stephanie developed programmes which enhanced managers’ connections with their boutique retail teams. With clients from First Direct to O2, her work has helped countless organisations build workplaces that people value and engage with. Her work isn’t just about making people smile. It’s about creating spaces where everyone can feel valued and included, a message she’s brought to companies like Virgin and O2.
As the UK’s foremost expert on humour and happiness, Stephanie is a regular on BBC Radio and ITN News and has spoken alongside experts like Dr Martin Seligman at global psychology conferences, championing the science of happiness. She is also the author of the critically acclaimed book Laughology: The Science of Laughter to Improve Your Life.
Stephanie redefines what it means to work happily. Whether leading a workshop or designing cultural transformation programmes, she brings a fresh, approachable style that unites teams and helps people flourish.
Stephanie Davies, Laughology’s Head of Happiness share a comedy talk about her dyslexia.
