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JOY Unfiltered: Joy is the strategy
Joy Unfiltered is the podcast where joy gets real, grounded, and useful.
Hosted by Rachel Bents, author of Joy Is the Strategy, this show explores joy not as a reward you earn, but as a practical strategy for living, leading, and feeling better in real life.
Each week, you’ll hear honest conversations, solo reflections, and guest episodes that unpack how joy impacts leadership, wellbeing, resilience, mindset, and connection without bypassing hard things or pretending life is perfect.
This podcast is also the heartbeat of two growing movements:
📘 Joy Is the Strategy (the book)
A deeper exploration of how joy works, why it matters, and how choosing it can change your life and leadership.
✨ The Joy Project
A global, joy-first community built on connection, conversation, and collective momentum.
If you’re tired of hustle culture, burned out on forced positivity, or curious what changes when joy becomes the way forward, you’re in the right place.
Joy isn’t the reward.
It’s the strategy.
JOY Unfiltered: Joy is the strategy
Latest Episodes
Playing at a Level 10: Awareness, Leadership, and the Power of Enough with Steve Barton
What if the next level of leadership is not about pushing harder, doing more, or proving yourself again and again?What if it is about awareness?In this episode of Joy Unfiltered, Rachel sits down with Steve Barton, e...
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Brainwash Yourself for Joy: The Power of Your First 30 Minutes
What if the first few minutes after waking could change the way you experience your entire day?In this episode of Joy Unfiltered, Rachel talks about the science of the waking brain, theta brain waves, nervous system regulation, ...
Your Nervous System Is Choosing the Familiar, Not the Joyful with Anni Eza
In this episode of Joy Unfiltered, Rachel sits down with Anni Eza, mental health expert, master healer, shadow priestess, teacher, and co-founder of Seeds of Bliss.Annie brings a powerful perspective on healing, nerv...
Finding Your Cultural Catalyst: Leading Change from the Inside Out with Jaclyn Orent
What does it actually mean to be the change — not just talk about it? In this episode, Rachel sits down with Jaclyn Orent, cultural catalyst and CEO of the Cultural Catalyst Network, for a rich conversation about inner transformation, ...
Joy Is the Strategy: A New Model for Joy-Led Leadership
What if the goal was never to simply endure more?After starting with one of the hardest endurance races in the world, Rachel learned a truth that reaches far beyond athletics: just because you can endure something does not mean endurance...
