Nir Zavaro, also known as the Chief of Happiness, has had his life ripped apart more times than he can count. Now he has built up an agency worth 7 figures, he is starting from scratch once more, but this time it’s by choice.

Nir Zavaro has always had a gift for selling the dream. Born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel, he officially entered the world of sales by selling snowboards in Israel… a country that has ten months of sun per year. Infact, Tel Aviv’s August temperatures sit around 29°C, seeing 13 hours of daily sunshine. January, whilst being the coldest month of the year, sees an average 13°C. Hardly hospitable conditions for a half-piping holiday.

 “If you can sell snowboards in a desert country, then you can do anything!” 

Nir began honing his skills aged 13 through being a club promoter – selling an experience he wasn’t even permitted to enjoy himself. That child feels a long way from the man calling from Thailand – a best selling author, 7 figure business mogul, and a survivor of the current conflict in the middle-east. Through his myriad experiences and despite the challenges, Nir has joyfully been self-appointed the ‘chief of happiness’.

After finishing a degree in communications at the College of Management Academic studies, Nir took up a job working undercover for the American Embassy in Israel and opened his own bar. “It was really good, then it was really bad,” he says, of his first venture. The bar ended up losing him a lot of money, the managing partners had never run a business like this before. He quit his government job in an attempt to save the business by learning to manage a bar with a huge workforce – on the job.

At 31, he found himself starting again. “I was living on friends’ couches, with nothing. I was lost, alone, and had no idea how I was going to get out of it. But I felt free like never before. I had always wanted to write, but I never had the time. When I lost everything, the only thing I had was time.” 

He started writing his first novel about the nightlife of Tel Aviv. But writing a novel from your friend’s couch isn’t going to pay the bills, so he started helping hospitality ventures with marketing – for free. “Sometimes, you help people just because you can, and you ask for nothing in return. I helped because I could. When you forget it’s a transaction, life becomes very different.” Word got around, and after helping five or six businesses, he started charging for his work. He worked as a consultant for  70 different businesses in that time, all the while simultaneously writing his novel. 

The book launch was held in the coolest and hippest cocktail bar in Tel Aviv – one that he himself had helped turn around. He had a girlfriend, became a published author, a gifted consultant – things were finally looking up, until they weren’t. Serious health complications lead Nir’s life to unravel; his relationship ended and his lung almost collapsed. While colleagues developed businesses and nurtured families, Nir was learning to walk again. Most of his clients vanished after no contact from him in a month, and in a matter of weeks, he had lost everything. 

At 34, he found himself starting again (again). “You become better at starting again. Most people don’t even have to start from scratch, because we have learned a lot.” Nir reinvented himself; he taught at college for a year, and moved away from the hospitality industry. He eventually started working with bigger clients, hiring employees and sharing his ideas and thoughts. “Some people liked it, they resonated with it. That’s how you keep on.” This led to joining the Entrepreneurs Organization, a portal for successful entrepreneurs around the world. The EO opened up a lot of doors for Nir: he met a lot of business owners and helped more people.

If you are enjoying this story – try this story on Jeanie, who changed her life to pursue stand-up comedy.

 “The more you help people, the right people might become your clients, they might even become your lifelong friends.” and that’s how the startup accelerated, where Nir adopted the title ‘Chief of Happiness’.  

“I chose the title after attending a meeting with a big tech company when the agency had just started. Everyone I met had these titles. I couldn’t understand what they actually did. I chose my title because we, as humans, decide if we are going to put out negativity or positivity. People will always remember the Chief of Happiness because it is a positive output.”

Then another obstacle confronted him: Covid. 90% of his business was gone in seven days. Once again, all Nir had was time. So, he started writing a book about the process of writing,  called “F*ck the Slides”. 

This book was different: it was a non-fiction book teaching readers how to build a perfect business pitch through storytelling. 

By the end of 2022, he had decided to stop agency life to travel the world, undertaking a different lifestyle unencumbered by relationships or family. But travelling comes with a price: it can be lonely –  missing out on family events, holidays and friends. He returned from travelling and realised he loved his life: his apartment, his job, his office, and he wanted to stay. 

Nir was preparing for a big step in his career: the campaign for his second book was due to be launched on October the 8th. But on the morning of the 7th of October 2023, he didn’t even know if he would be alive the next day. It had been announced that a war had broken out in Israel. HAMAS, the Islamic resistance movement, had launched a massive surprise attack against Israel, killing nearly 1,200 people.

The following day he realised he couldn’t launch. The streets of Tel Aviv were filled with terrorists, nobody knew what was happening, people didn’t even want to leave their houses.

 Nir, who hadn’t found any trouble filling the silence until this point, was suddenly at a loss for words. “I think it inherently changed us. I think I will never be the same person as I was before.”

A couple of weeks pass and Nir has almost forgotten about his big launch. “The first few days, we came together as people to take care of whatever was needed. My friends closed their restaurants, and all they did for 14 hours was make food for evacuees and soldiers. We came together, and proved we could still count on each other.” 

Nir witnessed this unity everywhere. In the EO group chat, action was being taken. Over 900 members from all over the world were organising money, ambulances and posting on social media to spread awareness. “It was amazing, there were people from all over the world who wanted to be part of the group taking action.”

A phone call came. Nir’s friend from South Africa, a member of EO, reached out, telling Nir to launch the book. He said “You have always helped us and been there for us, just upload the book on Amazon. Publish it, and we will try to help.” 

Nir took the risk and published the book. “I thought: ‘Who gives a f*ck. We’ll figure this out; we’ll help the people who need help, then one day, I’ll decide what I’m supposed to do, because right now it’s not relevant.’”

Less than 24 hours later, over 500 entrepreneurs world-wide had bought his book. It became the Amazon bestseller on its first day. Now he was the ‘author of a best selling book’, it helped to solidify that he was ‘someone’. He started to get invitations all over the world – but he never let himself forget where his success came from. “International support was very important and very helpful. Our businesses were saved because of the kindness and support of others and we became very grateful for that.” 

Nir spent the majority of time after the success of his book flitting between countries: New York for five days, London for three, Bangkok for twelve, giving talks in each location. 

After a whirlwind few months, Nir Zavaro now finds himself, for once, in a calm, even enjoyable, position. He ponders from the shared workspace he is in about how amazing it is that people pay him to sit and talk for a few hours. “You should see the gratitude I receive for my time, even though they’re paying me.”

Now settled in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Nir is starting again (again, again, again), building another new business from nothing. But this time, it’s voluntary. “I feel like now I am starting from scratch. I don’t have an apartment, an office, a team. I’ve made a call and I am taking a chance by not going back to agency life. I’m keeping going with speaking and writing more books.” 

Nir prioritises being kind and helpful above all else, his eloquent way of filling silences and his relentless optimism, makes it sound as if, after all this time, after all of his new beginnings, he has grown to love the journey of altruism more than the destination of success.

If you’re interested in hearing more about the Chief of Happiness and the new title he’s given himself, you can find out more here.