Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Elizabeth Buechele of New York City

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Elizabeth Buechele. Check out our conversation below.

Elizabeth, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
I’m a huge morning person and I’m also a huge routine person. Most days, I get up at 6:11 (or earlier if I wake up before my alarm). Inspired by a former colleague, for the past 4+ years, I’ve started my mornings with a 2 minute forearm plank. It’s such an expected thing now that if I wait too long, even my phone will ask me if I want to start a two minute timer.

What happens next depends on the day of the week. Four days a week, I immediately lace up my shoes and head out for a run. The other days are a little looser and often the non-running days are the days that I will have to get ready for my commute to the office.

Even still, I wake up early enough that my morning has plenty of time for my interests and activities before I dive into my full-time job. I like to make sure I get outside (even on non-running days) and have a healthy breakfast. These days it’s a lot of homemade protein smoothies after my workouts. I’m also a sucker for a good daily game like Wordle which I still compete in with my best friend.

I tend to hit the ground running in the morning (and that’s exactly why I fade early in the night) but I cherish those early hours whether its seeing familiar faces at the park on a run or reading the New York Times morning email on my quiet ferry commute to the office.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Elizabeth Buechele and I’m the founder of The Smile Project. Every single day since November 9, 2011, I’ve publicly recorded one thing that has brought me joy. I call it “Happiness is..”

I started this initiative as a high school senior who, frankly, had no business talking about Happiness or joy. But one day, I had a really pleasant drive home from school, down the back country roads I’d ridden on my entire life. It was unseasonably warm for that time of year in Western Pennsylvania so I had my windows down and my radio up and suddenly I had this very clear thought:

“Day 1: Happiness is.. those perfect car rides where the radio just plays all the right songs.”

Then, like any 17-year-old in 2011 who thinks they’ve had a life-changing idea, I went home, logged onto a shared family computer, and posted that quote on Facebook. Truthfully, I didn’t have any big dreams, aspirations, or ideas about what it could become or what it might look like to continue documenting. But continue documenting I did.

Earlier this year (July 2025), I celebrated my 5000th consecutive day of “Happiness is.” Kinda wild when you consider the fact that, at 31-years-old presently, that’s quickly approaching half my life. In any case, it’s my entire *adult* life—wonderful moments like graduating high school and college or celebrating my brother’s wedding or landing a dream job. But it’s also awful moments, burying a friend who took their own life, a family member getting scary health news, or dealing with a devastating breakup. And yet in each of those days, I still found joy.

I turned this movement for joy into a certified nonprofit organization called The Smile Project and our main objective is to spread Happiness through intentional acts of kindness, youth service clubs, and daily gratitude practices. We use our platform to encourage others to do kind acts in their communities either individually or in group settings. Our flagship program is the SPARK Program where students can start kindness clubs in their schools or universities. SPARK stands for “Strengthening Positivity and Reinforcing Kindness” and the students who run these groups are incredible testaments to what a life led for others can look like.

Of course, because the origins of The Smile Project stem from that first “Happiness is” we also encourage others to record their own joy—either publicly on a social media account or privately in a notebook or the notes section of their phone. These ambassadors have started their own Happiness journey and inspired their networks in the process.

Over the years, we’ve been fortunate to find myriad ways to spread joy and prioritize holistic wellbeing and I feel really grateful to be a part of it all. In 2018, we spent 2 months driving around the United States, facilitating a major “pay it forward” project (#SmileProjectRoadTrip) and volunteering and serving alongside dozens of nonprofit and community organizations. I truly believe we are better when we can lead with love first and view every person, every interaction, as an opportunity to spread joy.

The Smile Project remains an entirely volunteer run organization. (I currently live in New York City where I work in the development office of an international nonprofit as my day job.)

Okay, so here’s a deep one: What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
I grew up in the suburbs of Pittsburgh with two older brothers and a neighborhood full of boys. We were always riding bikes, climbing trees, and coming home with grass-stained knees. There is almost certainly a direct correlation between this and my belief that I could do anything. I was always up for a challenge and to this day, think I could out-tread anyone in the swimming pool.

But if I’m reflecting back on it now, another way I felt powerful is when I was given the space to write. I was an avid reader, tearing through any book I could get my hands on. I think that’s what drew me so naturally to writing. Thankfully, this was encouraged by my parents. One of my favorite memories is my mom going to the craft store and picking up blank books for me to write (and illustrate) stories in.

I wrote in notebooks of course, but something about those blank books opened my eyes to possibility. I would write an “About the Author” on the inside back cover and suddenly feel like I was a real writer—like I could publish something some day that other people would want to read. It was intoxicating. Even still, decades removed, when I stumble upon a half-completed blank book in my childhood boxes, I feel such a wash of love for my parents (and teachers) for encouraging my writing but also for the little me, sprawled out on her bedroom floor, creating worlds of talking cats and magic mirrors and trumpet players marooned on deserted islands.

If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
I was talking with some friends the other day about how we feel we’ve changed and stayed the same over the past decade. In my reflection, I was grateful to find that I felt more confident in myself… which brought me back to middle school—years not particularly known for confidence.

I remember the mental rehearsal of preparing to say “here” during attendance. Hoping my voice wouldn’t sound funny. Hoping I wouldn’t—in the span of 2 seconds—do something so humiliating I’d want to dissolve into the floor.

It’s funny, now, to think back on some of those most awkward or self conscious years. But being a teenager is hard. And feeling big feelings is valid.

If I could go back to that younger version of myself, I’d try to make her see that things can and do get better… and they get better beyond her wildest dreams. That some day, you won’t feel so insecure or uncertain. Oh sure, they’ll still be things you struggle with but you will come to know yourself and you will come to trust yourself and life will just become so much fun.

I’d want her to know that life is allowed to be fun.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
Because I’m the founder of a nonprofit based around Happiness, it’s easy for people to write me/it off as another case of toxic positivity. Toxic positivity is defined as the excessive and unrealistic overgeneralization of a happy and optimistic state in all situations, which often dismisses or invalidates genuine negative emotions like sadness, anger, or frustration.

So I never want to do that.

Despite my 5,000+ days of Happiness, it has always been a priority of mine to make clear who I was at Day 1. And at Day 1, I was a depressed, anxious, high school student who was the furthest thing from a Happiness expert or even a Happiness seeker.

Over the years and through thousands of posts, I have become a happier person and that is portrayed regularly on our social media accounts and blog. But at the same time, I always seek to show the other side of the equation. Just thinking back to Day 5,000 where I wrote about breaking down in tears a few days before the anniversary because I was stressed and overwhelmed.

Authenticity is one of my core values. I never want to portray myself (or life) as all sunshine and rainbows. I think that does an incredible disservice to holistic wellbeing and attempts to sweep real issues of injustice and darkness under the rug.

So if my public version is one of joy and kindness, it also must be one of sadness and despair. It must learn to talk about the big things and encourage others to seek support and professional help. Nobody gets through life alone.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What are you doing today that won’t pay off for 7–10 years?
I’m a big fan of consistent, little steps. Whether it’s the daily planks I mentioned at the top of this interview or the obvious slow drip of “Happiness is” that has defined my entire life, one of my core beliefs is that relentless sticking to something—even if it feels simple—can change your life forever.

The plank takes 2 minutes. Posting a Happiness is takes maybe 5. And yet these two habits—one for my physical health and one for my mental—have kept me steady through dark days. No matter what, at least I did a little something for my brain and my body today.

I’ve been recording daily joy for over 13 years. I have received far more than I’ve ever given because of it.

But if you would have told me at 17 that that Facebook status would radically change the direction of my life, I would have never believed you.

These are dreams I wouldn’t have dared to dream. But by choosing to show up every day as my authentic self, I get to live them. What a life.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://the-smile-project.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/thesmileprojectofficial/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/28594883/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smileprojectgroup
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_ue57dm9iA