Celebrating the legacy of Tony Hsieh

 

As you may know, our co-founder Tony Hsieh passed away peacefully on November 27th, 2020, surrounded by his beloved family. He was a tremendous visionary who inspired a better world for millions of people through his leadership, passion, and purpose.

Our hearts break with yours, but as we know, delivering happiness was his mantra, and we ask you to join us in celebrating his life instead of mourning his transition. Tony's kindness and generosity touched everyone around him, and his impact on the world is long-lasting and far-reaching.

We are grateful for every message we have received, and we treasure hearing your stories about Tony and the impact he had on your lives. We hope you continue to share [#dhmovement, #celebratingtony]. As we celebrate the legacy Tony left, we would like to share one of our favorite moments—Tony and Jenn Lim, our CEO and Co-Founder, taken after climbing Mt Kilimanjaro.

 

 

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Tony Hsieh and Jenn Lim, taken after climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro

 

A letter from Jenn Lim, DH CEO & Co-Founder:

 

 

in celebration of tony hsieh, my partner in positivity 💙

 

december 2, 2020

 

dear DH global family,

 

thank you for all the messages of condolences, support, and love. the days have been surreal since i received the message from tony’s dad of his passing. i’d like to share his message here:

 

Tony Hsieh passed away peacefully on November 27 surrounded by his beloved family. Tony’s kindness and generosity touched the lives of everyone around him, and forever brightened the world. Delivering happiness was always his mantra, so instead of mourning his transition, we ask you to join us in celebrating his life.

 

there are too many memories and night-to-dawn conversations tony and i have had, but the one that’s resonating most right now is when we reflected about the book, soon after it was launched. we agreed it didn’t touch on the most important element of delivering happiness. first and foremost, to be true to your (weird) authentic self.

 

tony was so many things to so many people, as it shows in every tribute and memory that have been shared across the media. but the one thing consistent throughout all that was he was fiercely true to himself, while architecting greenhouses for everyone to be true to themselves too. 

 

here at DH, we just had our weekly monday morning call, only it was anything but the usual. i felt the loss of words but also the immense sense of belonging, connectedness, and community.

 

as everyone shared their personal stories of tony, i’ve never been more grateful to be a part of a team that continues to show what culture is all about -- togetherness in times of good and bad.

 

from tears to laughter, we reminisced about tony, where DH started and where it is today. from launching the book to evolving it into a company, everyone was feeling his impact within themselves and the gratitude that we get to share this ripple of impact from our authentic selves out to the world. 

 

messages have been pouring in from around the world, from people living all different facets of life. tony treated everyone equally and will also be remembered for living our core value of “change the world more than you ever thought possible.”

 

he has irreversibly changed it...and i can’t help but imagine him smiling, with his two dimples and a little wink, that it was even more than he thought possible.

 

so, where do we go from here?

 

i’ll continue processing, as i’m sure so many of you will. having been on the journey of life with tony over twenty years now, i’ll forever treasure every high and low we’ve had along the way. i know we’ll continue to live out his legacy with DH and remind everyone to be true to your authentic self and live out your own purposeful, living legacy.

 

now.

 

because legacies should not be left behind, they should be lived in the present, to be cherished forever. 

 

so please keep sharing your stories and images [#celebratingtony] with us. he’s above the clouds now and has imparted the reminder to keep changing your world so that together — we can change the world.

 

eternal cheers to my partner in positivity. i’ll miss our conversations that had no boundaries. your attempts to be funny and punny because you knew i’d shake my head, smile, and sigh. your legendary hugs and our most meaningful moments believing “anything is possible.” 

 

you've taken care of everyone else, now it's time for you to rest in peace and happiness.

 

all my love and a big hug,

💙🙏💙

jenn

 

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Tony Hsieh and Jenn Lim, taken during the book launch for Delivering Happiness

 

making sense of all this — how we wholly approach happiness

— jenn lim, DH CEO & Co-Founder

 

 

december 15th, 2020

 

in an uncertain and chaotic world…let’s build a greenhouse for ourselves and each other 

 

as i’ve been going through the waves and cycles of processing since tony’s passing, i’ve been comforted by the outpouring of love and support i’ve received from all of you 

 

i’m ever so grateful 🙏🏽

 

i know you may be flushed with thoughts, feelings and questions about tony’s life and passing. i hope we can keep processing and sharing in this conversation together with openness, honesty, love and respect 

 

i’ll continue to be transparent while respecting the privacy of tony, his family and trusted friends, but my hope is that you feel heard and this helps with the processing in some way

 

when tony and i cofounded DH ten years ago, we spotlighted key levers for happiness based on science and positive psychology — control, progress, connectedness and purpose. now i’d like to share deeper layers of learnings based on the lessons and experiences we’ve had delivering happiness in the world 

 

tony talked about envisioning and creating your own universe, and we’ve been expanding on that metaphor with the notion of the greenhouse. our personal ones and the ones we create for each other

 

simply put, our universes are the personal greenhouses we’re all living in. the conditions in which we grow are the choices we make in whether we want to be true to our authentic selves, live with purpose and be happy in meaningful ways

 

taking that even further, it also means we can be building greenhouses for others to flourish in, as we look out for ourselves and each other 

 

with humanity at our heart. 

 

what does it mean to be happy from DHs perspective?

 

sustainable, meaningful happiness isn’t about rainbows and unicorns. it involves our highs and lows, our strengths and weaknesses, our lights and shadows

 

scientifically, we know that the most lasting form of happiness happens when we “wake up” knowing we’re doing something bigger than ourselves. when we know we’re living with a sense of higher purpose in the world

 

we also know there are intrinsic and extrinsic ways to be happy. extrinsic happiness in the forms of a glass of wine, getting likes on Instagram, or a bonus so we can afford a new pair of shoes. in other words, short-lived spikes of happiness

 

intrinsic happiness, on the other hand, is about the long-term. meaningful relationships, feeling community and belonging, and living out your authentic self to live a purpose that nudges the world to a better place

 

most every one of us embodies all forms of happiness, as well as forms of sadness, grief, and every state of being in between. like life, happiness is about the proverbial journey and embracing our spectrum of thoughts and feelings

 

what does it mean to build a greenhouse for ourselves?

 

doing something bigger than ourselves may neglect the fact that we need to put on the oxygen mask on first...sometimes in the craziness of life, as well-intentioned we can be, we forget

 

a greenhouse for ourselves is a safe space that we know we can learn, grow, fail, and continue to be curious in. to not be too hard on ourselves if we “fail” knowing we can fail forward by applying lessons learned to the next time. to surround ourselves with people that are as nurturing to themselves as they are for each other

 

the greenhouse for ourselves encapsulates all of us, wholly. mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. it houses the best and worst of us, knowing everyone has this within them

 

what does it mean to build a greenhouse for each other?

 

as we get to know ourselves, we develop a different sense of humanity. the more we know and accept we’re imperfect, the more we can understand how others are imperfect too -- sometimes more, sometimes less, but it’s an acknowledgement that we’re not one to judge

 

the basic truth is that we’re all living our lives and we’re all imperfectly, perfectly human

 

and by building greenhouses for ourselves and each other, it provides us a sense of authentic self, as individuals, and togetherness, in teams, families and communities

 

even though we can’t predict when the next bump and twist in the road will be, we can use our superpowers as humans to lift each other up. from the simple question of asking a co-worker that you hardly know, “are you okay?” when it seems like they might not be. or sharing your passion and skills to help people you love even before being asked

 

when we understand why we’re born, we know our existential selves...why we exist

 

when we understand our why, we adapt knowing there’s more than just existing. because it’s about living and being human...wholly and meaningfully based on the greenhouses we build for ourselves and each other, no matter where we find ourselves in life

 

out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. i’ll meet you there. — rumi

 

 

i will always meet you there.

 

sending luv and gratitude,

💙🙏💙

jenn

ceo & cofounder of DH

 

 

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Inspire + Be Inspired.

Join the world in sharing how you’ve been inspired as we celebrate the life of Tony Hsieh.

— jenn lim, DH CEO & Co-Founder

 

 

december 17th, 2020

 

 

dear DH global community,

 

one of our core values at DH is to inspire + be inspired

 

we luv it because it describes a continuous cycle of what inspiration means — everyone can feel it, while everyone can share it too

 

as a celebration of tony, we’re creating a video to show how tony’s ripple of impact will continue to be felt and shared through all of us, so we’d love to hear how YOU live this value too

 

join us in sharing an ode to tony in a super short and easy video answering "How has Tony Hsieh inspired you? How are you inspiring others?" here (by december 23rd)

 

can’t wait to see your beautiful faces. together, let’s keep rippling our impact for inspiration and change!

 

with luv and gratitude,

💙🙏💙

jenn

ceo & cofounder of DH