1. Joseph Carson
SGM 3685
Jane Frankel
April 27, 2015
Project Guidebook – A Joyful Life
My project was the generation of a business model for A Joyful Life. A Joyful
Life started off as an idea by Rabbi Yudy Shemtov, who wanted to create a way to
help remind people of the joy in life. He wanted to focus on the emotional and
spiritual aspects of life and help people refocus themselves on the simple, innate
happiness that is life. His original idea was to develop a brand and make
merchandise, a la “Life Is Good”. Through the course of the semester I took the
original idea of a for-profit clothing brand and transformed A Joyful Life into an
innovative business model for a Philadelphia based non-profit organization, giving A
Joyful Life a completely different look while still providing the same value. The three
major phases, or “milestones” of this project were the ideation and initial research
of A Joyful Life, deciding on a business model and the continued research that
accompanied with that decision, and the completion and generation of A Joyful Life’s
business model.
My first major phase was the ideation of what A Joyful Life could be and the
initial research that went into the ideation process. The major creative thinking tool
I used during the ideation phase was brainstorming. I brainstormed everything from
slogans to industries, business models to revenue streams; anything that would or
could go into A Joyful Life, I brainstormed. The bulk of my research was based off of

2. what I had already brainstormed during the ideation process. My most valuable
resources during this first phase was my Innovative Business Models class, which
provided a structured 3-hour block to learn about business models; and my
textbook, Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder, which provided me
with organized information about the subject. Google (obviously) was my main
resource for researching and finding information about subjects that were not
covered in Innovative Business Models or Business Model Generation. One question
I had to answer, though, was “What does A Joyful life look like?”
The next major phase involved deciding on what the business would look like
and which business model to pursue, and then focusing my research around those
decisions. My previous research into the clothing industry dissuaded me from
continuing with the Rabbi’s initial idea, as it was too competitive, would take a
substantial amount of time and money to get off the ground, and would not be
attractive enough to lure investors to in invest in this for-profit business. The value
of A Joyful Life is its mission, and that’s what I chose to focus on. The idea to provide
a service came from wanting to allow A Joyful Life’s value to reach the most people
possible. The decision to be a non-profit came from the realization, after much
research, that it would be hard to convince investors of a timely and significant
return on investment. This phase also involved consolidating my past research and
focusing my future research. 3 major questions I had to answer in this phase were:
“Would I be “Joyful”?” (Why would I participate in A Joyful Life?) “How would I feel
if this was recommended to me?” (Is this business model convincing enough to be

3. different?) And “Would I work for AJL?” (If I were asked to work for A Joyful Life,
would I see it as an opportunity or an obligation?)
My final phase in this project involved the completion and actual generation
of A Joyful Life’s business model. [The business model and business summary are
on the last pages]
During my internship there were several things I needed to learn in order to
be successful. First I needed to learn how to make a schedule and stick to it. One of
the best and worst things about working for Rabbi Shemtov is the degree of
autonomy and freedom I had with my work, as he trusted me completely during this
process and left me to work on my own. 40 hours is not a lot of time spread out but
is A LOT if the work is put off until the last minute. I also learned to be creative and
not to be afraid of trying new ideas (if I were, then I’d be presenting a business
model for a t-shirt company). It is also important to hold yourself accountable to
yourself, not just your supervisor. I was given a lot of autonomy and held myself
accountable to my standards of excellence, refusing to turn in anything that I
wouldn’t be excited to receive (if the positions were reversed).
I created value for Rabbi Shemtov, future workers on A Joyful Life, and
myself through this internship. The value I created for Rabbi Shemtov was that I
gave A Joyful Life a clear vision for the future and an innovative business model
canvass that can serve as the blueprint for a business plan. The value I created for
any future workers is by narrowing down the scope of what needs to be
accomplished by getting the phases of ambiguous research and ideation out of the
way. I also leave a business model canvass to serve as a blueprint for any future

4. business plan they’d need to make. The value I gained through his process was:
ability to create a new and innovative business model, confidence to recommend my
work to my supervisor, and insight on to how to improve process in the future; and
that experience is truly the most valuable takeaway from this internship.

6. A Joyful Life:
A Joyful Life is a non-profit, whose mission is to get people to focus on the
joys of life and recognize the important role of spirituality in their happiness. You
notice if you are physically unhealthy (you may feel sick or weak), you notice when
you are emotionally unhealthy (you are depressed, sad, hateful, etc.), you notice
when you are mentally unhealthy (you may feel cluttered, unfocused, etc.) but rarely
do we notice when we, as humans, are spiritually unhealthy, which is just as vital as
our mental, physical, and emotional health. A Joyful Life will host weekly or bi
weekly meetings that are set up in a comfortable, in formal discussion setup (think
coffee shop discussions or support groups). The purpose of the group is to create a
comfortable atmosphere with open-minded individuals in order to get people to talk
about their spirituality, something that is important to everyone but no one likes to
talk about. We also have online discussions called Forums, where people can access
the website and enter reddit-style discussions (with a max size of 20 per group so
everyone can share their thoughts). Discussion leaders lead the physical and digital
meetings; they are people who have some advanced knowledge on the subject of
spirituality (ex. open-minded religious leader, PHD in Philosophy or theology,
spiritual authors, etc.) The in person events will also have food (because what
brings people together more than food?). AJL will also sell merchandise with its
brand and various slogans on it. This serves: to spread awareness of the mission, be
a reminder to the “Joyful” of why they’re involved, and to provide a revenue stream
outside of donations to cover expenses.
- Contact me for any questions regarding the work I’ve done: tue62146@temple.edu