PARTNERS IN
YOUR JOURNEY

OUR PEOPLE

Our people are more than guides, they are partners in your journey.

This collective of collaborators brings the values, insights, and expertise that shape every More Than Happy experience.

Each one contributes authentically, offering unique gifts that transform shared moments into lasting impact. Grounded in service and shared values, they create spaces where you feel seen, supported, and empowered.

matty lawrence
FOUNDER & GUIDE

Matty is the creator, lead program facilitator and guide of More Than Happy Journeys. This offering is devoted to helping people reconnect with their essence, navigate transitions with depth, and create lives rooted in meaning, magic and love. A lover of nature, trails, journeys and what they inspire, Matty is a loyal student of words and what they reveal. He draws from the landscape around him as much as the one within, holding space for reflection, transformation and connection to something greater. Matty is a passionate advocate for the inner journey of life. He works at the fertile edge of expression, belonging and transformation — where service becomes medicine and truth becomes home. His approach is grounded in lived experience and formal training. He is a certified Gross National Happiness Practitioner, having studied with the GNH Centre in Bhutan and Schumacher College, and a trained Rites of Passage Facilitator through The Rites of Passage Institute in Australia. These frameworks deeply inform his work, blending ancient wisdom and contemporary relevance to support personal and collective growth. Matty believes we all have the opportunity to discover our true nature and embrace our true loves in life. Through More Than Happy Journeys, he invites others to step into sacred transitions, reimagine the stories they live by, and return to a deeper kind of being — one that honours the full spectrum and adventure of being human.

SARITA JOHAN
COACH & MENTOR

Sarita sees what people could be, before they see it themselves. A heart-led, strategic thinker who moves between coaching, facilitating, and building leadership and teams with natural ease. Sarita blends structure with soul. She listens deeply, challenges gently, and guides powerfully. Whether it's CEOs, leadership teams, business owners or people at a personal crossroads, Sarita helps them shift gears—and find clarity, courage, and direction. She doesn’t just coach, she transforms. Not afraid to say the hard thing—always wrapped in warmth and a cheeky smile. She can play with energy, intuition, and insight, while staying anchored in practical outcomes. Sarita partners with us on our group and team immersions, bringing her intuition, insight, experience and transformative tools to get the heart of individuals, groups and the matters that emerge.

KATE SCHMIDT

NLP & BREATHWORK

Kate believes the breath is a doorway back to ourselves. As a certified NLP practitioner and breathwork facilitator, she creates a space where people can release, reset, and reconnect - finding clarity in the mind, freedom in the body, and peace in the heart. Trained as a Rites of Passage facilitator with Dr. Arne Rubenstein, and grounded in transformational coaching and psychological science, Kate guides others through life’s transitions with depth and care. Her work blends science with soul - weaving breath, ritual, and reflection into experiences that open the way for lasting change. She listens deeply, challenges with warmth, and creates spaces where change feels both safe and profound. Whether in moments of stillness or transformation, Kate invites people to come home to themselves and remember the strength and wisdom that’s already within.

rich bolus
PILGRIMAGE Guide

Rich brings a wealth of experience in leadership, adventure, and Japanese culture to his role as an assisting guide on our pilgrimages. A former Unit Expedition Leader in the British Army, Rich has navigated challenging terrains worldwide, honing his skills in resilience and team coordination. His deep connection to Japan began with intensive Aikido training at the renowned Yoshinkan Aikido's honbu dojo in Tokyo, immersing him in the country’s martial traditions and discipline. As the host of The Dad Mindset podcast, Rich explores growth mindset principles in parenting and life and brings this approach to every journey. Combining his expertise in outdoor expeditions with a passion for Japanese history and personal development, he is dedicated to ensuring an enriching and well-supported experience along our pilgrimage journeys. Rich also comes equipped with a welcoming smile, energy and enthusiasm for life and community.

CHRIS WILSON
YOGA & MEDITATION

Chris sees the practice of yoga and meditation as a means to help us live more skilfully and recognise our inherent wholeness. He came across the practice in 2003, having quite a turbulent mind at the time, the teachings quickly became a place of refuge. Over the past 20 years Chris hasn’t stopped learning and evolving his understanding. Among the many teachers he has studied with, Chris has been primarily inspired by Erich Schiffman, Richard Miller and Rupert Spira. Chris has lead over 30 teacher trainings, advanced trainings in Pranayama and meditation, along with many immersive retreats. His passion is to simplify the practice, to help make the deeper teachings more accessible and to help each of us develop our own unique relationship with the life’s truths. He was previously the co-owner of Power Living Melbourne and is now the founder of Yoke Yoga, bringing his insights and experience to our immersions. He comes with a whole hearted, grounding and playful presence that can be felt.