What the Masks Leave Behind: A Conversation with Llewellyn E. van Zyl and Andrew Soren

In this episode of Meaningful Work Matters, host Andrew Soren finds himself in the hot seat. Dr. Llewellyn E. van Zyl, positive psychology pracademic and a returning guest of the show, steps in as interviewer to explore the story behind our host and what happens to the person underneath when they keep becoming someone new.

Andrew has moved across a wide range of roles over his career: theatre producer, marketing professional, executive coach, organizational designer, and now Executive Director of the International Positive Psychology Association.

Together, they trace what each transformation cost, what it left behind, and what Andrew has learned about identity, suffering, and meaning that scholarship alone could not have taught him.

Key Takeaways

• Every major transition carries grief. The loss of self-efficacy that comes with stepping into a new role is real, worth acknowledging, and a signal worth paying attention to.
• Tension is information. Learning to distinguish between harmonious and dissonant tension across roles, values, and identities is a navigational skill that develops over time.
• Meaning and suffering are not opposites. Meaningful work often involves real cost, and the more useful question is how to stay inside that work without being consumed by it.
• Our core questions such as who am I and how do I bring more of that into what I'm doing, may change over the course of a lifetime, but often find their ways back in new forms.

Why This Episode Matters

Many conversations about meaningful work in this podcast have focused on how to find it, design it, or measure it. This one goes somewhere less often visited: what it actually costs to keep becoming someone new, and what remains stable underneath all the roles we play.

About Our Guest

Dr. Llewellyn E. van Zyl is a professor of positive psychology at the Optentia Research Unit, North-West University of South Africa, and Chief Solutions Architect at Psynalytics. His work sits at the intersection of artificial intelligence, employee wellbeing, and the measurement of human flourishing. He is the Program Chair of the IPPA Virtual Summit on AI and the Future of Wellbeing, taking place March 23–27, 2026.

Andrew Soren is the Founder & CEO of Eudaimonic by Design, a global network helping organizations design environments where people thrive, act with purpose, and deliver their best. He is also the Executive Director of the International Positive Psychology Association. For over 25 years, Andrew has helped leading organizations foster values-based leadership, meaningful work, and well-being at scale.