Along with their PhDs, Patricia and Katina have extensive experience working with clients to create thriving workplace environments, and in conducting research on how to lead for wellness.
Dr. Patricia Grabarek is an internationally recognized thought leader on creating thriving workplaces. With a career spanning consulting, internal leadership, research, and practice, Patricia is a trusted advisor to organizations across industries looking to enhance culture, well-being, and leadership capability.
As co-founder and president of Workr Beeing, Patricia empowers companies to build human-centered, high-performance teams that put people first. Her new book, Leading for Wellness: How to Create a Team Culture Where Everyone Thrives (Wiley, March 2025), outlines actionable strategies that leaders can implement to promote engagement, resilience, and sustainable performance. Dr. Grabarek is also a regular contributor at Psychology Today, where her articles offer organizations clear, actionable insights and a podcast co-host (Leading for Wellness) drawing on decades of research to make wellness tangible.
Patricia’s research-driven insights have earned her features in top-tier media outlets, including Forbes, Fast Company, TIME, The Los Angeles Times, CBC, and CBS News. In 2024, she was recognized by Culture Amp as one of the Top 25 Emerging Culture Creators for her impact on the future of work. Patricia also shares her expertise as a speaker at a variety of conferences and TEDx and has been a guest on numerous podcasts like Psychologists Off the Clock and Gut + Science.
Whether leading executive workshops, delivering keynotes, or facilitating thought-provoking panel discussions, Patricia brings a dynamic, evidence-based, and approachable style. Her passion for translating data into practical solutions equips leaders and teams to navigate change, reduce burnout, and build vibrant, sustainable workplaces.
Dr. Katina Sawyer is an internationally recognized expert on the science of workplace wellness. She is the co-author of Leading for Wellness: How to Create a Team Culture Where Everyone Thrives and co-host of the Leading for Wellness podcast, which brings research-backed insights to people passionate about building thriving workplaces. As co-founder of Workr Beeing, Dr. Sawyer is on a mission to make evidence-based wellness strategies accessible to employees everywhere.
A TEDx speaker and a thought leader featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Fast Company, and other major outlets, Dr. Sawyer has delivered hundreds of presentations to audiences around the world. Her expertise has also been showcased on both local and national news, where she brings clarity and inspiration to conversations about what it takes to foster wellbeing at work.
Dr. Sawyer is also an award-winning researcher and an Associate Professor of Management and Organizations at the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management. She has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters — which focus on leadership, employee flourishing, and organizational culture — many of which have been published in top journals such as Journal of Applied Psychology and Administrative Science Quarterly. Katina has received over 15 national research and teaching awards, including the SIOP Early Career Award for Humanistic I-O Psychology, the University of Michigan’s Positive Organizational Scholarship Publication of the Year, and Philadelphia’s 40 Under 40 distinction.
Through her Psychology Today blog, her “Leading for Wellness” podcast, and her company Workr Beeing, Dr. Sawyer is widely recognized as a bridge-builder between science and practice — empowering individuals and organizations to create cultures where everyone can thrive
Passionate about making employees and workplaces happier and healthier, we began graduate school excited to learn the science of organizational psychology. Studying the impact of wellness at work, we got a good handle on what it takes to improve workplaces. It was a long, rewarding journey and, in the process, we grew to be great friends. After graduate school, we went off in separate directions to use what we had learned; Patricia diving into consulting and Katina into academe.
However, after several years in both industries, we both felt that something was missing. Workers were still stressed, unhealthy, and unhappy. Employers remained unsure of how to support a healthy work environment while still turning a profit. We believed that part of the issue was that research and consulting weren’t being brought together in a way that was easy to digest. We both experimented in ways to combine research and its application. Patricia started teaching a class and Katina built a consulting practice.
It wasn’t enough. We realized that we could conduct our own research to empower leaders to take control of wellness at work. Our ‘Leading for Wellness’ framework was born from us realizing the challenges associated with workplace wellness are systemic and due to the work environment. Developing strong leaders can solve the issue at the root.
While most of us are workers in some capacity, we are also human beings. It’s not until our organizations and leaders can support employees to be fulfilled at work and in life that we all can be truly happy and successful. Workr Beeing strives to help leaders create that impactful team culture where everyone thrives.
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