Reza Zolfagharifartd

Career History

I am a retired positive psychology practitioner (2015-2025) with decades of experience in teaching, training, consulting and coaching. I have helped many individuals fulfil their aspirations, achieve positive change and thrive. I have provided management consultancy, positive psychology coaching and consultancy, and corporate training. Generating a sense of happiness, satisfaction and achievement in people is the most gratifying aspect of my work. 

In my previous post (as a training consultant, 2008-2014), I worked as a life coach and a training consultant.  I also designed and delivered professional training workshops and arranged marketing seminars, educational conferences, and networking events.  y prominent achievements during this period included Bold Club and Perspect Training.

During my teaching career (1995-2007), I taught mathematics and physics (to A-level).  I also had various responsibilities, including positions as deputy head and head of the mathematics department, assistant director of studies, member of the senior management team, and elected member of the school governing body.

Before teaching, I managed several businesses as the managing director or general manager.  Throughout this period (1985-1994), I managed sizeable projects and conducted complex operations, which improved my professional knowledge and competencies and enhanced my ability to work diligently with limited budgets, tight deadlines and difficult circumstances. 

I started my working career (1975) as a fighter pilot (in the Iranian Air Force), where, at a very young age, I learned discipline, teamwork and perseverance.  Afterwards, I have continuously held positions of high responsibility throughout my working career, including business management, teaching, training, and coaching.

Pro bono Activities

I have worked with and supported several charitable organisations that promote mental health, educate the public and assist people in overcoming adversity and misfortune.  My voluntary engagements have helped me reach out to the community, contribute a little and hopefully make a small difference.  As a result, I have made good friends, learned new skills, and, more importantly, gained a warm sense of connection and belonging.  

Education

I achieved my first degree in Aeronautics, a collaborative project between Tehran University and Air Force Aviation University (1972 -1975).  The first year of this study was in Tehran, and the last two years were in San Antonio, Texas.  Later, I attended the University of Greenwich in London and achieved a Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) in teaching secondary mathematics (1995).  While teaching, I also took postgraduate courses in performance coaching (education coaching), effectiveness at work (emotional intelligence), and leadership.

After my teaching career, I had an opportunity to get a master’s degree in Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP, 2015) from the University of East London. Since then, positive psychology has been the focus of my work and studies, shaping my professional and writing activities. 

Humanist Beliefs and Activities

I was born in Tehran (Iran) and come from a Muslim culture (Shia Muslim).  However, my family is not religious at all, mainly because my father was not a religious person. But, my mother, who came from a religious family, remained a believer throughout her life.

After Iran’s Islamic revolution (1979) and the subsequent war between Iran and Iraq (1980), I focused on personal development, supporting my family and helping my country. However, after many years of hard work, I was forced to accept that scientific research, progressive development, liberal ideas and freethinking were impossible in Iran's political and social environment at the time.

After that disappointment, I focused on various freelance business activities, which were fortunately very successful. However, I couldn’t ignore my beliefs and what was happening at the time and inadvertently found myself in a dangerous situation.

Luckily, I was able to leave the country (with my young family) and came to London in 1988.  I never went back; I couldn’t. One of the first things I did in London was to contact the British Humanist Association (BHA), now Humanist UK. They sent me some literature, which is still in a box in the attic (or the garage).  For the next thirty years, I had been busy coping with a tumultuous life, learning incessantly and earning a living. It was only in 2018 that I contacted Humanist UK again, as I wanted to come out (as a humanist) and live more freely.

As I often do (immersing myself in what I commit to), I decided to plunge into humanism and live the rest of my life as an active humanist. So, I joined the humanists celebrant training (the first online course) and started working as a part-time funeral celebrant before the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Later, I trained as a non-religious pastoral support provider (a humanist chaplain). I continue volunteering at King’s College Hospital (London) as a Non-religious Pastoral Support Network (NRPSN) member.  I was also a volunteer member of the Humanists Dialogue Network and a Humanist School Speaker (I have been a school speaker since I left teaching in 2007).

I decided to formally retire (for the third time) in 2025. I will carry the pleasant memories of a lucky, long life with me. I will cherish the opportunity to read more about psychology, sociology, the human condition and humanism. I also like to write, so I started this website as a platform to share my thoughts and writings and connect with the broader world.