They say that happiness is often sought but rarely found. It is a reality that Mountain View hopes to permanently alter with its latest innovative real estate concept, “The Lighthouse,” an experiential happiness destination and a meaningful happiness incubator with a unique, holistic approach to creating happy communities. Invest-Gate digs deeper into this innovative concept in its interview with Mountain View’s Partner, Board Member, and Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer, ENG. Wael Lotfy.

What is Mountain View’s inspiration to create The Lighthouse concept?

It is our core philosophy to understand individuals’ needs, aspirations, and well-being. Mountain View is a human-centric company that values the human aspect and firmly believes in placing people at the forefront of our endeavors. Moreover, it is noticeable that people are consumed by their daily routines and have limited access to self-development and fulfilling experiences that bring families together, which consequently has a notable impact on their well-being and happiness. This is why, we have introduced “The Lighthouse” as an experiential happiness destination and solution to bridge this gap. We aim to provide a community space that fosters personal growth, connections, and inspiration.

We are dedicated to empowering individuals on their path to achieving profound happiness by allowing them to explore their personal journey, track their progress, and discover more about themselves all backed up by Jenn Lim, the co-founder of Delivering Happiness and Beyond Happiness.

What does “meaningful happiness” mean according to this concept? How does the company achieve it?

Meaningful happiness focuses on an individual’s well-being as well as the happiness and well-being of others. This includes creating positive and meaningful relationships, fostering a sense of community, and contributing to the greater good. This is a holistic approach to happiness that takes into account personal fulfillment, social connection, and making a positive impact in the world.

Lighthouse aims to create meaningful happy communities with a happy life depicting the five truths of happiness; meaning, vitality, delight, engagement, and freedom. Without this balance, meaningful happiness becomes challenging to achieve or maintain.

What are the “five truths of happiness” that The Lighthouse is based on?

The five truths of happiness stem from a balance between meaning, vitality, delight, engagement, and freedom.

• Meaning is closely tied to living in accordance with and towards a higher purpose that defines one’s values and guiding principles.
• Vitality addresses one’s overall health and wellness, whether physical or mental.
• Delight marks one’s ability to relish in the joy of the moment.
• Engagement is one of the features that underscore the human experience.
• Freedom is associated with autonomy, authenticity, and empowerment – especially where people feel a sense of control over their lives, in and out of the workplace.

How does The Lighthouse tailor its experiences to individuals’ needs?

The Lighthouse tailors its experience based on individuals’ needs by incorporating different workshops and events. Participants will answer a comprehensive 40-question survey and will then receive their tailored experience accordingly. Participants will also have the freedom to design their own Lighthouse journey based on their interests and preferences.

The Lighthouse is uniquely tailored through a well-structured process. After conducting the survey, each individual will receive their results on what their exact personality is, what they specifically need to achieve, and the meaningful happiness they aim to achieve. At this stage, they can book their one-on-one sessions with experienced coaches that will guide them through their journey in The Lighthouse and the recommended workshops/activities to participate in.

What kind of workshops and events does The Lighthouse offer?

The Lighthouse will offer activities & workshops customized per age group including kids, teens, adults, and seniors. The programs will include development activities, entertainment hubs, community clubs, workshops, and even mentorship programs. The Lighthouse will also provide a range of convenient services to enhance the overall experience.

To list a few, the workshops that will be included in The Lighthouse are a cooking school, Azza Fahmy workshops, Art Café, Fashion Incubator, Kids Hub, Band Makers, Cocoon, 2ool A Meme, Nutty Scientists, and Tuft, amongst others.

As we progress, we aim to always keep on adding more workshops and activities to cater more to individuals’ needs and desires as well as achieve our highest ambition of reaching meaningful happiness.

How does The Lighthouse aim to foster engagement and connections in the community?

Our main objective is to emphasize the importance of finding individuals’ purpose, connecting with others, and living a life that aligns with our values and principles. Not only is connection part of our main objective, but engagement is also one of the five truths of happiness of The Lighthouse, where engagement allows us to feel like we belong to a community as we share genuine and meaningful interactions which in return make us feel valued and validated.

One of the main purposes of The Lighthouse is to establish meaningful connections and engage more regularly with one another instead of always being stuck to digital screens in the fast-paced world we live in. Therefore, for instance, when survey results come in and someone has low engagement rates, the coach will guide him/her and ensure that he/she joins the correct tailored workshops that advocate for more engagement and connectivity.

I believe it was always within our core to advocate for personal connections. This is something we previously called for during our “Bubble Free Campaign”, where we encouraged individuals to leave their bubbles, whatever that bubble may be, and interact with one another instead to develop meaningful relationships.

How does The Lighthouse enable growth and self-fulfillment?

With our core philosophy of understanding the needs, aspirations, and well-being of individuals, we introduce The Lighthouse as a bridge to the gap between people consumed by their daily routines to people fostering personal growth, connections, and inspiration.

But to achieve this, change needs to come from within and individuals need to be committed to at least six months of regular participation in The Lighthouse to be able to witness a recognizable change in their behavior.

Where will The Lighthouse be launched?  

Launched right by the crystal blue waters and pristine white sands in the Mountain View Ras El Hikma, just a short drive from the hustle and bustle of Cairo. The Lighthouse will also soon be launched in the city of Cairo, East, and West as a start, and it might be outside Egypt as well.

How does The Lighthouse align with Mountain View’s vision?

I always love to reiterate our vision and higher purpose which is to “bring life to land and spread happiness around us”. Whilst it makes the most sense to always talk about the first half of this statement given the nature of being a real estate developer, it brings me personal joy to speak about the second half of our vision – “Spread Happiness Around Us”.

These exact four words are the main differentiators between Mountain View and any other developer. We are very human-centric and we deeply care about delivering a fulfilling life and growth for our community and the future generations.

Spreading happiness is something we can witness with our own eyes through The Lighthouse, an experiential happiness destination, and a meaningful happiness incubator. The holistic developmental experience that the Lighthouse provides is what makes everyone at Mountain View proud that they can witness our vision being materialized in real life.

How do you envision The Lighthouse concept evolving and expanding?

First and foremost, we are very excited about our expansions in Cairo, both East and West.

In terms of the evolution of The Lighthouse, we believe that this is a never-ending cycle of research and understanding individuals’ needs. By consistently seeking development and exploring more personalities from the survey results, we will be able to tailor new experiences to fulfill and play a crucial role in their personal development and growth.

What challenges do you foresee in implementing The Lighthouse?

The needs and demands of individuals will always be changing and evolving and hence, we will always need to think on our feet and conduct all the necessary research to make sure that The Lighthouse is up to date and caters to everyone.