Amy Blankson

Amy Blankson is a co-founder of the Digital Wellness Institute and the bestselling author of The Future of Happiness. A graduate of Harvard and the Yale School of Management, she is the only person to receive a Point of Light award from two US Presidents. She’s been a member of the UN Global Happiness Council, a Fellow of the World Innovation Organization, a featured professor in Oprah’s happiness e-course, and is a regular contributor to Forbes. Her current work focuses on how to cultivate happiness and well-being in the digital era.

I am inspired by the fact that to create a social movement, it only takes 3% of people to buy into an idea and act upon it. I often hear from leaders who feel frustrated by a toxic team member. What possibly can be done? They do not realize that they have the power to rewrite the social script in their organization. In other words, to change the dynamics of a team, you only need 3 people to kickstart change; from there, champions rise up and create a cascade of leaders who follow suit. I love helping organizations to create new momentum by making small tweaks in terms of messaging, mindset, environment or processes which then increase productivity, engagement, and retention of top talent.

My dad has been an incredible source of inspiration. Although he often lacked the confidence, mentorship, and opportunities to be an entrepreneur, he poured all of his encouragement into my brother and me. He was also a neuroscientist for 38 years, so it is perhaps not surprising that my brother (Shawn Achor) and I both turned to careers in positive psychology. Today, I try to adopt my dad’s spirit of curiosity, play, and experimentation into my approach to optimizing human behavior.

Video: The Happy Secret to Better Work, Shawn Anchor