The team-2022 - The Art and Science of Joy

Our Mission

We are on a mission to inspire and empower people to live more joy-filled lives. Through a mix of tips and tricks, inspirational stories and hard facts, our aim is to empower people to make positive changes in their lives. So, if you’re seeking a bit more joy in your own life or seeking to bring some more joy to the lives of others then we could well be for you!

Meet the Team

Everyone at the Art and Science of Joy is passionate about bringing more joy into people’s lives and playing our part in positively impacting the future of humanity and the planet.

Are you passionate about joy? Would you like to work for us? Volunteer? Collaborate? If so, we’d love to hear from you!

Andrew Cannon

Andrew is co-founder of the Art and Science of Joy and EQJOY Co.

Andrew has spent his career building a deep understanding of people’s values, attitudes and behaviors in order to help business people make better decisions. Over the last few years, Andrew has used this knowledge and his research skills to deep-dive into the art and science of joy. Andrew’s journey in business has taught him many lessons about leadership; about the importance of purpose and people, as well as profits, and about the role joy can play in companies to elevate both personal and business success.

Through his own struggle with depression, Andrew has learned the fundamental truth that without a strong love of self and a sense of authentic belonging, one cannot hope to lead a joy-filled life. With these experiences and beliefs, Andrew is on a mission to use his passion and his skills to inspire and empower others to live more joyful-filled lives. The Year of Joy project kicking off in January 2023 is one way this mission is being fulfilled.

Andrew is also creator of the EQJOY card game, a tool to help children develop their emotional intelligence through the power play.

When not working on bringing joy to others, Andrew can be found working on building his own joy muscle: enjoying time with family and friends, nature, travel and music to name but a few things which bring Andrew joy.

Debby Schlesinger-Hellman

Debby is co-founder of the Art and Science of Joy and EQJOY Co.

Debby’s background in business has given her experience in coaching, mentoring and building teams. She is currently interested in bringing that knowledge along with new learnings to advance more joy to both individuals as well as teams.

During Debby’s time developing leaders she has found that people are searching for more belonging and a sense of purpose in their everyday life, including the workplace. With this knowledge Debby is passionate about helping others find a path to that more joy- filled life, looking to have a positive impact on many.

The past couple of decades has highlighted the lack of Joy for many and filled it with fear, anxiety and stress front and center. Debby has learned that taking the time and effort to rebuild the joy muscle through conscious work on wellbeing, belonging, positive impact and fun has helped her live a more joy filled life. With this knowledge, Debby is dedicating time to bring this knowledge to others in a way that will encourage them to build that Joy muscle and bring Joy to their lives and those of their loved ones. The Year of Joy is the perfect vehicle to allow many people to join in changing the Joy level of their journey. Debby is passionate about working side by side with Andrew on EQJOY, a tool to help children develop their emotional intelligence through the power play. If we are successful in guiding our children to emotional health and wellbeing, we will see them grow to be much healthier and joyful adults.

While Debby is continuously working on her Joy journey you will find her collaborating with others on expanding their Joy through nature walks, discussing books, having fun filled meals together, traveling to new places and sharing stories.

Shari Alyse

Known as America's Joy Magnet, Shari Alyse is the author of International Best-Seller, Love Yourself Happy , 2x TEDx Speaker, TV personality and media consultant on a mission to spread joy!

In 2010, Shari found herself on a plane to Port Au Prince, Haiti with a volunteer organization to help rebuild an orphanage after their devastating earthquake. She went there expecting devastation and while she found physical destruction all around her, she also witnessed joy. Shari states, “Joy was palpable. Right there in the midst of devastation were smiles like I’d never seen before. Joy existed simultaneously among grief, sadness and pain.”

Shari set off on a quest to understand joy more deeply and has now spent the last fifteen years helping reconnect people back to their joy in what she affectionally refers to as a joy revolution!

She has spoken on some of the world's biggest stages and platforms and is a regularly featured guest expert on major media news networks (ABC, FOX, CBS, NBC) and has been featured in many publications such as Huffington Post, Thrive Global, and Medium, to name a few. Shari has been featured in over 100+ media appearances and now uses her experience to consult with coaches, speakers and entrepreneurs on how to get on mainstream television.

Shari is the former co-founder of one of the first holistic wellness communities, and has hosted multiple TV & radio shows, most recently The Joy Spot. Shari is working on an unscripted television show around joy and recently hit the stand-up comedy stages expanding how she spreads joy.

Shari is so excited to continue her mission of spreading joy with The Art and Science of Joy team and a Year of Joy as their spokeswoman and Joy Reporter!

Reeta Partti

Hello you all joyful people out there! My name is Reeta, and I’m a futurist and market research professional. I've always been passionate about making the world a better place - lately, with the help of data, insight and the magic of futures thinking. Right now, I am most excited about hiking adventures and the life stories of pioneers and forerunners.

With my experience, I want to encourage both the individuals and organisations to be bold in their efforts. After all, someone always makes the future, if not you then someone else.

I joined the JOY team to help ensure that the surveys and materials produced during the year would be as inspiring as possible for all the participants joining in. I believe that the most important things should also be the most fun to deliver.

So, let's go!