Year of Joy Meet our Joy Superpower Partners

Each week during the Year of Joy, we will be introducing a new Joy Superpower.

Our research tells us that our feeling of Joy is by and large dependent on our sense of wellbeing and belonging, as well as our sense of having a positive impact and fun in our lives.

Whilst these core ingredients are universal in their nature, our sense of wellbeing, belonging, positive impact and fun is in fact highly personal and on this individual level what brings joy to one person doesn’t necessarily bring joy to another.

Our research tells us, however, that there are things that help bring joy to many people and in turn the absence of these things in a person’s life can detract from their feeling of joy. These things we call Joy Superpowers.

We are proud to partner on the Year of Joy initiative with amazing people, who are experts in one or more of the Joy Superpower’s we are featuring each week.

The Art and Science of Joy team will collaborate with these experts each week to share with the Year of Joy community members their wise words, their inspiring stories and their empowering tips and tricks on how to make use of the Joy Superpower to bring more joy to your life as well as to the lives of others. 

We would like to thank our Joy Superpower Partners from the bottom of our hearts for their generosity and kindness in sharing their wisdom with the Year of Joy community members. Without their joyful contributions the Year of Joy would have remained just a “if only we could” project.

Below you can find an introduction to the first of our Joy Superpower partners. We will be adding to this page as we introduce new Joy Superpower partners throughout the year. 

JOY

Andrew Cannon and Debby Schlesinger Hellman

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.

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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.

 

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Optimism

Victor Perton and Noirin Mosley

Victor Perton

Victor Perton is the Founder and Chief Optimism Officer of The Centre for Optimism. Victor is the Author of “Optimism: The How and Why”.

 

The Centre for Optimism is a Think-Tank dedicated to asking people “What makes you Optimistic?” and fostering the realistic and infectious optimism the world needs in the 2020s.

 

In a passionate address entitled, “Creating Bases for Optimism in an Era of Insecurities”, Singapore’s senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam noted, “We have entered an era without precedent, certainly not in living memory, and it has led to a loss of optimism almost across the world.” Fear and intolerance are undermining our democracies: The World Economic Forum included the loss of global optimism in its global risk register for 2022. The World Happiness Report 2022 picked up a shortage of global optimism. McKinsey & Company and Rabobank Australia picked up the same trends for Australia – falling optimism in a country with a stereotype of relentless optimism.

 

The Centre for Optimism was born out of the research of The Australian Leadership Project which studied Australian leadership and its qualities and the inexplicable negativity of contemporary Australian attitudes to leadership.

 

Victor’s life experience includes stints as Commissioner to the Americas, 18 years a parliamentarian, practice as a barrister, mediator, arbitrator, businessman and board service. I was a Senior Engagement Adviser to the Australian G20 presidency focused on the G20 Finance Ministers & Central Bank Governors Meetings & the Brisbane G20 Leaders Summit described by the Australian Prime Minister as “the most important gathering Australia has ever hosted.”

 

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Noirin Mosley

Noirin hails from Dublin Ireland and has made her way to Melbourne via Bangkok, Papua New Guinea and Sydney.

 

She has previously worked in the Insurance, Disability, online Wall Art sectors and currently works in the Employee Online onboarding space and a private equity/venture capital business.

 

She started a slot car racing, entertainment venue called Race Party back in 2015 and despite it having a hiatus during Covid, is hopeful that it will have a rebirth soon again.

 

She’s also a learnt Optimist and likes to spread Optimism through the Centre for Optimism and Project Optimism’s platforms.

 

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Gratitude

Chris Schembra

Chris Schembra

Chris Schembra is USA Today’s Gratitude Guru and the Founder of 7:47, an evidence-based gratitude experience for companies that wish to create a sense of connection within their organization.

 

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Kindness

Mariah and Byron Edgington

Mariah and Byron Edgington

Byron Edgington: Retired commercial helicopter pilot, award-winning author, Bachelors in  English and Creative Writing from The Ohio State University. Contributor: BizCatalyst360.

Mariah Edgington: Retired BSN, RN, Author, Content Creator, Mindset Coach/Guide,  Ambassador for NurseDeck, Contributor: BizCatalyst360.

In both professions their job description was lifting people up. 

They continue doing so in retirement.

Their latest book, Journey Well, You Are More Than Enough affirms people who know in their  hearts that there’s a better, brighter life waiting for us all.

Discover more about:

Byron

Mariah

Exercise

Ian Worthington

Ian Worthington

Ian is a fitness expert, coach and the owner GymWolfPT, where him and his team help over-worked, overweight and over-stressed people enhance their lives by feeling fit, healthy, energised and ‘loving ‘life’ on a daily basis, without the standard “one fits all” approach of unfeasible gym workouts and starvation style eating and drinking.

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Positive Intelligence

Natalie Siston

Natalie Siston

Natalie Siston is the Program Experience Leader at Positive Intelligence. In her role, she brings Positive Intelligence to companies around the world through partnerships, presentations, and the flagship PQ program. 

 

Prior to joining Positive Intelligence, she was the Director of Sales Coaching and Development at a Fortune 100 financial services company, where she also held roles in marketing, relationship management and business development. She began her career in student and alumni relations at Stanford University.

 

Natalie is a two-time graduate of The Ohio State University and Professional Coach accredited through the International Coach Federation. She has 20+ years of experience coaching, developing leaders, and strengthening teams in the non-profit, higher education, and corporate sectors. She is a frequent speaker at leadership, university and corporate events and is an active member of the National Speakers Association.

 

Natalie resides in Dublin, Ohio, USA with her husband and two young daughters. She is the author of the bestselling book, Let Her Out:
Reclaim Who You Have Always Been. When she’s not writing, speaking or coaching, she enjoys mentoring students, watching her daughters dance, run, play soccer and softball and spoiling her two rescue dogs.

Discover more about Natalie.

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