
Affectionately known as "America's #1 Success Coach," Jack Canfield is the originator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and a leading authority in the areas of self-esteem, achievement motivation, and peak performance. [www.jackcanfield.com]

Arianna Huffington is the co-founder and Editor in Chief of the Huffington Post and the author of twelve books. [www.huffingtonpost.com]

Seth Godin is a prominent author, blogger and speaker. [www.squidoo.com/linchpin]

Krishna Kaur is the founder of YOGA for Youth, a program that takes yoga, meditation, and stimulating discussions on the philosophy of yoga to urban youth. [www.yogaforyouth.org]

Norman Lear has enjoyed a long career in television and film. He is also a political and social activist and philanthropist. [www.normanlear.com]

Leilani Münter is a professional race car driver and an environmental activist who uses her voice in the number one spectator sport in America as a catalyst for change. [www.leilanimunter.com]

By going undercover to meet slaves and slaveholders, Kevin Bales exposed modern slavery's penetration into the global economy. He co-founded Free the Slaves, which has helped to liberate thousands of slaves. [www.freetheslaves.net]

Sophie Chiche, lifebyme.com founder and curator, enjoys asking deep questions and living a life of meaning. Today she's launching Shape House, an urban sweat lodge, a place to melt away fears and fat. [www.shapehousela.com]

Entrepreneur and writer Mastin Kipp founded TheDailyLove.com, which merges pop culture with inspiration, and co-founded The Love Yourself Company, an apparel company that has started a global self-esteem movement. [www.TheDailyLove.com]

Liz Phair is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. [www.lizphair.com]

Archbishop Desmond Tutu is Chairman of The Elders, a group of world leaders who address some of the world's most pressing problems. He works energetically for human-rights and in his ministry. [www.tutu.org]

Zainab Salbi is the founder and CEO of Women for Women International, a group dedicated to helping women survivors of war rebuild their lives. [www.womenforwomen.org]

Despite his physical challenges, Sean Stephenson has taken a stand for a quality of life that has inspired millions of people around the world. He's a professional speaker, psychotherapist, and author. [www.timetostand.com]

Kia Miller teaches Yoga at Yoga Works in Los Angeles, leads teacher trainings, and runs retreats and workshops on meditation, chakras, pranayam, and mantras, and other practices. [www.kiamiller.com]

Simon Mainwaring is an ex-Nike/Wieden creative, former Worldwide Creative Director at Motorola/Ogilvy, branding/advertising writer, author/speaker/blogger, Australian, idea geek. [www.simonmainwaring.com]

Shannon Bindler is a style editor, life coach, and the co-founder of Get Up Girl, an empowerment company that inspires women to shine. [www.getupgirl.com]

Grammy-nominated art director/designer/photographer Mathieu Bitton has designed over 450 CDs and movie posters. He's a renowned collector of and authority on black films and their soundtracks. [www.candytangerine.com]

Opus Reps founder and agent-producer Jorge Perez travels the world producing photo shoots with great photographers and celebrities. He's also very involved with Meals on Wheels in Los Angeles. www.opusreps.com
happy

The most important thing to me is being happy. Really and honestly joyful, and staying present in this moment to appreciate all that life has to offer without taking anything for granted.
I’ve experienced a lot of change in the last two years, and a lot of that change came in the form of loss. This led me down a destructive path of way too much alcohol and abusing myself and my relationships with people who loved me through destructive behavior that didn’t really make sense to anyone, especially me.
I finally hit rock bottom, and there was nowhere to go but up. Gradually, I started rebuilding myself. I wanted to live a more authentic, meaningful, and joyous life then I had been living. I knew, as I was climbing up out of the hole of shame and fear, what I had to change in order to avoid ending up there again.
When I started to look at things differently, I started transforming before my own eyes. I knew I wanted to help other people to live happy and joyous lives. From working at lifebyme.com before I moved from LA, I knew sharing my story was one of the best ways to do that.
I started writing a book, but that takes a while, and I wanted to do something more immediate, so I started the “Happiness Hunting” podcast. It’s new, and the followers are steadily growing, but it feels good to know that something I say in two to three minutes of somebody’s day might help them find some happiness in their own life that they may have overlooked.
It also serves as a reminder for me. If I get off track, on any given day, when I sit down to the computer to record the podcast I immediately come face to face with the lessons I’ve learned in the process. Then I can use those lessons, create a few inspirational moments, and hopefully kick-start someone’s day in a happy way.
Sometimes people get distracted by their daily lives and forget to notice the meaningful moments. It’s not about the big checks, or the cars, and houses that everyone’s working so hard for. It’s the love between people, connection to nature, and enjoying being alive that really matters. I want to help remind people that when we look back and recount the important things in our lives, those are the top of the listers!
– Val White
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